La foi à l’ère numérique : écrans, jeunes et mission en Afrique

Saviez-vous qu’en Afrique, nous passons plus de trois heures par jour sur nos téléphones ? Et, si ce temps n’était pas perdu, mais devenait un véritable terrain de mission ?

Dans cet épisode de votre podcast Foi, Vie et Politique en Afrique et dans la diaspora,

Sœur Marie-Agathe Tindjamé, EGNB, explore un grand paradoxe :

La foi à l’ère numérique : est-ce que nos écrans nous rapprochent de Dieu… ou nous en éloignent ?

Nous entrons au cœur de questions brûlantes :

• L’écran est-il devenu le nouveau parvis de l’Église ?
• Peut-on vraiment vivre une communion authentique derrière un écran ?
• Le numérique renforce-t-il notre vie de foi ou crée-t-il une foi froide, individualiste et déconnectée de nos cultures africaines ?

Pour éclairer cette réflexion, Sœur Marie-Agathe reçoit :

🎧 Richard Toumba, créateur de contenus, humoriste et comédien,

qui voit sa présence en ligne comme une vocation numérique, un appel de Dieu à évangéliser là où se trouvent les jeunes : sur TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube…

Avec lui, nous abordons :

• Comment créer une atmosphère de prière dans un monde saturé de notifications.
• La différence entre faire le buzz et toucher réellement les cœurs.
• Le risque d’une foi « à deux vitesses » : les connectés et les oubliés.
• Le discernement face aux fake news spirituelles, aux « business religieux » et aux dérives.
• Comment transformer le numérique en espace de lumière, et pas seulement de divertissement.

👉 À la fin, une question reste pour chacun de nous :

Combien de temps passes-tu à nourrir ton écran… et combien de temps à nourrir ton âme ?

Transcript

Speaker: 0:01

Did you know that we spend on average three hours a day on our phones in Africa? What if that time didn't go to waste, but became instead a mission field? Take a moment to look at your phone. For many of us, it's the last thing we touch before sleeping and the first thing in the morning when we open our eyes. In Africa, we don't just consume digital media, we live there, we trade on WhatsApp, we laugh on TikTok and we laugh get our news on Twitter. To say that for centuries, to encounter the sacred, you had to step over the threshold of a church. Today Today, the sacred fits in the palm

of your pocket: 0:54

mass, prayer and sharing no longer waits for us within four walls; they invite themselves into our pockets, between two Instagram notifications and a TikTok video. But can we really talk about communion when we're separated by a screen and guided by an algorithm? Do we really ask where God is hiding in all this flow of data? Can a connection via Wi‑Fi truly replace a fraternal connection? For a long time, faith in Africa

