WORDVIEW: A CASE STUDY OF GOGO NYANKHAMBULE, AN OLD MABILABO NGONI WOMAN.
BY: PETER QEKO JERE
1.0 INTRODUCTION.
Many times we forget that our worldview determines how we approach issues. Each time we have our presuppositions that are natural. Different people with different cultures have different views of what they think is the world. Thus worldview is something that is close to us and its that which makes what people think they are. It is something that many times is unchangeable unless Gods divine intervention breaks through, unless the Holy Spirit intervenes by Gods grace to start performing a new work in a man life. Many cultures of the world including Africa, shares different world views some of which are not biblical and need to change.
In this paper therefore, we shall look into worldview of Nyankhambule who is a very old lady. She is more that one hundred years old. As to when she was born, no body knows but the one thing that we know is that she is my great grandmother (my fathers grandmother and my grandmother’s mother). She comes from the Mabilabo Ngoni of Mzimba district in the Northern Malawi. We shall look into her worldviews in connection with the Mabilabo Ngoni people. We shall also look into the five magnetic points of religion where we shall crosscheck her with the Engel’s scale. Finally we shall do the evangelization as we evaluate her whole worldview in relation to Contextualization and syncreticism.
2.0 BACKGROUND OF NYANKHAMBULE.
The historical background of my great grandmother dates back to the early days of the Ngoni people when they entered Malawi (Nyasaland) from Zululand. Her parents were the direct generation of those who moved from Zululand into Malawi. She got married to Yakobe Mkweu who wrote many Christian Hymns in the local Ngoni/Tumbuka language.
Yakobe Mkweu was a shepherd and he used to spending time in the mountain with the cattle where he could write and compose hymns of praising the Supreme Being who created the mountains trees and rivers with beautiful green grass. However Nyankhambule daughter Lomatchinga got married to Aram, the son of the Inkosi Mabilabo 1, the direct grandson of Zwangendawa. It’s these two (Aram and Lomatchinga who are my very direct grandparents. Nyankhambule is very old because she has seen six generations coming and going. She also saw the generation of her children coming and going then she has seen generation of her grandchildren (my father) and finally she sees this generation of her great, great, great grandchildren.
2.0 NYANKHAMBULE WORLDVIEW.
Many people define worldview differently. For instance, Andrew says that worldview is the collection of people’s pre-suppositions or conviction about the reality of things and situations around them. He says they are so fundamental to what we believe and know and normally determines what we consider important (p: 155). But James olthius says this is the framework or again fundamental beliefs through which we view our world. While James calls this framework, Adeyemo call this the grid that that people uses to see their world. But Andrew Hoffecker says that worldview is the collection of presuppositions or convictions about reality, which represents total outlook of life, and nobody is without such fundamental beliefs (P: 1X).
As we shall be looking into worldview of Nyankhambule, there are some few things that we need to understand. Firstly is that the lives and culture of the people in this region has been greatly impacted by missionaries who came into the area in the eighteen hundreds. Her worldview has seen different generations of people with their different understanding of things. But the generation of her husband (yakobe Mkweu) was full of people who kept a lot of cattle in the mountains and used to singing songs of the Being of the mountains and skies and the rivers. However what we shall look into now are some of the elements of the Mabilabo Ngoni People of today. Of course education and westernisation have changed many things. But despite this, the majority of the people maintain what they traditionally are. In the western world, people are identified by their successes while in the Mabilabo Ngoni area, they are identified by their tribe, cultural customs, families and communities.
3.1 NYANKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF THE COSMOS.
Looking into the cosmos, she believes that this is something that came into being by the great magical work of the Supreme Being whom she calls Chiuta (the one who owns everything). She views the cosmos as a place that chiuta gave her so that she enjoy the mountains and trees, some of which provides fruits and shelter. Her husband wrote Hymns where the two thank Chiuta for creating the mountains and the rivers. She views the cosmos as something that was made by this chiuta who stays beyond the blue skies. Now in the area where she comes from there are rivers and mountains that have names with meanings.
