Skip to main content

Home/ Following Jesus Better/ Group items tagged Congo

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Gary Patton

Congo's Chaotic Past - 0 views

www.frontline.org.za/...christ_in_congo.htm

politics ethics third world Congo corruption

shared by Gary Patton on 03 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Although the Congo has vast mineral resources and tremendous agricultural potential, it is one of the poorest counties in the world.
  • The Congo’s fertile fields and tropical forests cover an area larger than the combined areas of California, Oregon, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. The Congo is rich in diamonds, gold, copper, uranium and other precious metals. The huge Congo River has the potential to generate enough hydroelectric power to provide all the electrical needs of the entire continent.
  • Literally millions of Congolese have been massacred, often by the very soldiers and police who were meant to be protecting them.
  • ...15 more annotations...
  • Immediately after independence in the 1960’s tens of thousands of Christians and hundreds of missionaries were martyred, particularly in the Communist Simba rebellion of 1964.
  • Documenting the human rights abuses and persecution of Christians in the Congo can be overwhelming.
  • forces from Communist
  • Soon the armies of eight other nations were embroiled in the conflict in the Congo.
  • corruption has continued to cripple the country,
    • Gary Patton
      Gary Patton on 03 Dec 11
       
      For the opposite perspective, see the research article, "Economic growth with endogenous corruption: an empirical study" by Mushfiq Swaleheen of Florida Gulf Coast University (http://diigo.com/0ln18). In it he postulates that a measure of corruption in deeply corrupt countries such as Congo actually enhances economic growth ...perhaps by helping companies sidestep onerous rules. But that's only at the extreme; for a country with average endemic corruption, a one-standard-deviation increase in corrupt incidences depresses per-capita GDP growth by 0.12 percentage points, he has found. gfp
  • the Christian church has emerged as the only viable national structure to survive the general social, political and economic collapse of the country. The growth of the church in the Congo over the last century has been dramatic. The number of Christians in the Congo has grown from 1.4% of the total population in 1900 to over 90% professing Christianity today.
    • Gary Patton
      Gary Patton on 03 Dec 11
       
      Sicne Jesus went back to heaven, His "Body on earth", "The Church" has continued to thrive best when persecuted. The Congo is typical. So are Canada & the U.S where the Body has become flacid and is disappearing ...down to less than 3% by some estimates. gfp
    • Gary Patton
      Gary Patton on 03 Jan 12
       
      Since Jesus went back to heaven, His "Body on earth", "The Church", has continued to thrive best when persecuted. The Congo is typical. So are Canada & the U.S typical of what happens to the Body without real persecution. It has become flacid and is disappearing ...down to less than 3% by some estimates. gfp
    • Gary Patton
      Gary Patton on 03 Dec 11
       
      1 Chron. 16:24-25 is a powerful Scripture regarding God's glory & my role in proclaiming it that I have quoted in my Spiritual Mission Statement.
  • 1 Chronicles 16:24 – 25
    • Gary Patton
      Gary Patton on 03 Jan 12
       
      is a powerful Scripture regarding God's glory & my role in proclaiming it that I have quoted in my Spiritual Mission Statement.
  • Estimates exceed a million AIDS and war orphans.
  • Just about the only functioning schools are church run. The Catholics have dominated the education field, but Protestants are increasingly striving to rise to the challenge as well.
  • There is a famine of Christian literature and an intense hunger for Christian books.
  • Many nominal Christians have no clear grasp of repentance and faith in Christ. Animism, witchcraft and syncretism are also major problems. The vast swamp lands north east of Kinshasa include many communities which have never been effectively evangelized. The half a million Swahili speaking Muslims need to be reached with the Gospel. Despite the Muslims mounting considerable efforts to spread Islam in the Congo, very little has been done to try to reach Muslims for Christ.
  • Despite the small Pygmy peoples of the Congo rain forests being despised and abused by the Congolese, there has been a tremendous turning to Christ amongst them. Nominally 30% of the Pygmies claim to be Christian.
  • Much of the country needs to be re-evangelized.
  • The “Democratic Republic of the Congo”, in its 46 years of independence from Belgium, has never been a democracy.
    • Gary Patton
      Gary Patton on 03 Jan 12
       
      The Congo's past may soon be duplicated by numerous new, allegedly democratic nations that are merging in the Middle East following the so-called "2011 Arab Spring" i.e. Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Yemen for starters. Democracy has never flourished, or even survived, when radical Islamists can gain control of a country & implement Islamic Sharia Law. Even the perdominately Muslim people of the previously relatively-free and secular Turkey have handed control of their country over to an Islamist dominated government in 2011. gfp
  • Gary Patton on 03 Dec 11
     
    Here's how God arranged to effect from communist chaos to Christ in the Congo. gfp (2011-10)
1 - 1 of 1
Showing 20▼ items per page