SHARE Magazine January 2018 | Page 15

In View Interestingly, as it was in 1271, when Marco Polo travelled to China he found out that the West was woefully behind the East in many respects and nothing much has changed today. I believe it is because they have not tossed away the wisdom of their ancestors to replace it with western ideology or technology in fact you will find a beautiful harmony in Eastern Societies of building solidly on the wisdom of the past and embracing the technology of the present. So this may account for western fascination with eastern philosophy, fair enough but we cannot substantiate one philosophy for another and hope for an instant fix. What we need to do is to look within, preserve with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we know of and hold to it. Eastern philosophies teach that nothing lasting is achievable in this life: absolution, redemption and salvation is all realised in the next life cycle or the afterlife while Christianity offers you real accessible hope and the reality of spiritual transformation from the soul to the mind in this present life. Now is the day of salvation Jesus Christ has made it clear to us in His own teachings that it is vain and futile, if you try to achieve salvation on your own merit. What the Apostle Paul calls, “the more excellent way”: A life where a transcendent God who, sacrificially, in love reaches out to humanity and offers grace to overcome in life and power to triumph over sin, lives in the heart of man giving him a new and pure consciousness where we naturally do what is right because it is in our heart and mind to do it. That is what Jesus Christ has offered humanity where no other religion’s god has come close. We do not need eastern religion, what we need is confidence, that comes out of a personal, relationship and that grows in faith in, The One True God... Yeshua Hamashiach, Jesus Christ, The Anointed Messiah. He said, “Come unto me all who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest for your weary souls”, not a ‘to do’ list of religious deeds to complete in order to gain salvation and restitution. May Africa truly enter into God’s rest! p Religious Beliefs in Mozambique Religious Beliefs in Kenya Rank Self-Identified Belief System Share of Population 1 Roman Catholic Christianity 28.4% Atheist or Agnostic 18.7% Rank Belief System Share of Population 2 1 Protestant 45% 3 Islam (predominantly Sunni) 17.9% Zionist Protestant Christianity 15.5% 2 Roman Catholic 33% 4 3 Muslim 10% 5 Evangelical Protestant Christianity 10.9% 4 Indigenous beliefs 10% 6 Other Beliefs 7.3% 2% 7 Anglican Protestant Christianity 1.3% 5 Other Note: a large majority of Kenyans are Christian but estimates for the percentage of the population that adheres to Islam or indigenous beliefs vary widely. worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/kenya/kefacts. htm#page worldatlas.com/articles/religious-beliefs-in-mozambique.html Religious Beliefs in Tanzania Religious Beliefs in Uganda Rank Belief System Share of Population 1 Roman Catholic Christianity 39.3% 2 Church Of Uganda (Anglican Protestant Christianity) 32.0% 3 Other Forms of Christianity 13.2% 4 Sunni Islam 12.1% 5 Shia, Ahmadiyya and Other Forms of Islam 1.6% 6 Atheism or Agnosticism 0.2% 7 Other Beliefs 1.6% worldatlas.com/articles/religious-beliefs-in-uganda.html Rank Belief System Share of Population 1 Christian 30% 2 Muslim 35% 3 Indigenous 35% worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/tanzania/tzfacts. htm#page Religious Beliefs in Zambia Rank Belief System Share of Population 1 Christian 50%-75% 2 Muslim and Hindu 24%-49% 3 Indigenous beliefs 1% worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/zambia/zmfacts. htm#page January - March 2018 SHARE | MAGAZINE | 15