Looking at the creation mandate of Genesis 1:28, she has no problems with it. This creation mandate is biblical and came from the heart of God (chiuta). While this is biblical true, it is also cultural true. The Mabilabo Ngoni believes in having many children. Children are important because they help in many different ways. Children are the riches parents can have. In this culture, children matters a lot. If one is rich but without children, he carries no big respect at all. If a lady is old but no children, she is still considered a girl. But if a girl has a child though still young, she is considered an old lady. The last thing of course in this tradition for those who are married is to stay for a long time without children. Traditionally, she believes that children are that which makes the cosmos beautiful and a great place to live in. Thus people are encouraged to have many children.
3.2 NYAKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF NORMS.
Though nyankhambule and her husband went up the mountain singing and composing hymns in praise of this Chiuta whom they believed stays far beyond the blue skies, they were still surrounded by the world which practiced a lot of traditional things. She was part of this tradition because culturally one has to automatically be part of what the community is doing. Of course, she believes that each time and each day, they have to be a close link between us the living and our ancestors. For instance, she believes that nothing happen without a main cause. Whatever thing that takes place has a cause that has to be in connection with the ancestors. For instance, when there is any outbreak in a community, then this would mean that there is immorality or anything wicked and the ancestors are angry. She believes that bad people when they die, they come back and torment the living. She believes that norms are important and have to be followed and strictly obeyed by all if communities are to be safe from the curses.
3.2.1 View of the Ancestral Spirit.
As far as nyankhambule is concern, the world of ancestral spirit is real. She looks at them as people who are still part of our world and lives and that we can communicate with them daily. There is respect for them and each day one has to make sure that he live good life. Now not all ancestors are good of course. She believes that some of them are bad. But we need to get reminded here that this respect vary from the age one died. This explains that there is more respect for those ancestors who died while old while those who died young, carry less respect.
Other people think that being of old age then she is likely to worship them which is not true. Actually she doesn’t respect them but just highly regard them because she believes that they communicate for us to the big Chiuta who stays beyond the blue skies. Now the question is how do they respect the ancestors? They do that by making sure that their graveyard is clean and properly maintained. Thus in all her life, there is a high regard for the ancestral spirit. People according to her, need to life good life so as to please them. Bad life that living people live displeases them and she believes that other times when angry, they come in many forms in the villages. This can be in form of hunger, inadequate rains, and diseases outbreak.
3.2.2 View of the Calendar.
Though in our time we have the western concept of calendar, she views it in terms of the main events and activities that took place in the Ngoni history and traditions. This include days like the inauguration of Mabilabo 1 and the day when all the Ngoni led by Zwangendabah crossed the Zambezi river in a small boat. This was a big day because about thirty thousand ngoni warrior plus their children used this one boat to cross the Zambezi River. This is also important because on that day the it is believed that the sun stood still until they finished crossing. The calendar in her case is also based on the major events like hunger and the year of plenty.
3.2.3 View of Magic
Though Nyankhambule is surrounded by the many elements of Christianity now, her worldview is not changed. She looks at magic as both good and bad. This explains that there are two different kinds of magic. She doesn’t use magic herself but her parents and great grand parents taught her that magic is either good or bad all depending on how it is used. Good magic is a traditional thing, which protects while the bad magic aims at killing innocent people. Of course we need to understand that this bad magic has the element of witchcraft, which is basically there to harm and destroy. Many people in the area use good magic to protect their children from traditional spells, witchcraft, and other harmful things. This is called (vinthumwa).
3.2.4 View of Death.
As regard death, she views it as a tool that brings people and communities together. This is a vital time because it is a time when someone joins the grand parents who died. It is believed here that when one dies, he joins the world of the ancestors. Now death for the good people is regarded, as a privilege to join ancestors hence it does not bring too much fear. Since she believes that death is a time when one joins the ancestors, it is therefore very important that one has to be buried where his ancestors and his people are. It is not acceptable to burry in town or anywhere unless it’s a place where his relatives got buried. She however emphasis that people of different family tree don’t have to be buried together for the sake of good fellowship, This is done so that the community of one family unit of ancestors should be maintained in one place. This explain that when someone in town dies, people travel many thousands miles to the village to burry him. She believes that the cost and all expenditure are not important than the life of togetherness that one can experience with the ancestors. Also regarding this, she maintains that people of different family tree don’t have to be buried together for the sake of good fellowship among the dead.
