TJ, Author at 1Africa | Page 8 of 18

Big Up Africa: Mbongwana Star

TJ

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June 5, 2015

Sometimes being African is like being the misunderstood stepchild in the family. We want to be accepted and fit in but, at the same time, we don’t want acceptance to come at the expense of our unique, vibrant and complex identity. Much as the rest of the world tries to do so, it’s very difficult to put Africa in a box. Every so often, something happens or something is said by someone in Africa somewhere, completing shattering the stereotypes.

On the music scene, nothing exemplifies this idea more than a refreshing (and hectic) new musical outfit called Mbongwana Star. The ensemble from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has put out an intriguing and somewhat strange debut album called From Kinshasa. Perhaps it’s my lack of English vocab but there really is no way to describe these fellas except to plead with you to check them out for yourself. Two words that I can scrape together though are ‘otherworldly’ and ‘refreshing’. It really is a fresh album and worth a serious listen.

Signed by World Circuit Records and produced by Frenchman Liam Farrell (they call him Doctor L), Mbongwana Star is made up of Coco Yakala Ngambali, Théo Nsituvuidi Nzonza, Randy Makana Kalambayi, Jean Claude Kamina Mulodi aka R9 and Matuzolele Rodrick. They are on the tour in Europe from May till August 2015 and From Kinshasa is available online.

For their unique, odd and fascinating African sound, which is a cool mix of old, new, traditional and urban, Mbongwana Star find themselves on our Big Up Africa feature today.

Take a listen to Shégué, one of the tracks off their debut album.

Father’s Day 2015 (Part 1)

TJ

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June 5, 2015

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So… one of the most underrated and not-as-celebrated-as-it-should-be days on the calendar is just around the corner. Looking ahead now, it’s a few weeks left till Father’s Day 2015 is here. Why do I refer to it as underrated? It might appear as though I am being a little too dramatic. However, it may be time we dealt with the stark issue that the place of fatherhood is under attack all around us. With the rise of various lobbies and interest groups, there has been a major shift in how men, specifically fathers, are portrayed in the media. Watch any sitcom or mainstream motion picture nowadays and you’ll generally find the same ideas – absent, apathetic, violent or irresponsible fathers. Take your pick. You won’t go wrong.

In spite of all this, fathers still matter. When a father takes his place – not by being bossy, distant or arrogant , but by being present, decisive, loving and exemplary – it makes for a truly beautiful story. Today’s post is the first of 2 (the second will be posted here in time for Father’s Day itself). We simply want to remind ourselves that fathers, when they do their bit properly, are central even to the smooth flow of things in societies and nations. Check out the video below and experience how wonderful it is when a father influences what a child thinks about himself in a positive way.

The true love of a father is exemplified by the love that God has for each and every one of us. When we stop seeing him as some distant power seated in the clouds or hiding in trees, amazing things can come out of it. If you would like to be introduced to the story of a loving God and Father, we invite you to click on the banner below.

Beating Flu

TJ

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June 4, 2015

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In many parts of Africa, winter is here and, as we all know, coughs and flu and all kinds of nastiness tend to be the order of the day. We’ve all probably heard of the many conventional and traditional ways of beating flu. Today, courtesy of Health24, we bring you an important health article about the importance of Vitamin C in our health, particularly at this time of year.

Vitamin C is best known for its ability to increase the body’s resistance to infections like cold and flu. While it may not prevent us from getting ill altogether, studies indicate that people who take vitamin C tend to recover from colds more quickly, and have milder symptoms.

Vitamin C also aids wound healing, is essential for the production of collagen (a type of protein that connects and supports other bodily tissues such as skin, bone, tendons, muscles and cartilage), enhances iron absorption and fights cataracts by increasing the amount of blood flow to the eye.

It is also a powerful antioxidant which helps to protect cells from damage caused by free radicals that could contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease, cancers and other diseases.

As the body is not able to make vitamin C on its own, it is very important to include plenty of vitamin C-rich foods in your diet, and not just in winter. Your immune system is fighting off infections throughout the year, meaning it’s always important to keep your vitamin C levels stocked up.

Your body has a limited capability to store vitamin C and long-term deficiencies can have a seriously detrimental effect on the body, including a weakened immune system and the resultant vulnerability to illness and infection.