had a face: 1:31

that of gatherings, the warmth of church pews, from the dust kicked up by the dances and the touch of hands that clasp. But nowadays, alas, a part of that soul lives elsewhere, it lives in chas. It is a pleasure for me to be with you for this new episode. This is Sister Marie -Agathe N'Diame, EGNB, today on Vosse Africa, your podcast that brings together perspectives on faith, life and politics in Africa and the diaspora, we engage at the heart of a paradox, an invisible yet clearly drawn boundary, faith in the digital age. How have our smartphones transformed our relationship to the sacred? Has the screen become the new forecourt of mission? We will ask whether digital tech really brings us closer together or is it in the process of disembodying our experience of God. In this episode from the physical parish to the community on WhatsApp, we'll talk about space geographical area, that it is no longer a limit for mission, about real connection the challenge for Africa and above all the human role in what we, young people, have to play in this new frontier. Whether you're scrolling on transit in Libreville, to work in Dakar or to relaxing in Abidjan, this episode is also for you. Make yourself comfortable, turn on your immersion mode, here we go for the episode "Faith Put to the screen." Dear listeners, following our first episode that talked about how young people live their faith in church and in society, today we tackle the theme Faith in the Digital Age and to explore its boundaries, I welcome today a guest who has decided not to leave social networks solely for entertainment. He has chosen to talk about God there. Welcome to this podcast. Who are you? I send my greetings to everyone. to our loyal listeners. I'm Richard. Toumba, content creator, comedian and comedian. I'd like to ask you the reason for this vocation? Many use social networks for business, but what sparked it for you? For me, the digital calling is a call from God, in the same way that one receives the call from God. It's in that same way that I, as a young person, set out I set out because God calls me. as he called many of the prophets. Knowing full well that we, young people, are more focused on what is digital than physical, I realized that the only way to be able to perpetuate God's word is also to conform to the ideal that is currently observed in youth society So, for me, it's this call to which I therefore responded by as a son of God, being able to spread his word with my brothers and sisters based on the reality experienced by our brothers and sisters. Let's talk about this sacred place. For a long time people said that we used to go to church, but today, it's the service that comes to us, in our pocket. According to you, has the physical place lost its sacredness because of this erasing of distance? The physical place could not lose its sacredness because that place is a particular symbol. Indeed, we see nowadays that there aren't enough people who have the time to attend meetings, services, even prayer meetings, but are always on social networks. Sure, that's very clear and That's true, it's verified. And that doesn't mean that the public or physical place has lost its sacredness. No. It is indeed true that when we start a discussion on social networks, we see many people join in, and this is only natural. Given the situation we're living, we don't have the same personal activity schedules and this sometimes prevents us from meeting up among youth, among adults to talk in person. But that doesn't therefore mean that we don't participate in church activities through through these social networks. No. Many people can offer ideas, proposals on platforms like WhatsApp or Facebook that can help move the community forward, that can advance an association. In short, physical places should not lose their value, their sacredness. As you just said, the physical place does not lose its sacredness. But then, tell me, I'd like to understand how to create an atmosphere of prayer when you're surrounded by Instagram notifications—can we still speak of mystery and silence on platforms like than TikTok and Facebook, which are nevertheless based on noise and motion? Permanent? How do we reconcile that? Create silence within noise? First, it's important to note that when we pray or when we take part in activities, when we do—provided we place ourselves in conditions that address these problems, starting by putting our phones on airplane mode. That way, during prayer, we won't have those disruptions from notifications. We won't have those messages that will pull us away from our focus. So, it's important to note that no matter the setting we're in, silence still has its place. Indeed, it's true that the platforms mentioned above are platforms that create noise. Note that silence finds its place as well. Silence finds its place insofar as, when one comes across posts, we are not obliged to respond because our response could cause problems, could make other people uncomfortable. We would therefore prefer to stay silent. Despite the noise we see around us, we must keep silent. It's the same thing we also encounter in our physical lives. Because we also notice that there are other people who spend their spending time making noise, talking, talking, talking, talking, while others nearby are quiet. Yes, they are very quiet. It's not because they have nothing to say, it's because they're afraid to say something that will upset people or that will negatively change the rhythm. Even if what they have to say is positive, given the pace, given the atmosphere around them, they would rather keep that silence. So it's the same behavior we also adopt on platforms such as Facebook, TikTok or Youtube. The Silence always finds its place. If the physical space is no longer a barrier