3.2.5 Burial. Procedures
Burial in many African communities is done according to the traditions and cultural beliefs of those people. While Christian Pastors perform church sermons, many times there is an additional of the African traditions. For instance, before the people enter the graveyard where the forefathers and all family people got buried, the village chief leads the whole team of mourners to the graveyard. His main job is basically to ask those who died before (ancestors) to welcome the spirit of the one who has just died. Thus he does that by mentioning and shouting names of all those who died before. This is normally done this as the mourners approach the graveyard gate . She believes that this is important here because the moment you come to the graveyard, you are coming to the home of ancestors and one need to explain why they are coming. This is done because she believes that there is a live communication going on between the living and the dead.
Having said that, she completely believes in the manner in which the dead body is placed in the coffin facing the eastern direction. She also believes in the style of the coffin itself. For instance, the Mabilabo Ngoni people are put in a triangular coffin where the dead person is placed kneeling with a spear in his right hand. She believes that the dead body has to face east because the Mabilabo Ngoni came from the eastern (Zululand). The kneeling explains that though dead, he will still be a great protector and fighter in another world.
3.2.6 Types of Death.
In this culture where Nyankhambule comes from, death has got many main causes. There is old death where one dies while old. This is the most acceptable death and people have no problems with it. There is another kind of death cause by the anger of the living spirit of the dead. This mainly comes through the spread of many diseases in the area. Also not all disease are the same. In her view, there are diseases caused by natural phenomena and again there are diseases caused by the magical spells. There is also the so-called sudden death. This sudden death is the most confusing one and many people don’t like it. Many times she believes that they are caused by ancestor’s anger, witchcraft or magic.
4.0 NYANKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF THE EXISTENCE.
The biblical concept of man existence emphasized the active part of human life. As regard the dead, it is passive. Unlike the biblical understanding Nyankhambule and many of the old people in the area, views their existence active in both the physical and spiritual. Thus it is called the living spirit of the death. There is a continual life after death where one joins the ancestors. Within the ancestors, she believes that there is active life that takes place within the dead in their spiritual world. This explains that whatever the living people are doing, they have something to do with the dead. Their reality is that there are two worlds that work together.
5.0 NYANKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF SALVATION.
There are a lot of interesting things that she believes as far as salvation is concern. Of course the coming of Christianity changed some ways and forms of doing things. Actually she believes salvation come when someone is doing good works. This of course relates to the community. Thus the people perform good works so that they create more chances of living good and happy life after they die. The people believe that those who life bad life on earth, have their soul suffer when they die. Thus one save himself from this by doing good works to the community so that they enjoy life when they die. It is believed that good people have good life after they die while bad people have bad life after they die.
As regard the so-called eternal hope, this is not present in the vocabulary because life ends, as they live with the ancestors. In Christianity we believe in the coming judgment while nyankhambule believes that many people pass judgment on themselves by the kind of work they perform. This explains that work is the ticket to either good life or bad life. Thus people are encouraged to work hard and do good to all people because there is reward at the end in another life.
6.0 NYANKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF THE SUPREME BEING.
As regard the supreme being (chiuta), she believes that he has power than any thing that has ever existed. This being is called by many different names all depending on what that being is performing. This can be that day, that week that month or that year. His main name is called Chiuta and is personal but distant. He lives very far beyond the blue skies that no one can touch or physically see him.
God’s (Chiuta) other names includes; Fumu (king), Mlengi wa vyose (creator of all things), movwili (someone who helps) and mwenekhkongono (owner of all strength).she views this chiuta as someone who came first and was there before all things came into being. In the hymns her husband composed in the mountains , they sing saying that chiuta was there way back before all things came into being she maintains that this chiuta sometimes thunders in the black and dark cumulus clouds before the heavy rains fall down. When there was an outbreak of any disease, the people could go to the ancestors and ask this chiuta who was also mchizgi, mtetezi and mthanki (protector) to protect and heal the people. It was and still in some cases the duty of the ancestors to talk to this Chiuta on behalf of the people. According to Nyankhambule, she believes that the living have no power to communicate to (Chiuta). She views this Chiuta as someone who came first and was there before all things came into being. In the hymns her husband composed in the mountains, they sing saying that Chiuta was there way back before all things came into being. She maintains that this chiuta sometimes thunders in the black and dark cumulus clouds before the heavy rains falls.