While citrus is the most well-known source of vitamin C, there are numerous other options if you don’t like citrus. You can stock up on guavas, kiwi fruit, blackcurrants, strawberries, papaya, sweet peppers, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower – all these foods are vitamin C superstars.

Another option is supplementary Vitamin C. Vitamin C tablets contain anywhere between 2 and 20 times the amount of Vitamin C in an orange. Effervescent tablets are a great way to get your required dose, especially as they often contain other vitamins and minerals necessary for maintaining optimum health.

Wherever you are in Africa, stay safe and keep warm this winter. If you’re reading this from a part of the world where summer reigns supreme, enjoy!

How Do I Stop Doing Bad Things?

TJ

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June 4, 2015

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Life on this earth can be one big story of major contradictions. Those who have ever known what it is to love another person are constantly perplexed by how the very same person who can cause our hearts to melt, can also be the very same person who hurts us in unimaginable ways. If you own a car, you know well that, as much as vehicles can give us wonderful driving pleasure as we cruise on the highway, it’s no fun when they break down and we are forced to break the bank to fix them. I can name any number of the things we love in life and the story of contradiction would undoubtedly be the same.

I’m quite convinced that the very same thing applies to our own behaviour. There are times when we stand back and look at we have done and have no choice but to smile because we really have done a good thing. Sadly, the opposite is true. Moments come in life where we are shocked by our own cruelty, meanness and deceitfulness. We stand face to face with the reality that we are capable of doing some pretty bad things. In thinking about this, I was reminded of the famous press conference by boxing legend, Muhammad Ali. Here’s a snippet of it:

Truth is, though, that the kinds of bad things Ali was talking about here were more about showmanship than about any really horrible things of which he could be ashamed. When a man has just lost his temper and smacked his child in a fit of rage though he wouldn’t ordinarily do that, that’s a bad thing. When a young woman, depressed about failing a job interview, goes out and has a meaningless sexual encounter with a guy she doesn’t know at all, that’s a bad thing. There are times, for most of us, when we are faced with the reality of how bad we can be. So what do we do?

The first thing is to recognize that we’re not alone. In some way or at some level, we all fall short. One of the most prolific writers of all time and the man responsible for writing the biggest chunk of the New Testament in the Bible said this:

“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

Even those who, by human measurement, are called saints really are not. We should always be real about our failures but, at the same time, not settle in them and accept them, especially if they destroy us and hurt others. If you are overwhelmed by your own weaknesses, we believe in a God who wants to welcome you and walk with you. That can’t happen until you own up, take responsibility and act. We want to share the message of this God with you. If you’d like to know more, click on the banner below.

Sepp Blatter Resigns

TJ

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June 3, 2015

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In what is most likely the biggest mainstream news item of the week, the world woke up to the headline “Sepp Blatter Resigns”. The longtime FIFA head announced his resignation just days after being re-elected as head of soccer’s powerful – though somewhat controversial – governing body. The resignation comes on the back of an announcement by US law enforcement officials that Blatter is at the center of an ongoing corruption investigation. Just days ago, several top FIFA executives were picked up by authorities charged with fraud, money laundering, racketeering and corruption. By the looks of things, this is only going to get bigger.

Here’s how Blatter’s resignation was announced:

The FIFA mess doesn’t speak or bode well for the world’s most loved sport but if it will take this to restore people’s faith in the beautiful game, so be it. When one considers the amazing effect that sport in general, and soccer in particular, has had on humanity over the years – in terms of bringing people together and celebrating life – perhaps it’s a good thing that these things are happening.

What’s your view of the scandals rocking FIFA at the moment? Is this the right thing to be happening or do you believe there is more to it than what we’re seeing?

Leave your comments in the box below.

Identity Crisis

TJ

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June 3, 2015

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Everywhere we look in the world today, it’s patently clear that the question of identity is more relevant now than it has ever been. Just yesterday, we put out a post about the controversial Bruce Jenner story that seems to have captured the world’s attention. From sex changes to discussions about the legalization of gay marriage around the world, if we don’t see that identity matters, we may be deluding ourselves.

What about the world of technology where issues of privacy and information have taken center stage? Governments are being accused of illegally gathering data about their citizens and monitoring communication, which really isn’t supposed to concern them. Private companies are harvesting stats about people’s interests, buying habits and internet use trends, all with a view to building profiles of people so that they can display ads that will cater to them specifically.

