Choosing Leaders in Rural Africa

Choosing Leaders in Rural Africa

There are certain challenges in choosing leaders in rural Africa. Education level can be a problem in the villages, so people can be tempted to nominate someone because of their education level rather than on character. I stress that integrity is the one nonnegotiable character trait a candidate must have. They need to be servant leaders, wanting to serve the people rather than desiring authority and privilege. Philippians 2:3-4: “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”  If people have integrity and motivation they can be trained to most things. When leaders are not well chosen and supervised the results can be quite negative, such as seeking their own glory instead of the glory of God. I advise seeking out people who are already helping people, and then equipping them to be even more helpful. Do not accept a candidate who is not already serving people, in the hope that some education and information will inspire them to start serving others. As the son of a librarian I have provided many people with information, training and resources, but when the candidate was not well selected the results have been meager. Integrity is an important issue everywhere but education level is a greater problem in rural areas.