Raise up a child in the ways of the Lord and when they grow, they will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). But how can you raise up a child in today’s time and generation when even you you don’t know what to do, as you have never been a parent? When you have never been taught how to raise children? When you yourself are still a child in need of lessons on life?
When I was a first-time mother, I read a book called Supernatural Childbirth by Jackie Mize. That book greatly guided me in the ways I would pray for my unborn child. I have never met Jackie in person, but the lessons she learnt as she had and raised her children were effectively passed on to me, a person who was thousands of miles away, and several years younger than her. That is the power of a written book. Over the years, I have read several books on parenting, but have not come across many written by African authors. Yet there are very many Africans who have managed to parent their children effectively to great success, with a legacy in the ways of the Lord.
This section is a celebration of African writers who have decided to add their voices to the ways in which we can effectively raise our children in today’s world, with a Godly mindset. With so many challenges and criticisms in the way Christians can raise a child, it is pertinent that the Christians who have succeeded in that endeavor put pen to paper, to explain to others how they have managed to succeed in today’s troubled world.
African writers have as much to say as the other writers in the world. But they on the other hand are even more privileged position because they are writing for an audience that can easily relate to what they are talking about, in terms of culture and norms, and whose market is not yet saturated with a lot of literature from the same. They therefore have the privilege of shaping the narrative, and what better way, than if Christian authors take up the mantle and shine?