It’s all quite scary when you think about the depths of it and the lengths to which individuals and entities will go to define themselves and define others. The core of it all really is found in a question that we’ve heard a thousand times before: who am I? As profiles are built and moves are made, who are you really? Are you free from the madness and the clutter of this world or are you allowing yourself to be just another statistic in the center of this mad identity crisis?

You’re no statistic and you shouldn’t defined by what trends or what corporate profiles makes of you. Challenge yourself to break free and be seen as you really should be seen.

We believe that the only one who truly knows us as we should be known is the loving Creator who made us. If you have questions and would like to know more, please click on the banner below and connect with us.

Tracy Morgan vs. Self-Doubt

TJ

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June 2, 2015

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Phenomenal U.S. funnyman, Tracy Morgan, finally broke his silence after a horror crash that left him severely injured and took the life of his friend and coach, James McNair – fondly known as Jimmy Mac. Tracy Morgan, the star of the hit series “30 Rock”, was extremely emotional when he appeared, cane in hand, on NBC’s Today show – his first major interview since the accident happened.

Morgan’s interview with Today‘s Matt Lauer was wide-ranging and dealt with issues from his experience of the accident, the aftermath as well as his emotional journey since then, including the overwhelming sense of disbelief and pain at the loss of Jimmy Mac. Here’s the emotional interview, courtesy of Today.

Morgan’s words are full of such power that they are worth quoting here: “I love comedy. I’ll never stop loving her. I love comedy and I can’t wait to get back to her, but right now my goal is just to heal and get better because I’m not 100 percent yet, I’m not,” he said. “And when I’m there, you’ll know it. I’ll get back to making you laugh. I promise you.”

We all suffer setbacks of one sort or another in our lives. Sometimes they come and go in a day, like a disagreement with a loved one, but sometimes they can be entire seasons of our lives. Consider Tracy’s story. He may have traveled part of the way to his recovery but he still has some healing to do. That is the story of many of us sometimes. At times, during that journey, we doubt ourselves and don’t feel we can make it on our own. That is when faith and the support of loved ones can see us through.

You may be on a similar healing journey and are asking yourself questions about God and faith. If you’d like to know more, please click on the banner below and watch the video that follows.

Be Confident In Yourself!

TJ

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May 28, 2015

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A funny story of something that happened a few years ago came to mind recently. This time, though, it carried an important encouragement that I’d like to share in this post.

A young boy from my church (let’s call him Mac), about 12 or 13 years old, approached me and told me that he urgently wanted to speak to me. Upon hearing him out, I learnt that he was desperately in love with a lady friend of mine who, if I’m not mistaken, was about ten or eleven years older than him. He asked me to tell him as much as I could about her and I did so – although I must admit I didn’t take him too seriously. When I had a chance to speak to my friend, I narrated to her my conversation with Mac and of course she too, like me, brushed him off and made nothing of it. ‘A little boy’s crush’ she said it was.

Soon, the great day came when the two met face to face and Mac got an opportunity to make his feelings known to my friend. I stood a short distance away and watched in amusement as he stepped up to her, shook her hand and started to speak. I would have started laughing my head off except that something completely amazing happened during the encounter. As he chatted her up, he didn’t let go of her hand but lingered and she seemed unable to fight it. He looked her straight in the eyes and didn’t flinch but spoke with supreme confidence and built his case. Like the classic Tom and Jerry toons, my jaws dropped as I noticed that she was actually beginning to tremble and even blush as the boy poured out his heart…
I’ll leave it to you to imagine how this story ended.

What a lesson about what confidence can do even for those who have been told that they don’t qualify! Perhaps all you need to break through is shift your attitude about yourself in relation to that challenge or mountain you’re facing.

One thing is certain: it can be done by you. Be confident in yourself!

One thing we know for sure here at 1Africa is that self-confidence on its own is meaningless if not rooted in something deeper. Where do you find your meaning and where does your confidence come from? Is it in your looks, your accomplishments or your family name?

If you’d like to know more about living life with a deeper, higher form of confidence, please click on the banner below. We’d like to tell you more.

Trevor Noah: African American

TJ

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May 27, 2015

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Early this week, the rising star of African and international comedy, Trevor Noah, featured in South African news headlines when it was reported that “yet another” of his relatives had passed away. The comedian then took to Twitter to express that this was news to him.

