© 2016 Georges Michelson-Dupont
© 2016 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
Fertile land for the teachings of The Urantia Book
In the article “The role of the French in the dissemination of the teachings of the Urantia Book in the world” published in LE LIEN No. 75 of June 2016, we highlighted the explosion of Africa’s demographics in the next 80 years. Indeed, according to the official projections of the United Nations, the median hypothesis shows that one in three human beings will be African and that the sub-Saharan regions alone will represent 90% of this third of the world population. We are talking here about more than 3.5 billion people.
Youth is the real treasure of black Africa, but it can also be “a time bomb”. According to J. J. Konadje, Doctor of Political Science and geopolitical consultant, "Africa is by far the youngest region in the world in terms of population. According to the latest United Nations estimates, African youth represent more than 60% of the continent’s overall population and just over 40% of the active population. Mathematically, there are 200 million young people between the ages of 18 and 24 on the continent. In twenty years, there will be 340 million young people in Africa. . . . African youth are, as a whole and to a certain extent, in the same boat: unemployment, violence, despair, idleness, precariousness, adventure, illusion, illiteracy, illiteracy and undereducation, to name but a few, constitute their common denominator and most of the time punctuate their daily lives. »
What can The Urantia Book bring in these conditions to this African youth, who, deep in their hearts, are eager for solutions, love, fraternity, truth and above all hope?
The human mind is responsive to reality on whatever continent it may be. It responds to causality, duty, and worship. [Paper 16, sect. 6] Therefore, it is subject to the expansion of cosmic consciousness and the enhancement of spiritual perception, and since the bestowal of our Creator Son on Urantia, the Spirit of Truth is available and the Thought Adjusters indwell every human being.
The Urantia Book can therefore bring an opening of consciences towards true spiritual fraternity and produce an expansion-education of thought which will clarify the relations between Gods and men, eliminate the confusions resulting from erroneous beliefs and ancestral customs, eradicate tribal prejudices and restore the status of women because, as you will see in the testimonies which follow, these obstacles are still very present in Africa and particularly in the countries of the Sub-Saharan region. The religions of fear are everywhere present and fight for their hegemony.
This is why an intelligent, patient, respectful, non-invasive and progressive presentation of the revelation is essential to penetrate these countries.
It must be done by born-again Africans, sincere and selfless for their fellow Africans seeking the truth.
As the mandate to reveal advises us, they must be trained to become leaders and facilitators to be able to create hundreds of study groups.
This is the method of our ex-Planetary Prince. It is also the prudent and effective way to avoid entering into head-on conflict with the religions of fear.
Training students of The Urantia Book to become study group facilitators is precisely one of the objectives of the UBIS school. Three Africans have already been trained and are giving courses there.
We asked African readers from three countries to share their experiences; to tell us what the main obstacles they face are, and what we can do to help.
Georges Michelson-Dupont
Period 1950 to 2100 — United Nations Projections
| COUNTRY | 1950 | 2000 | 2016 | 2050 | 2100 | Languages | Christian | Muslim | Tradition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burkina Faso | 3 | 11 | 19 | 45 | 80 | French | 23% | 60% | 15% |
| Cameroon | 5 | 18 | 23 | 43 | 81 | French | 65% | 21% | 6% |
| Congo DRC | 10 | 50 | 70 | 190 | 360 | French | 98% | 1% | 1% |
| Ivory Coast | 3 | 18 | 22 | 50 | 95 | French | 44% | 37% | 10% |
| Madagascar | 5 | 18 | 25 | 50 | 105 | French | 75% | 1% | 20% |
| Mali | 7 | 12 | 18 | 43 | 90 | French | 10% | 90% | |
| Niger | 5 | 20 | 30 | 75 | 200 | French | 1% | 98% | 1% |
| Senegal | 2 | 10 | 15 | 35 | 75 | French | 4% | 95% | 1% |
| Chad | 2 | 9 | 14 | 35 | 65 | French | 35% | 61% | 3% |
| Subtotal | 39 | 155 | 217 | 521 | 1071 | French | |||
| Ghana | 5 | 20 | 28 | 50 | 73 | English | 73% | 18% | 4% |
| Kenya | 7 | 30 | 48 | 85 | 160 | English | 83% | 11% | 3% |
| Malawi | 5 | 12 | 18 | 45 | 85 | English | 65% | 16% | 19% |
| Nigeria | 25 | 120 | 186 | 400 | 740 | English | 40% | 40% | ? |
| Sudan | 8 | 28 | 41 | 80 | 125 | English | 5% | 93% | 2% |
| South Sudan | 3 | 7 | 13 | 25 | 41 | English | 60% | 6% | 33% |
| Tanzania | 10 | 38 | 52 | 135 | 290 | English | 66% | 33% | |
| Uganda | 8 | 25 | 42 | 100 | 200 | English | 82% | 14% | 3% |
| Zambia | 3 | 11 | 18 | 43 | 102 | English | 97% | ||
| Zimbabwe | 2.5 | 13 | 16 | 30 | 40 | English | 87% | 1% | 4% |
| Sub Total | 76.5 | 304 | 462 | 993 | 1856 | English | |||
| Ethiopia | 20 | 65 | 100 | 175 | 230 | None | 44% | 34% | |
| Angola | 5 | 20 | 35 | 65 | 130 | Portuguese | 99% | 1% | |
| Mozambique | 8 | 19 | 30 | 63 | 120 | Portuguese | 56% | 18% | 7% |
| Subtotal | 13 | 39 | 65 | 128 | 250 | Portuguese | |||
| Yemen | 4 | 18 | 27 | 42 | 49 | Arabic | 100% | ||
| TOTAL | 127.5 | 496 | 736 | 1619 | 309 6 |
Explanations: For the demographic part, these statistics present the estimates and probabilistic projections of the total population for countries or areas, geographic aggregates and income groups of the World Bank as defined in Definition of regions. The demographic projections are based on the probabilistic projections of total fertility and life expectancy at birth, based on the estimates of the 2015 Revision of the World Population Prospects. These probabilistic projections of total fertility and life expectancy at birth were carried out with a hierarchical Bayesian model. The figures show the probabilistic median and the 80 and 95% prediction intervals of the probabilistic population forecasts, as well as the high and low (deterministic) variant (+/- 0.5 children) of the 2015 Revision of the World Population Prospects.
For languages and religions, this data comes from Wikipedia.