7.0 NYANKHAMBULE ON THE ENGEL’S SCALE.
Having looked into the five magnetic points of religion, we see that she is on –7 on the Engel’s scale. This has come into being because though she is old, she has a very clear view of the Supreme Being, which she calls Chiuta. When we look at the characteristics of this Chiuta, we are able to see that this is the God who created the world and it’s the same God we worship. This Chiuta is highly regarded because of the rivers and mountains plus trees he has created. Also she looks at the cosmos as the magical evidence of chiuta’s power. She has a very clear picture of this Chiuta and he is descriptive and is named according to how he performs.
7.1 NEEDS
Having looked into the worldview of Nyankhambule and the weakness of the whole traditional beliefs and religion, we feel that something better than what she has can be done and offered. The whole truth needs to be revealed. This truth is that people will see the face of God unless they believe in Chiuta and accept him through yesu. Of course there are a lot of areas in her traditional beliefs that create good base or grounds from where we can start from. This includes, the usage of the concept of the first born, the concept of the Supreme Being and the respect for the elder. Therefore below are the steps on how we shall evangelise nyankhambule.
7.2 Evangelism 1
Since she is at –7, she is aware of the existence of the supreme being (Chiuta) whom she calls by the local language’s name. We shall inform her that this Chiuta she believes in , is someone who made mountains rivers, skies, trees and is the God of the Bible. Of course we shall not take the trouble of using the English name but we shall use the local name Chiuta for effective communication and understanding. We shall inform her that this chiuta has given all what he has to mankind and this is contain in the Bible. This knowledge shall bring us to –6.
7.3 Evangelism 2
Now having shared about the God of the bible, we shall teach her the fundamental of the gospel which is –5. Now before we reveal these fundamental truths of the gospel, there are things that will need to be clarified. We need to understand that though we shall elencticise, we shall not do it with a bung but we shall do following her weak points. Firstly we shall inform her that though chiuta is viewed as far, he has always wanted to be close and live with all his people because he loves them all. We shall however tell her that once upon a time the first man and woman on earth sinned and broke the commandment of Chiuta. We shall tell her that all the children born were sinners including us all and we deserved eternal death and hell. We shall tell her that People couldn’t save themselves from this and Chiuta allowed his only son and the first born to Come and die on the cross so that all mankind should be saved from fire and death. It shall be told that yesu is the only true son of Chiuta who connects us with the father in heaven directly without using anything else. We shall tell her that the ancestors are hopeless and cannot provide solutions. We shall tell her that it is possible to directly go to chiuta and talk to him through his son yesu.
With this, we shall point out to her that the truth is in yesu, who came and died so that all people can have life. It will be a joy to her that she can reach chiuta directly. This shall be credible and unheard of. It is impossible in her worldview for a man to see the face of this Chiuta. Now the problem would be the removing of the ancestral spirit. We shall however clarify this one by telling her that we need to respect the ancestors by not troubling them with our petitions but should leave them and allow them to rest at peace. This will be of great importance because in this culture, there is a great deal of respect for the ancestors. Having looked into this whole truth, this shall bring us to –4, which shall be the implication of the gospel.
7.4 Evangelism 3
The gospel is the good news and this is to say that Jesus (yesu) is the true son of the living God (chiuta) who came and died on the cross to save all mankind and that he ascended to heaven. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Therefore all people need to repent for the forgiveness of their sins and come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now you can’t go straight to this old lady and bombard her with the gospel ignoring what she is. We believe that it shall be good and important to strategies and look for the weak points in her tradition and cultural beliefs. It will be from this point that we shall start from. We need to start from what she knows and progress like that. We shall share to her that chiuta has one only son yesu and this is the one he gave to the entire world for their salvation. Of course she will not understand this salvation, (saved from what?). We shall reveal it to her that all who wants to see the face of Chiuta and be in heaven have to accept yesu the only son of Chiuta whom he sent into the world to die for us.
