HIGHLIGHTS

1. The “Africa MustThink” public lecture series was conducted in the prestigious Harare International Convention Center (HICC), which is located right next to theRainbow Towers Hotel. Divine providence enabled us to use the facilities at no cost! (It would normally have cost us over $60,000 for the 4-day event).

2. During the period of the lecture series—Tuesday, December 3 to Friday, December 6—four major presentations were made (and one additional lecture during a morning prayer-breakfast targeted to business leaders). An audience, totaling more than 4,000, and which included some leading government officials, attended the meetings. Wider publicity was given by TV, radio, and the print media (see NOTES, below).

3. Arrangements are currently under way to publish contents of the lectures as a book. The five topics presented utilized the following metaphors to frame the titles:

    i. The African Elephant (Why We Must Embrace Humility,Sacrifice, & Service)

   ii. The African Eagle (Why We Must ReclaimExcellence As Our Right)

  iii. The African Gold  (Why We Must Embrace Compassion, & A Value-Based Ethic)

  iv. The African Chicken (Why Failure Is Not An Option, & Why Failure Is Not Final)

   v. The African Lion (Why Youth Must Be Empowered & Mentored for Leadership)

4. Because of some initial challenges, the prayer-breakfast we had planned to attract 400 business leaders could only be announced the night before. Even then, some 200 people managed to re-schedule their prior commitments to attend. Even more, God had a plan for the surplus food that we didn’t use: We carried them to an orphanage, a visit and ministry which were, in actuality, for our own encouragement—even as they were an answer to the prayers of the orphans at the “Zimbabwe OrphanageProject”! 

5. For me personally, the visit to the orphanage was among the highlights of my trip to Zimbabwe. God used it as the occasion for me and our “Africa Must Think” lecture team to meet with Dr. Saleem Farag, the founder and director of the Zimbabwe Orphanage Project. (Dr. Farag had previously served as a Medical Director in the State of California and was instrumental in starting the Public Health program at Loma Linda University, CA). Though we have known of each other for several years, this was the first time (December 5, 2013) that we ever met. It was a real joy meeting this splendid and faithful disciple of Christ and his dear wife Grace. Dr. & Mrs. Farag are both in their late 70s or early 80s, but are actively engaged in a phenomenal sacrificial work. Amazing!  I wish I could share more.

6. On Friday, December 6, 2013, during a media reception held in our honor by the Zimbabwe Minister of Tourism & Hospitality, I was privileged to issue a statement in honor of Nelson Mandela—who died the previous night. Also, through the Minister of Tourism & Hospitality, and before the assembled journalists and media personnel, I had the privilege of formally presenting to His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, the Remnant Study Bible and the 5-volume E.G. White Century Classics (arguably the best devotional aid and commentary on the entire Bible).

7. On Saturday, December 7, our team spent the entire Sabbath day with some dedicated university students who were on what they call a “Zunde” mission trip. During their 2-week Christmas break, these students chose to spend their time in an un-entered territory to conduct 13 evangelistic meetings! Watching the simplicity of their faith and hearing their beautiful soul-full songs is something I’ll always remember.

8. On Sunday, December 8, I was privileged to speak at an influential Methodist Church inHarare on the theme “Trust & Obey.” I was greatly impressed by the simplicity of their worship and the Bible-based focus of their program. I was again invited to speak to their Men’s Ministry the next evening on the subject of "The African Gold"--a message that argued that "gold without the golden rule results in poverty and misery."

9. On Monday, December 9, I, together with two other representatives of our team, were invited to the State House to meet with the Principal Director (the President’s Chief of Staff). On behalf of the government, he expressed to us his gratitude and appreciation for our lecture series and its contribution towards the spiritual and social transformation of the nation. A meeting that was scheduled for 30 minutes lasted for more than 2 hrs. He expressed the hope that our team will continue to challenge and empower Africans to take ownership and responsibility for their own destiny.

10. That Monday evening, was the eve of our departure from Zimbabwe. Though exhausted from the day's activities and the evening's presentation at the Methodist Church's Men's Ministry group, we decided to have a short debriefing session with the co-sponsors of the "Africa Must Think" lecture series. The debriefing session was actually a surprise birthday for one of the team members who was not particularly fond of birthdays (and whose birthday actually fell on the following day)!

BACKGROUND

At the start of the last quarter of 2013, I received an email request. It was to visit Zimbabwe.

During the visit, I would present a series of messages deemed necessary for a nation whose psyche sags under the toll of harsh international sanctions, malicious bad press, and a growing apathy to the spate of national reforms prescribed as the roadmap to economic buoyancy.

The tone of the message was frantic; a match for the general mood rising in the country. The idea of ‘solutions’ sizzled on the front burner, but the specifics of what was relevant and would scratch where Zimbabwe itched seemed a herculean task for many.

