African heads of state to carry 'African passport' by July 2016



© (Reuters) African heads of state to carry 'African passport' by July 2016

The African Union is making efforts to popularise the use of a single African passport for travel across the continent.

In a bid to show solidarity and promote free movement of Africans within their region and other parts of the continent, African heads of states are to carry an African passport for the next African Union Summit to be hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, in July.

The heads of states will receive the African passport as part of the efforts of the African Union (AU) to popularise it. It is "symbolic and significant for the continent", as well as practical, because if one is carrying an African passport he or she will not be expected to apply for a visa, according to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission.

“A few of us at the AU are already using that passport within Africa and it is very useful, but we want the heads of states to carry it when they are visiting African countries to make it official and known to others as well,” she said.

Free movement has shown up in continental development strategy documents since the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action and the 1991 Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (AEC), commonly known as the Abuja Treaty.

The treaty committed African states to "adopt, individually, at bilateral or regional levels, the necessary measures in order to achieve progressively the free movement of persons, and to ensure the enjoyment of the right of residence and the right of establishment by their nationals within the community".

Automatic visas to other African countries
The chairperson also said that all African countries must grant a 30-day visa on arrival to all African passport holders. Ghana and a few other countries have already responded to that decision, "which we commend a lot", said Dlamini-Zuma. 

"We also urge other countries to follow suit," she said. "Countries have said that they are going back to look at the practicality of doing their immigration regulation, but there is a decision and it is up to all of us to hold our countries to that decision so that indeed Africans can move freely amongst other African countries."

She stated several other region had a similar arrangement, such as the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and even the East African Community (EAC), but it was now time to broaden the scope of movement so that people could move freely inter-regionally.

Daniel Admassu, an entrepreneur who travels frequently around the continent, said that this would make doing business across Africa a lot easier. 

"We have to submit a lot of paperwork, including a bank statement, and even then we have to wait for at least two weeks to get a visa in some embassies. That creates a gap between our travels and customers do not always understand," he said. 

Source: African News Agency (ANA)

DON’T DIE BEFORE YOUR TIME (Part 3)

...concluding part

Psalm 103:3-5

“Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagle’s.”

Source: Google Image

As long as you walk straight with the Lord, you have nothing to fear. But when a person veers off to the right or to the left, His protection is taken away. Then the enemy can move in and kill the person.

Some people are following terrible traditions; they say it is God’s will when people die before their time. This is not true. Some people die because they rebel against the Lord. All those who died in the days of Noah died before their time.

Source: Image of a Canoe

 

All those who died in the wilderness when Moses was taking them to the Promised Land died before their time. Certainly, the wife of Lot died before her time. When Christians do not obey God, they invite the enemies to shorten their days. The Lord does not want us to die before our time. Many people die before their time because their faith has been injured or killed. Unbelief can make people to die before their time.

Many times, pastors go to the cemetery and say, “The Lord has given and the Lord has taken, precious is the death of the saints in the sight of the Lord.” But unfortunately, most of the time, the people have died before their time. A good soldier is always a loss to the army when he dies an early death.

God is not a God of the dead but a God of the living. Many believers die before their time because they fail to take a divine insurance. The Bible says no evil shall befall you neither shall any plague come near your camp. When you have weapons and do not use them, anything can happen; you should make use of your divine insurance.

As you read this message, my prayers for you is that God will open your eyes of understandings and help you to walk in the path of the Lord.

Have a lovely week.

DON’T DIE BEFORE YOUR TIME (Part 2)

...continue from part 1

Jesus knows that men could die before their time. The fact that Jesus raised people from the dead and gave others powers to do so shows that many people die untimely

Source: Google Image

 

The devil went to the meeting of the children of God and was roaming around there. When the Lord asked him what he was doing there, he said he was roaming around. Then the Lord said,

“Have you seen my servant Job?” The devil said, "Yes, let me deal with him and he will deny you." The Lord said, “Go but do not touch his life.” Beloved, the enemy has power to shorten life and to kill.

All the people Jesus raised from the dead were young people. Lazarus was a young man and had not lived out his days when he died. It is very sad to note that nowadays, young people are dying at an alarming rate.

The son of the widow of Nain in the Bible was a young man. He had not lived out his days. Jesus had to intervene. The daughter of Jairus that died was a young lady. She had not lived out her life before she died. Jesus raised her to life so that she could live out her days and possess her possessions. Any power that does not want you alive by any method is not the kind of thing to joke with.

Peter called Dorcas back to life so that she would finish her assignment. The devil has come to steal, to kill and to destroy. Unfortunately, many people have been turned over to Satan to die an early death. It was not the will of God for Korah, Dathan and Abiram to die in the wilderness, but they stood in the way of the work of God. Those men and their family members died before their time. It was not the will of God for Ananias and Sapphira to fall down inside the church and die, but they told lies to the Holy Spirit and died before their time.

Let us consider the deep scripture in Deuteronomy 17:20

“That his heart is not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turns not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.”

Jeremiah 21:8

“Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.

says, “And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.” Two ways are laid down in that passage. The choice of where you follow becomes a personal decision. When God withdraws His blessing from people and they walk right into judgment, they die before their time. When there is no protection, Satan kills them.

