–– Warrick Jubber
Audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Among Africa’s many problems, one of its greatest is the absence of fathers from the home. The Human Sciences Research Council reports that in South Africa, over 60% of children do not reside with their biological fathers, with only 20% seeing their biological father bi-weekly.
The importance of a father’s role in the family and especially the development of children has been the subject of extensive global research. The National Fatherhood Initiative reported that children living in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor and twice as likely to drop out of school. Children raised without the influence of a father are also reported to face significantly higher probabilities of being abused or indulging in crime, drug and alcohol abuse, and sexual promiscuity.
Though this is a global phenomenon, Africa faces a particular challenge with the high levels of fathers who don’t reside at home with their families and the consequences thereof. It should be clear that many of Africa’s social and economic problems are significantly influenced by the high levels of fathers who are absent from their families.
Though this problem of fatherless homes has many contributing factors, one of the most significant in Africa is the practice of migrant labour. Labour migration is the practice of moving to another region or country to find employment. Africa’s migrant labour system stems from the integration of indigenous African men into wage labour. African men changed from being farmers in their own lands to being cheap labour, especially in the mines. With this practice continuing for over 150 years, it is now a deeply-entrenched part of African culture.
The church in Africa needs to recognise the need to bring cultural beliefs and practices into submission to God’s standards. As believers in Africa develop a Biblical worldview, they will soon identify the reality that every human culture is influenced in varying ways by the rebellion of sin. Therefore, culture needs to conform to the authority of Scripture in order to experience the blessings of living life God’s way.
The practice of migrant labour among many low-skilled workers is one area of African culture that needs to be reformed in order to adopt a more Biblical practice. Scripture is clear that God’s plan for the family is for the husband and father to be the leader of his home, which necessitates that he live at home with his family.
In 1 Peter 3:7, Peter instructs us on God’s plan for men in marriage when he writes, “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way….” While many men immediately focus on what it means to be “understanding” with their wives, we should not miss the foundational command for husbands to “live with their wives,” as Peter writes. God’s clear expectation is that every husband and father would live with his family.
What Peter has stated explicitly, is also clearly necessitated by other commands of Scripture. Husbands must live with their wives in order to be the provider, protector, and spiritual leader that Ephesians 5:22–33 requires. It is also imperative for the husband to live at home in order to fulfil his responsibility of regular intimacy with his wife, as commanded by 1 Corinthians 7:3.
In Ephesians 6:4, God instructs us in His plan for parents as we read, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” It is impossible for a father who lives elsewhere for the sake of employment to fulfil his responsibility to diligently teach and train his children.
Despite the economic circumstances faced by many families in Africa and God’s mandate that men should be the financial providers of their families according to 1 Timothy 5:8 and 2 Thessalonians 3:10, the cultural practice of men living apart from their families in order to work is a clear rebellion against God’s design for the family. The church in Africa needs to teach men to work diligently to provide for their families while living at home in order to fulfil their other responsibilities to their wives and children.
Admittedly, the Bible never prohibits men from leaving home temporarily for special purposes. For example, men serving in the military may be deployed abroad much like the armies of Israel. Men may also need to be away occasionally as part of their job requirements, much like Zechariah the priest who served in a temple rotation in Luke 1:8–9. However, there is a vast difference between an occasional absence for a limited time and a permanent arrangement where men live largely separate lives from their families.
If a man’s work requires him to move to another region or country, then he should take his wife and children with him. We see this in the example of Aquila and Priscilla who travelled together in Acts 18. We also read in 1 Corinthians 9:5 that it was the practice of Peter and the other married apostles to take their wives along with them on their missionary journeys.
In Africa, migrant work has brought with it a plague of problems for both families and society at large. It is critical that African culture submit to God’s design for the family and conform to the Biblical practice of men staying at home in order to fulfil their responsibilities to their wives and children. Though the unbelieving world may be slow to adopt this practice, the church in Africa should exemplify this godly pattern in the home.