Calling Those Things Which Are Not As Though They Were

2nd International Decade for People of African Descent

The conclusion of our one-year intercessory prayer to redeem the International Decade for people of African Descent could not have had a better turn than the word received: “The Lord gave the word; thousands called out the good news: “Kings of the armies are on the run, on the run!” While housewives, safe and sound back home, divide up the plunder, the plunder of Canaanite silver and gold. On that day that Shaddai scattered the kings, snow fell on Black Mountain” (Psalm 68:11–14 MSG).

The sounds of victory are being proclaimed not by feeble voices but a mighty throng. And here is some indication concerning this. The UN General Assembly announced in December 2024, a 2nd International Decade for People of African Descent. The motives may be political, or economic card games in a complex interplay of forces, or even a condescending gesture to a seemingly ‘whining’ race. And yet God will be using it to move his agenda for people of African descent. God has used and continue to use the edicts of kings and governments to fulfill prophecies concerning his chosen ones. We should stand in awe of this great God, Jesus our Lord. What he did 2000 years ago, he can do today. Caesar’s Augustus selfish ambition to keep tabs on and control of conquered territories for the purpose of taxation issued a census decree; a census which required registration at the place of family origin. Because of Caesar’s decree, Joseph had to take Mary his wife along, who was pregnant, to Bethlehem, his native town. And there, Jesus was born to fulfill Micah’s prophecy, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2). The processes that led the UN Assembly to announce a 2nd International Decade for People of African descent may look humanly impressive and just, but faith grasps the truth.

How should people of African descent align themselves with God over this second decade? How will we create, develop, and promote a value system to tether our communities to wholistic progress? Maybe we should take a clue from the parable in the book of Judges (Judges 9:7–21) of the Trees Who Wanted a King. Here is Davis Carman creative retelling of the story: “Some children were walking through the forest one day. As they came upon a thick and very wooded part of the forest, they heard voices but saw no one. The chatter was not only coming from among the trees, it was the trees. So, the children asked a very old and tall tree, “What are you trees talking about?”

The tree replied, “We have decided that we want a king.”

“A king?” said the children. “And who will be your king?”

“Stay with us and you will find out very soon,” said the tree.

So the children stayed to learn who would be king of the trees.

The trees first said to the olive tree:

“O lovely tree, to you we sing.

With wood and leaves, please be our king.”

But the olive tree refused, saying: “Be your king?

Should I quit producing my olive oil

that blesses both God and man

just to be king of the trees?

Branches will wave when there’s a breeze,

but I will not sway as king of trees.”

So the trees said to the fig tree:

“O lovely tree, to you we sing.

With wood and leaves, please be our king.”

But the fig tree refused, saying: “Be your king?

Should I quit producing my sweet fruit

that pleases both God and man

just to be king of the trees?

Branches will wave when there’s a breeze,

but I will not sway as king of trees.”

Then the trees said to the grapevine:

“O lovely tree, to you we sing.

With wood and leaves, please be our king.”

But the grapevine refused saying: “Be your king?

Should I quit producing my juice

that cheers both God and man

just to be king of the trees?

Branches will wave when there’s a breeze,

but I will not sway as king of trees.”

Finally, the trees said to the thorn bush:

“O lovely tree, to you we sing.

With wood and leaves, please be our king.”

The thorn bush thought about this a moment and said:

“If you really want me as your king,

gather in my shade and to me sing.

But if you’re found to be a liar,

then all of us will burn with fire.”

The olive tree.

The fig tree.

The grapevine.

The thorn bush.

Whom will you ask to be your king?”

“Jotham’s parable has three self-donating plants: the olive tree, the fig tree and the grape vine who refuse (like Gideon) to be king. Each is content to serve the world with the gifts they’ve been given for the welfare and joy of the world. The thornbush, however, offers nothing to the world but its prick. The thornbush is defensive, self-protective and rather than giving oil, fruit or wine it only gives pain and draws blood. It jumps at the chance to rule the world and threatens all who would not bow with death. In Jotham’s parable is also a subtle critique of those who clamor for a king. They are a match for the kings they create. They don’t seek a king to bless the world; they seek a king to bless themselves. Both the king and the king makers are in it for themselves, and they will in time destroy each other” (Paul Vanderklay). Which of these trees would you be over this next decade? There is only one true KING; his name is Jesus, and he has come to redeem the Pan-African community using his church: the self-donating plants.