 

Source: Google Image

The Bible says, the angel of the Lord encamps roundabout those that fear Him to deliver them. So, if you do not fear the Lord, his angels will not surround you. Therefore, Satan can kill you off. Thank God because He has kept millions from dying before their time. We can see that in Psalm 103

...continue in part 3

DON’T DIE BEFORE YOUR TIME (Part 1)

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 16:12, Ecclesiastes 7:17

 

A lot of people claim they cannot die until their time comes. But what does the Bible say?

The Bible makes us to understand that we can lengthen or shorten our lives according to the way we live and the way we believe. That is why any enemy that is not afraid of dying is indeed a great enemy. The way you believe is very important.

The Bible says King Asa died before his time. Let us see why he died in 2 Chronicles 16:12

Source: Google image

 

“In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians.”

“And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.”

(The Bible did not say it was a sin for him to seek the physicians but he did not bother to seek the Lord at all). Verses 13-14: “And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign…

King Asa died before his time. The Bible gave the answer in a very short sentence: “In his disease he sought not to the Lord,” but to the physicians and therefore he died.

No disrespect to physicians: Anyone that puts his total hope on a doctor and believes that the doctor is the alpha and omega and believes anything he says from his book is hundred percent correct on his life, such a person will die before his time.

 

The Bible says something very interesting in Ecclesiastes 8:13

“Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.”

“But it shall not be well with the wicked; neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.”

The wicked will not be able to prolong his days because he does not fear God. Proverbs 10:27

“The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.”

King Asa committed the agenda of his life to the hands of the doctors and refused to pray. He did not know that there is no medical X-ray or device that can detect the arrow of witchcraft. He did not know that doctors themselves find some cases absolutely mysterious. Sometimes, some doctors who are honest own up that some cases are not medical problems. They advise people in such conditions to go and pray.

...continue in part 2

 

 

The Meaning of Easter

What does Easter mean to you?

The meaning of Easter is Jesus Christ's victory over death. His resurrection symbolizes the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in Him. The meaning of Easter also symbolises the complete verification of all that Jesus preached and taught during His three-year ministry. If He had not risen from the dead, if He had merely died and not been resurrected, He would have been considered just another teacher or Rabbi. However, His resurrection changed all that and gave final and irrefutable proof that He was really the Son of God and that He had conquered death once and for all.

Jelico Jibe, 57, grimaces in pain as he is nailed to a wooden cross to mark the death of Jesus Christ on Good Friday in San Matias town, Philippines                                Picture: Romeo Ranoco/Reuters

However, Easter did not always symbolise Christ's resurrection from the dead and the meaning of Easter was quite different than what Christians celebrate today. The feast day of Easter was originally a pagan celebration of renewal and rebirth. Celebrated in the early spring, it honoured the pagan Saxon goddess Eastre. When the early missionaries converted the Saxons to Christianity, the holiday, since it fell around the same time as the traditional memorial of Christ's resurrection from the dead, was merged with the pagan celebration, and became known as Easter. The meaning of Easter was also changed to reflect its new Christian orientation.

Today, the meaning of Easter, for millions of Christians, is that of honouring and recognising Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, and His glorious promises of eternal life for all who believe in Him.

Happy Easter

MGI HERITAGE DAY 2015

Photo:Lesego Masoga

A stall selling African beads and caps

 

A group of Zimbabwean students celebrating

Long shot of MGI Humanities Building

A religious robe

A group of students from different nationalities

‘Homo naledi is not contrary to biblical scriptures’

By: Mia Lindeque

Methodist church leader Paul Verryn says the discovery of Homo is nothing contrary to biblical scriptures or what religious people believe.

Scientists revealed a significant fossil discovery, which had been kept a secret for years, at Maropeng in the Cradle of Humankind.

But this has been met with mixed reaction among religious groups and individuals, who say they will not be referred to as descendants of baboons. 

 

Verryn says it is written in the scripture that nothing is made that doesn’t have God’s influence in it.

“The essence of what in written in scripture is that humanity and the whole of creation is designed and brought into being by God and that we have a very unique dignity.”

Founding president of the Kara Heritage Institute Mathole Motshekga has denied Homo naledi is his ancestor. 

Former Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi is the latest person to react on social media, saying no one will dig old monkey bones to back up a theory that he was once a baboon.

Researchers who worked on the special project have hailed Homo naledi as a historic discovery  which will help better understand who we are and how we evolved, also questioning what it truly means to be human.

On Friday a leading UK scientist praised the team involved in the discovery of Homo naledi for its transparency regarding their findings.

The so-called Naked Scientist, Chris Smith, said the team had been open and honest allowing its work to be scrutinised.

“The first thing they’ve done is to publish the results in a journal which is open access, this means anyone in the world can gain access to the paper and to read it for themselves and begin to make their mind up.”

But not all the reaction to this ground breaking find had been positive  

 The New York Times quoted an expert in the field of human evolution who questions the classifying of this new species in the Homo class, the same designation humans fall under.

The age of the bones is also still unclear and Smith said scientists have years of work ahead of them.

He added that the most important step for the team was to try to extract DNA from the fossils.

“Because they’re in such pristine conditions they may too surrender their DNA secrets. So that’s going to be the other really key thing to look into.

“Once you’ve got a DNA message from these individuals that will really begin to shed some light on where they fit into things because you can’t argue with the DNA.” 

What are your own thoughts? Do you think Homo naledi is your relative? Please leave a comment.