Chalcedon Excursion to Zambia

An incredible opportunity has been presented to us. For a number of years, representatives of R. J. Rushdoony’s Chalcedon Report have been involved in discipling key leaders (including those at the highest levels of government) in one of the world’s major “hotspots” — Southern Africa. This labor has culminated in an unprecedented opportunity for a team of men, including Chalcedon editor Andrew Sandlin, board member Wayne Johnson and me to hold a pivotal three-day Chalcedon Conference in Zambia, the world’s only explicitly Christian nation.

We will be teaching hundreds of political leaders, pastors and businessmen; strategizing with key leaders (both White and Black); meeting with top government officials and businessmen; and conducting national TV and radio interviews. Our trip is particularly timely because the situation in these nations is approaching a critical level, as Africa undergoes a unique transition fraught with danger on all sides. The question now is: will the Black leadership turn from the discredited policies of Marxism/Leninism and Liberation Theology to embrace the truth of Biblical Reconstruction? Will White church leaders move beyond a legalistic pietism to embrace a victorious eschatology? Can White and Black leaders learn to work together to build Christ’s Kingdom?

As incredible as it may seem, we actually have the opportunity to make a difference. Wouldn’t it be amazing if the union of South Africa, the economic powerhouse of the African continent, turned to Biblical solutions in order to avoid a terrifying implosion, and if Zambia, emerging from 27 years of socialism, adopts Biblical principles of law and economics?

Hundreds of White and Black leaders are looking for us to provide answers — a realistic Biblical blue-print for reconstructing their nation. In Zambia, the President of the nation is open to and supportive of our message. He is so interested in what we have to say that he will open our meeting with prayer and attend a number of our seminars.

We will be teaching on the Foundations of Reconstruction with a particular emphasis upon work, economics and principles of Biblical finances. After decades of socialism, Zambians are without the necessary tools to pull their nation out of the disastrous conditions left in the wake of an economic system based on lies, thievery and envy.

In communicating on my last trip with Minister of Parliament Ngoma, who sits on the President’s Cabinet and is responsible for Social Services, I was struck with the magnitude of the task before this nation. Past President Kaunda did not simply come close to destroying this nation’s resources, but its will to work, as well. Yes, entire villages have been decimated by AIDS and malnutrition. But the scourge of socialism is causing even greater damage.

Think about it. A generation of people has grown up with the belief that the state was to provide economic security for all. People in their thirties have experienced only the illusory security of an all-powerful state and know nothing of the joy and freedom of self-government. When I asked a group of ministers why people would not leave the city (where there were no jobs) for the country-side where they could at least grow enough food to provide for their families, I was told that: “This would not happen because such a move would require the individual to work.”

While the destitute certainly need a helping hand, if it is given in the wrong way it only serves to reinforce the idea that the average citizen is incapable of making it on his own. Many who are capable of supporting themselves look to others for support, refusing to work. Any solution offered by Christians must include the Biblical ideals of work, the command to provide for one’s own family, and the church’s responsibility to disciple its members in Christian character and godly behavior.

If Zambia can follow a Biblical model to become a beacon of light, justice and prosperity, it will surely serve as a model for the rest of the developing world — a most likely area for the work of reconstructing the nations to begin. We must realize that reconstruction will logically begin in nations that are teetering on the very brink of self-destruction or attempting to climb out of the bottom of the pit of an already imploded society, rather than in the world’s wealthiest and most developed nations.