This of course shall create a bit of confusion because she shall look at this chiuta as being abit careless and negligent. She shall think that may be this Chiuta does not know the concept of first borns that they are important. In this tradition, first born are important. The point is that first-born sons are the heirs to the throne and one has to care for them. To her, the death of yesu, this first-born son, will be hard to comprehend. If anything, in this culture, first borns don’t have to die. This will be pathetic and confusing but at the same time she shall have a very deep understanding of the love of Chiuta that he gave his first born son something which is not suppose to be done in this culture. This will be the only situation in the whole of her life that someone gave his first born for the betterment of other people. This will score a very high biblical point all together.
The other thing that will score points shall be the using of this first-born son as a bridge. In this culture, fathers stay very close to their first borns and this is mandatory so that they learn how to lead and serve people better in future. These first born sons also work for their fathers sometimes in many different ways. Since they stay close and work with their fathers these first born sons understand their fathers better. Now we shall inform her that just as the first-born sons are used, Chiuta also used yesu his only first born sons to come and die. This will make a clear sense because what yesu did is the kind of things that first borns in this culture have.
7.4.1. Concept of after Death.
We earlier said that she views death as something that ushers people into another word where ancestors live. This is the joining of ancestors and there is no any future hope or whatsoever hope. We earlier said that salvation just means doing good works so that one should be able to live good life with the ancestors.
Now we shall tackle this by introducing her to the elements of the theology of hell. Of course we shall start from where she is. She believes that there is good life and bad life in the world of ancestors all depending on good works while still alive. This will be our base or operation point.
We shall tell her that there is paradise and hell for the people and the bad people. We shall inform her that hell was created as a home of Satan and all bad people, those who reject yesu while paradise is a place for all who accept yesu. We shall not forget to inform her again that all those who go to paradise live with God in heaven while the bad ones go to the lake of fire (in hell). We shall finally tell her that there is big hope of eternal life by accepting yesu. Of course she shall be joyous because in her worldview, man has no right to get to heaven. Her worldviews explains that when they die, they go and stay with ancestors and not God. But here we shall put in this different view of life. She shall be glad to be in a place with Chiuta something her tradition doesn’t offer.
7.4.2 Concept of Hope.
We at his moment in time shall tell her that when she dies she shall go to hell or heaven. We shall also tell her again that she will be in the lake of fire if she is refusing yesu. But we shall encourage her that though she is very old, yesu came even for all the old people so them too may have abundant life in him. Now it shall strongly be emphasized that she need to welcome yesu as her redeemer and repent of all her old ancestral belief and ask God to forgive her. The truth shall be convey that Chiuta is calling her and wants to welcome her into this kingdom. This shall bring us to-3 which shall be the conviction of sin.
7.5 Evangelism 4.
Having done –4 there shall be strong sense of sin conviction. This will come into being because of the many years she has lived without a real sense of proper destiny. She shall be informed that real life and proper destiny is in yesu and not in the ancestral beliefs. She shall be remind that Chiuta who is full of love and mercies will forgive her. This will bring us to –3 where her response and the whole atmosphere will bring us to –1, as we shall lead her into the Lord. She will not resist because culturally, people trust first borns of kings and shall do the same to the first-born son of Chiuta. We shall encourage that Chiuta loves her and he wants to be with her in all eternity. Thus this shall lead us to +1 where after her acceptance of Jesus she shall be put into gospel preaching church.
7.6 Follow Up
Having put her into the Presbyterian Church in the area, a lot of things shall be done to her. Due to old age, we shall make it appoint to bring the gospel right at her doorsteps. Actually she has no strength to walk long distances to and from church hence we shall make it a point that the gospel of John is read to her one chapter per day and allow her to ask questions so that she widens knowledge of Chiuta. All the basics shall be taught here to her. This shall bring us to +2, which shall be walking with Christ and her obedience. Her obedience shall be checked as from daily prayerful life and love for God. Of course she shall be taught how to pray directly to Chiuta through yesu his only first born son. To fully accomplish this, we shall come up with the Nyankhambule Home Ministry where different committed Christians shall be scheduled to minister to her three times a day every week. This ministry shall also strategise on how to domestically help her at home. However it should be noted here that we shall stop here on +2, we shall however make it a point to continue feeding her with the word of God and familiarising her with bible stories.