The writer of the email, a 30-year old businessman named Kelvin, had for years been impacted by my Bible lecture series on "Excellence." He felt the strong urge to organize a national event in the most prestigious hall in the country. It would be a well-designed program that would inspire the right thoughts, and lead to focused action for the nation, and by the nationals themselves.  

The theme of the program would be "mind liberation." The main target would be young professionals, although it would be open to all. It would rally cabinet ministers, the academia, business world, religious and civic leaders, students, youth and a good representation of the elites in the country.

I agreed to speak in Zimbabwe.

Armed with that commitment, Kelvin rallied a troop of four friends together. With impeccable backgrounds in media, communications, IT, management, and business, these young men are bound together by an unabashed zeal for practical Christian living. They had all listened to some of my previous messages (available for download at our www.EAGLESonline.org website) and felt convicted to suspend their individual operations in order to facilitate a befitting program that would help achieve their lofty goal. 

They had 12 registered companies among them. From these, they pulled five girls with skills needed to achieve their goals under the umbrella of "Catalytic Concepts" (CatCon), an ideas company owned by one of them. This company has since transitioned to become a jointly-owned business where they all have mutually-agreed stakes.  Outside CatCon, the two teams together is known affectionately today as "The 5 Zim Boys and 5 Zim Girls."

Several emails flew back and forth from that first contact in September 2013. By the last week of November, the first set of EAGLESonline team arrived in Zimbabwe. And, providentially, just before the meeting kicked off during the first week of December, all the resources needed for the lecture series safely arrived in the country. Just on time!

The program held at the Harare International Conference Center from December 3 - 6, 2013 was under the theme “Africa Must Think.” This theme was derived from the title of my most recent best-selling book on the African problem and focused on "mind liberation" as the right of every created being, and the expectation of every true African. It’s a message that was well received by the audience every evening and which led to the clamor for follow-up activities in February and a “Transformative Leadership Training” program in April, 2014.

CONCLUSION

There were two things that impacted me the most during the two weeks’ stay in Harare. The first was the incredible sense of humor of the Zimbabwean people. Believe me, Zimbabweans know how to laugh!

True, the nation has its fair share of African problems. During the two weeks’ stay in Harare, there were several media sessions – TV, radio interviews, and press conferences; meetings with high-profile government officials, student groups, Christian denominational groups, and even an orphanage. Whisked from one appointment to the other, the Lord gave a message of hope and challenge to deliver to a nation grappling with more questions than they can find answers on their own. 

But in the midst of their own challenges and quest for hope, I was struck by the fact that they managed to find humor even in the most hopeless situations. That is healing and strength! The Bible says, "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones" (Proverbs 17:22). I earnestly pray that there never will come a time when Zimbabweans will stop laughing. For, in the words of Dr. J. E. K. Aggrey (1875 – 1927), one of my most-esteemed African role-models, "Laughing is the way to go through life. It is the positive side of Christ's law of non-resistance." 

The second thing that greatly impacted me during trip to Harare was the selfless and sacrificial spirit of some of the people I got to know--namely, the Catalytic Concepts Group (the group of 5 Zim Boys and 5 Zim Girls), Dr. Saleem Farag and his wife Grace, and the university students who had gone for the Zunde mission trip. Kelvin, the Coordinator of the CatCon group, best summed up this spirit, when he ended his "thank you" remarks with the pledge: “We will empty ourselves that we might die full.”

“Emptied lives and fullness at death.” This is the beautiful spirit I witnessed in Zimbabwe, and which gives me hope for the future of Africa.  

If asked to summarize the trip to Zimbabwe in one sentence, it would be that "God Himself opened the door to a large house in the least-likely place, where many other rooms than the ones visited eagerly wait to be explored."

Thank you, "5 Zim Boys and 5 Zim Girls," for inviting me to Zimbabwe. And thank you for your surprise birthday cake, that recognized me as an "Ambassador to Zimbabwe." Though not a fan of birthdays, because of you, I am privileged to elect myself as an "Ambassador OF Zimbabwe." See? Africa is thinking--and laughing! 

--Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD

Director, EAGLESonline

www.EAGLESonline.org

NOTES:

1. To see some photos of the "Africa Must Think" lectures on our Facebook page--photos that include the surprise birthday cake--click on this link: http://tinyurl.com/lbrk8nu.  

2. To read one of the interviews (and comments) arising from the “Africa MustThink” lectures in Harare, see Brett Chulu’s Interview in the Zimbabwe Independent. Titled “AfricaMust Think Paradigm” (Parts I-V), they’re found on these links:

PartII: http://www.theindependent.co.zw/2014/01/03/africa-must-think-paradigm-part-ii/

PartIII: http://www.theindependent.co.zw/2014/01/10/africa-must-think-paradigm-part-iii/

PartIV: http://www.theindependent.co.zw/2014/01/17/africa-must-think-paradigm-part-iv/