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The Dawning of a New Day in Africa

I have proclaimed boldly in this book that with the coming of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Africa, a new day has dawned on that great continent. But is it all presumptuous claptrap or sentimental nonsense? Can Africa ever truly be free from her ancient enemies? Can the myriad peoples of that vast land, hounded and harried for so long by the grim quartet of poverty, ignorance, disease, and famine, ever escape from their implacable pursuers? Or is the dream of a better day, a brighter future in sunny uplands of peace and joy, but an illusion, a chimera, a pipe dream turned nightmare by the dashing of hopes, the death of aspirations? Is it realistic to speak of a better day in the face of the grinding poverty and stultifying ignorance that still grip Africa; the corruption and venality that siphon away precious resources needed for development and besmirch all who are touched by them; the crushing economic burdens and lack of technical competence that shackle African governments; the grisly spectre of AIDS hovering obscenely behind the ancient scourges that continue to foreclose the future for millions? Even the most optimistic observers have their doubts.

Yet with it all, in spite of it all, a new and better day is dawning over Africa. That is my simple faith. It is a day whose light is the Son of God, a day made brighter by the glow of the glorious gospel of Christ. It is a day when the power of the priesthood of God, the power by which the universe itself was formed and put into place, is being exercised to lift, leaven, and exalt people long shackled and held powerless. The light of the restored gospel falls on a prepared people-a people prepared by the Spirit of God to receive the Word. It dispels the spiritual gloom and drives away the shadows of error and superstition that long have lain like a black shroud over the "dark continent."

The words of Alma, uttered in a different context, come to mind: "The Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them . . . that they might not be hardened against the word, that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might receive the word with joy, and as a branch be grafted into the true vine, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God." (Alma 16:16-17.)

Let us have no illusions: the task will not be easy. The road will be long and arduous. Many are the obstacles to be torn down, the challenges to be won. God's authorized servants will require all of the skills and talents they can muster to achieve success, and will be driven repeatedly to their knees in humble supplication for the aid of the powers of heaven to give them the endowment of wisdom required.