for praying together, is it enough to be connected to be truly in communion, between a live stream and a sharing from the heart, where is the boundary? Let's now cross the screen to see what's really happening there. That's the whole topic of this second part. Can we really experience communion behind a screen? As an influencer, I already experience that through my platforms. Already, through my content, I receive many invitations, lots of followers, and we already interact with a lot of people. We are connected with these people When those people interact with us, we joke, we laugh, we encourage one another True, it's virtual, but we encourage one another. Now, when God causes the grace that we meet physically, that is simply a logical continuation of what began on the social networks. It's a continuation, a very logical sequence. Because the laughter we had on social networks, we keep it alive. We continue in the same flow, in this vibe that joy we shared on social networks. It even often happens that we continue the conversations that we had already started on social media. So, for me, I think that we can really live in communion, i that is, a communion behind the screen. It's very possible. We all know, the common trend on social networks is to seek glory, to seek likes. So how do you personally tell the difference between truly touching the heart and simply feeding the algorithm? It's true, on social networks, many seek glory, likes, just to satisfy the algorithm of any social network. Given the trend we you see now, we no longer have a tendency to play up perversion, just to get those likes, because the current world doesn't like the truth. I prefer to put it that way. The current world likes what moves, likes what creates a trigger, an atmosphere of perversion. The world loves that—the buzz, as we often say, we create a lie just like that, just to attract people's attention and watch the comments and likes pour in, just to have that visibility and reach glory rather than touching the heart. On the other hand, there are others others who touch hearts and at the same time get likes from the content they make available to internet users. For example, scenes where you see a man of God or a young person helping an elderly person or a sick person—it not only attracts likes, but it touches hearts, it calls or leads people to become interested and to change the way they see things. So for me, the difference between those likes you earn just to get that glory—and touching the heart is therefore at that level. We can likewise earn the likes and touch the heart through the content we create. This virtual communion we talk about, however, faces a very concrete reality, such as Africans' rootedness, where faith is primarily tactile and communal. Let's see how to reconcile clicks and intimacy. As we can observe and we well know, Africa has a very strong culture of physical closeness. So, don't you think that digital media risks creating a cold or overly individualistic faith that doesn't fit our cultural values? What do you think? So, we all know that in Africa, we are used to meeting up, to greet one another, to do this, to do that. And that's exactly right. It happens that these days, someone can spend their time writing you "good morning, good evening, good morning," "good evening" on social media. But once they're in front of you, they act as if you don't even know each other at all. We end up realizing that digital interaction, at this level, tends to separate us, tends to divide us, tends to change our cultures. We know very well that in our cultures, when you find someone, you should greet them. "Hello, good evening, how are you?" That's perfect. But what we observe instead is that on social networks, there's a tendency to greet, to have fun, to gather information, yet in person we don't do it. But it's not everyone. It's not the case for everyone who tends to behave that way. No, not at all. Social networks or digital tools unite many people. Those who were separated... In our cultures, we know that when you meet someone, you must greet them. Hello, good evening, how are you? That's perfect. But what we notice instead, is that on social networks, we tend to greet each other, to have fun, to exchange information, but once face-to-face, we don't do it. But that's not everyone. It's not the case for everyone who tends to be like that. No, not at all. Social networks or digital tech bring many people together. People who split up a long time ago, They lost them a very long time ago. Even phone numbers. But thanks to this digital technology, they found their contacts again, they reshared their new contacts and that reunited them again. Already at this level, we see that digital technology brings us together after a period of separation. There, it's very clear. But I always base this on the fact that everything depends on how we manage digital technology. There is also the challenge of data. The digital divide is real. The cost of the connection is in francs. Is it possible to not a risk that we might create a a two-speed era—the connected ones and the forgotten who don't have access to the Internet? The digital mission can therefore only create a two-speed era. That's true, sometimes we tend to think that that's it, but at a certain point, it's not. Yes, because we often realize that we have conversations that we start on social networks, that is to say among those who thus have the digital tools in their hands, who come to rejoin discussions we've had during physical meetings. It's very Clear. It's true that there isn't a perfect match, but the core remains the same. The mission digital can therefore only create two worlds, the world of the connected and the world of the not-connected. Beyond culture and access to the Internet, the ultimate