“Thanks to some crafty journalism my family and I have spent the whole day trying to figure out if one of us died. #awkward”

I’ve often been impressed by Trevor’s witty way of navigating the awkwardness that sometimes comes with being in the limelight as he is. We often don’t consider just how tough it is to constantly be in the public eye – always talked about, always scrutinized.

Well, enough about scrutiny and seriousness. Today’s just about having a good time. On our Lighter Side feature today, we celebrate the latest and greatest African icon to break into the big league. It takes a man with pretty big ones to go poke fun at Americans in America. Enjoy this video from his African American show.

What Is A Real Christian?

TJ

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May 26, 2015

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While catching up on the news just the other day, I found myself quite taken with the unfolding drama in the east African nation of Burundi. There, the sitting president, Pierre Nkurunziza, recently launched a bid to run for a third term as head of state. In protest against his intentions, people took to the streets in anger, refusing to allow what has been a pattern in most African countries. That story is still unraveling at the time of writing this piece and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

In reading up some more about Burundi and then about Nkurunziza, the main actor in this tragic drama, I then came across some stats that took me somewhat by surprise. According to the search site Wikipedia, “Nkurunziza self-describes himself as a born again Christian“. For a while, the contrast between a man whose actions in moving to hold on to power are polarizing a nation and someone who is supposedly a Christian (Christian leaders are, by definition, supposed to be peacemakers and servants of the people) was extremely confusing. Yet, it gave me the opportunity to ask a question many other people must be interested in having an answer to: what is a real Christian?

As I’ve been thinking about this question, my thoughts turned to social media and its influence on our modern thinking about certain concepts. Two of the major players, namely Facebook and Twitter, make use of pretty significant words in the structure of how people interact on their platforms. The two words are ‘friend’ and ‘follower’ and they will help us see something very important when it comes to figuring out what a real Christian is.

Let’s start with ‘friend’. When you look at the traditional definition of what a friend is, it’s totally different from what a Facebook friend is. A friend, as we’ve been used to knowing one, is defined as “a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard”. On social media, however, even someone whom we don’t know can be called a friend just because we like their pictures or status updates. It takes less to earn the place of friendship on social media and, as a matter of fact, I have folks who are my friends on Facebook who will not so much as greet me when we are in the same room. Huh? What’s that about?

The same applies with ‘follower’. Traditionally, a follower is “a person who follows another in regard to his or her ideas or belief; disciple or adherent”. The first part of that definition probably does apply to the social media use of the word but not so much the second. In reality, a disciple will follow the master to the death and will give his or her very life to honor those ideas or beliefs. On Twitter though, if I get tired of someone or suddenly feel that I no longer want to hear what they have to say, it’s a simple case of pressing the ‘unfollow’ option and poof, goodbye!

It seems we’ve got everything twisted and we’ve blurred the line to the point that we can’t really see clearly. Coming back to the original question, what is a real Christian? There are actually two sides to it – the position of being a Christian and the function of being a Christian.

Positional Christianity. In the Bible, it’s stated that all it takes to become a Christian is to believe and to confess. Unless someone chooses or begins to believe something else, they remain a Christian and that can’t be taken away from them.
Functional Christianity. This is what should naturally follow after the first step of choosing to believe in Jesus Christ. Because He lived a certain way, anyone who calls themselves a Christian should also, in everyday life, do their best to follow that example. Christianity is a faith that contains practices, principles and disciplines. Without them, an observer would not be able to identify somebody as a Christian even if, by position, he or she is one.

The best way to answer the tricky question of what a real Christian is would really be to say that a healthy Christian is one who is as much a Christian by position as by function. It can’t be enough to enjoy saying I am a Christian and yet I hate people. One of the greatest commandments of the Christian faith is to love others. Christianity is a faith that is progressive and that encourages growth. The only way to grow is to actually put into practice the principles that Christ taught his disciples.

Where do you stand? Are you just a nominal Christian but not actually able to see what faith in Christ can do for you practically? The heart of this post is about giving you a nudge to consider being functional in your Christianity if you’re not doing that. Don’t be stuck in the place of just being called a Christian by name. If you’d like to know more about an active and living relationship with Christ, please click on the banner below and watch the video.

TJ

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