We have gone through twelve months of intercession to learn as a people what redemption looks like and what it involves — rejecting the world and its systems: religion, politics, and power. Surely, over the past twelve months we have particularly prayed and uprooted voodoo philosophy and its suffocating value systems from our communities. We have prayed in its place reconciliation to God through Christ Jesus our Lord. We have prayed that through this reconciliation, healing will flow to our communities, dealing with the negative impact of slave-trading and slavery in the past and prayerfully dismantling their tentacles holding us back. We have prayed for development — God’s plan for his Pan-African Church, how remembering our past mistakes can help us transform our value system. And finally, we prayed that development will be our act of worship instead of an end goal. Our act of worship as a community is the fruit of the committed communion of saints.

The commitment to communion with other saints through prayer and intercessions opens up redemptive opportunities for God to intervene in hopeless situations. So, continue to intercede as individuals in communion with others. The commitment to communion with other saints, builds redemptive capacity into your community, so together with them, you are enabled to take and implement decisions that are transformational. The cast of characters and their stories in Luke chapter one exhibits these redemptive attributes so profoundly.

Here is Elizabeth’s expression of redemption in Luke 1:41–45:

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Has the sound of redemption reached your ears from Gods’ prophets aligned with this vision? Have you believed the message the Spirit has spoken into our hearts over these twelve months? Are you filled up with joy? Psalm 118:15 sees you experiencing this: “Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” Has the Holy Spirit deposited something precious in you to be birthed in preparation for the unique transformation work God has begun in every Pan-African community as you prayed along?

Here is Mary’s expression of redemption in Luke 1:46–55:

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” Are you seeing God’s mighty acts begin to manifest in our Pan-African communities? Are you witnessing God’s power as he scatters the proud voodoo philosophy and its value systems? Do you see God lifting his faithful few in every Pan-African community to occupy positions of great influence in both the spiritual and material world? Do you see God prospering the work of the righteous humble but sending away the wicked and ruthless (both African and non-Africans) doing business in our communities empty? Do you feel God’s mercy toward Africa and the African Diaspora?

Here is Zachariah’s expression of redemption in Luke 1: 68–75:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us — to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”

Does the priest Zechariah’s praise, remind you of Old Testament prophet Zechariah’s vision in Zechariah 1:18–2, “Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns. I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?” He answered me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.” Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. I asked, “What are these coming to do?” He answered, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”

Jesus, God’s Horn of salvation, is here to help Africa and the African Diaspora as a community. The horns (voodoo philosophy and colonialism) that scattered us as a people and brought our whole race into bondage, disgrace, disarray, and retrogression have been thrown into terror, broken and disintegrated. Hallelujah. God, through Jesus our Lord and Saviour, has rescued us as a community from the hands of these two enemies so we, people of African descent, can serve him without fear, in all boldness and righteousness. God’s plan for the salvation of Pan-African communities is rolling out before our eyes. Hallelujah.

Continuing his celebration of God’s redemption, Zechariah the priest, declared: “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.” God will be requiring African parents in this second International Decade for People of African descent to release their children as ‘John the Baptist’ was to prepare their Pan-African communities for the New-Era African ahead. Are you ready as a parent? Will you be willing? Remember, development as an act of worship, demands that one becomes a living sacrifice, which is our true worship. God will convict Christian parents moored to the world’s standards of what defines successful children and, in his mercy, transform their thinking, so they can release their children into the ‘desert’ to be trained by His Spirit to shape the future of people of African descent.

May Zechariah’s prayer become our anthem these next ten years as a community: “because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

WELCOME TO THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL DECADE FOR PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT.

God richly bless you as you endeavour to intercede for everyone of African descent to be set free to fully live for Christ Jesus, our only Lord and Savior, so we can fulfill our assignment as a people God has planned to use in His Last Days Agenda.

Beyond the Decade Vision is led and implemented by Beyond the Decade Coalition. To learn more about the Coalition, its members, and its mandate, visit www.beyondthedecade.org.