challenge remains that of discernment, where the digital world imposes on us a challenge of truth. In this jungle of information, how do we protect faith from drifts and spiritual fake news to turn our online presence into a real commitment? In the era of algorithms that capture our attention, the real Wouldn't the challenge be to disconnect in order to better connect with others ? We are in control of ourselves. If we feel too attached to social media, it's because we want it. It's true, there is often that kind of addiction that we have when we're used to something, but disconnecting isn't always the best thing. Because on social media, we meet people who share their lives with us, who inspire us—their faith, how God speaks to them in their actions, in their lives. These words, these experiences life inspire us, and after this inspiration, we go and share them with others others. But is it by disconnecting to connect with others, how will the lives we go on to lead be ? Won't that life be dull because on social networks, there are always new things, there are always new experiences, brothers in Christ with whom we exchange. These experiences inspire us and give us the strength and inspiration to share them with our brothers. So, disconnecting for the purpose of connecting to our brothers is not always obvious. We receive a lot of content via WhatsApp or through other platforms. So how do we help a young person sort out what's a genuine testimony of faith and a religious business or an exploitation? You just need to talk about it with our brothers, those we interact with on social media. And in fact, it's also an opportunity to reach out to our brothers who don't even have a phone to connect, to share this news or information with them. So each of us will then have our own analysis. And together, we can determine whether it's a whether it's good information or not. So, the first thing to do is, share it. Don't jump straight on the opportunity, but talk about it with your brothers. The question of getting everyone's opinion is to know what to do. So, for me, that's what you should do. In this era, this era we live in, it's not a perfect era. It's an era stained with fake information, false testimonies, and fake businesses. And we really have to be very, very careful about what we receive. Above all, there are links that we're often bombarded with them. There are links shared in WhatsApp groups that imply there's money to be made, for example. They send you a link, as soon as you click, either they get access to all the information on your phone, or they outright hack your account. And through this hacking, they swindle your brothers in Christ. They use your identity to go scam the brothers you talk to. So, you must be very, very, very careful with the information you receive on social networks. Preferably, talk about it, before sharing. social networks. Preferably, talk about it, That's very important. Certainly, many young people would like to be like you, but they don't have that opportunity. Or they don't dare to get involved. Or also, others let themselves be completely absorbed by digital media. So what is the message you want to pass on to this generation searching for meaning in their lives? The message I want to give this generation seeking meaning in their lives, through screens, is the following. Brother, Sister, seek what will help you, and not what will drag you into the mud. Open your eyes wide. Know who you interact with on social media. Know also where to place your feet on the networks, because these networks can not only help you grow in your faith, but those same networks can incline you into a fall that has no end. Be very, very careful, brother. Be very, very careful, sister. The social networks can lift you up, and likewise, they can also bring you down to the lowest level. As we come to the end of our discussion, if there's one thing to take away today, it's that your phone is not just a receiver of entertainment. It's an extension of your heart. The digital world is a space where our screens can become windows open onto the infinite. And for us, African youth, the challenge is immense. We hold the power to break distances, to carry our cultures and our faith to the whole world in a clip. But let's not forget that a like will never replace an outstretched hand and that a prayer emoji cannot take the place of the silence of a heart-to-heart with the creators. The digital vision does not replace the physical ones; it enhances them instead. It isn't only about posting content is about bringing light where the algorithm sometimes offers only darkness. Thank you so much to everyone for sharing this moment of reflection with us. A huge thanks to our guest for illuminating the path between digital calling and the reality on the ground. We have seen together that while digital spaces redefine our places of prayer, the challenge remains to turn every clip into a true act of communion. Let us not forget that our faith, especially in Africa, is nourished by closeness and solidarity. Let us Let's not leave data or algorithms cool down what binds us together to one another. Before we go, dear listeners, I'd like to give you a small challenge for this week. Check your notification history. How much time did you spend feeding your screen? And how much time feeding your soul ? I also leave you with this question. In this world saturated with notifications, what concrete steps will you take to disconnect from the screen for a moment and truly connect with your neighbor in the spirit of the other? You can reply in the comments, in writing, or by voice message. For your Your testimonies are proof that this world is not just virtual. Stay connected to what matters, and see you very soon for a new episode on Voice Afrique. Subscribe!