“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” - Matthew 9:16-18 (NIV)

Through the above passage, Jesus explained to John the Baptist’s disciples that Christ’s mission could not be contained within constrictive traditions and chained-up thinking.

In 2006 we have secular new wine in the African Diaspora: Liberia’s and Haiti’s free election of heads of state after extended periods of chaos.

Both countries were founded in the 1800’s on Black liberation principles, but have been smothered in violent disunity during recent decades. The early 2006 elections of Ellen Johnson-Serleaf as president of Liberia of Rene Preval as Haiti’s president revive hope.

Haiti was founded in 1804, as enslaved Africans on the western side of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola overthrew their French masters and created an independent Black nation.

From the start, however, contradictions such as skin shade and class divided the new nation’s population. Also, Haiti’s government too often swayed toward authoritarianism, culminating in iron grip of the “Papa Doc” and “Baby Doc” Duvalier regimes of the late mid-20 th century. Outside forces, particularly the United States, exploited Haiti’s weaknesses.

The cauldron exploded in the 1980’s and 1990’s with the people’s revolution centered around former Catholic priest Jean Bertrand Aristide. Haitians twice elected him president, and twice military forces overthrew him, backed by the upper class and, the second time, the United States.

Since this second overthrow and exile, a U.S.-backed government interim government of the Haitian elite has ruled Haiti, headed by Gerard Latortue and supported by former military and police. Aristide’s followers have regularly protested, sometimes violently.

In presidential elections held this February 2006, the first since the second overthrow, 49% to 51% of the people elected Preval, an associate of Aristide. His closest contender received approximately 12% of the vote. Haiti thus has another chance at government by the people. To maximize this new wine, the people must build new wine skins of peace and order.

Liberia , in West Africa was settled in 1821 by Blacks freed from slavery in the United States. During the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, black nationalists such as Edward Wilmot Blyden and Marcus Mosiah Garvey focused on building Liberia into a strong independent nation.

Like Haiti, however, Liberia had divisive contradictions, including American-descended Liberians vs. those of pure indigenous descent, prosperous vs. poor, and light-skinned vs. dark skinned. These issues ruptured Liberia in 1980, when army Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, of pure indigenous descent, led a military coup. Doe’s forces executed Liberia’s cabinet ministers and diminished Americo-Liberian dominance.

During ensuing chaotic years, private armies vied for power. Charles Taylor’s army launched a rebellion in 1989. A second army, led by Prince Johnson, kidnapped President Doe and tortured him on videotape in 1990. Ultimately, Taylor gained control of the government, but, two new armies challenged his authority – Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). These controlled significant Liberian territory and eventually invaded the capital, Monrovia. By 2003, international pressure forced Taylor into exile in Nigeria.

Under international oversight, Gyude Bryant, a Liberian businessman, managed the transitional government. After several false starts, elections in February 2006 brought Ellen Johnson-Serleaf to the presidency. Pray that, under Johnson Serleaf, Liberia can achieve national unity and peace.

Johnson-Serleaf has been called “the Queen of Africa.” This exaggerates her role. She faces sufficient challenge unifying her own small but Diaspora-significant country. Yet, identifying her with great female rulers of Africa’s past, such as Nzhingha of Ndongo (in present-day Angola) and Hatshepsut of Khemet (ancient Egypt) raises the bar.

If Johnson-Serleaf maintains peace and unity, she could set an example for other African countries mired in civil war or its aftermath, such as Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. To hold this new wine, these countries need a new wineskin: peace as a value system.

Continue to pray for peace, unity, and prosperity throughout the Diaspora, and believe that these are achievable. Break from past failures. Establish better ways of dealing with our own people. Create new wineskins so that when God provides new wine we will have the right vessels into which to pour it.