7.7 CONTEXTUALISATION
According to Bruce Nicholls this is the capacity to respond meaningfully to the gospel within the framework of ones own situation or culture (1979:21). Unlike Nicholls Moreau says that contextualisation means that the word of Chiuta (God) should dwell among all families of mankind just as Jesus lived among his own people (2000:225). Thus this process is contextual in approach. Nyankhambule understood the gospel because of this contextual approach. The gospel was shared considering her world. We used the good cultural customs in the process of reaching out to her.
For instance, we used the traditional view of first borns and the traditional way of respect for the ancestors. We also used the existing knowledge of the Chiuta (God). Thus we contextualized and put the gospel in a way she could understand. We used illustrations from her culture and tradition, something she could easily understand.It is therefore important to start from where one is unlike from the unknown. This is the same point from where you have your way into the whole process of reaching out. Many people fail to reach out because they use different context in different direction. Of course we realise we have been elencticising but at the same time we were careful not to say things that were to put off the old lady.
7.8 SYNCRETICISM
This is a kind of a disease or problem in the whole of modern mission. It appears in a different shapes and forms. By definition, this is the mixing of Christian’s assumption that are incompatible with Christianity so that the result isn’t biblical Christianity (Meroeu 2000:924). Now as regard nyankhambule, she was born and believed in the existence of this Supreme Being for the rest of her life. Syncretism may come in if there shall be no sense of truth in the things shared to her. She is old and cannot walk long distances hence all depend on us to choose what kind of teaching lesson to give her. We have to reach to her through reading everything because she is almost blind due to old age. However we shall emphasis more on the fact that the chiuta (God) she worship is the one who created the whole world. Also we shall put more emphasis on the importance of understanding the whole concept of Yesu as opposed to the elements of the ancestor beliefs.
8.0 CONCLUSION.
Having looked into all these, the following shall be pointed out: Firstly is that every culture is rich and has elements that will makes the gospel penetratable all the time. We actually mean to say that every culture has a door that will get open when the gospel time comes. No culture is too hard enough and without such a door. Secondly, nothing is able to change the worldview of people apart from the word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit. Like Nyankhambule who is very old, her worldview and focus on things changed because the word of God performed its work. Thus the word of God will not come back meaningless when it gets into any form of tradition but that it will perform its work and things will begin to change and move.
With the continual teaching of the word of God at her house, her whole worldview shall change from that of ancestor belief to that of God (Chiuta) and Christ (Yesu). Thirdly, it has been observed that not all the traditional customs are bad. Some are good and some are. The good ones have to be effectively used in the proclamation of the gospel. Finally, its is important to realise that the gospel need to be put in a simple way and in a way that even the old people can understand. We need to simplify the gospel and maintain the truth there in. without contextualising the gospel, many will not be effectively reached with the word to the level they can understand. We are therefore encouraged to put the seed of the gospel and let it grow in the heart of the people.
9.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Adeyemo T, Toward an understanding of African Worldview (p1)
Andrew H: Building A Christian worldview- Vol.1 P. x1).
Nicholls B, 1979: Contextualisation, A Theology of Gospel and Culture,
Paternoster Press, UK
Moreau S, 2000: Evangelical Dictionary of World Mission,
Baker Book House,
BY: PETER QEKO JERE
1.0 INTRODUCTION.
Many times we forget that our worldview determines how we approach issues. Each time we have our presuppositions that are natural. Different people with different cultures have different views of what they think is the world. Thus worldview is something that is close to us and its that which makes what people think they are. It is something that many times is unchangeable unless Gods divine intervention breaks through, unless the Holy Spirit intervenes by Gods grace to start performing a new work in a man life. Many cultures of the world including Africa, shares different world views some of which are not biblical and need to change.
In this paper therefore, we shall look into worldview of Nyankhambule who is a very old lady. She is more that one hundred years old. As to when she was born, no body knows but the one thing that we know is that she is my great grandmother (my fathers grandmother and my grandmother’s mother). She comes from the Mabilabo Ngoni of Mzimba district in the Northern Malawi. We shall look into her worldviews in connection with the Mabilabo Ngoni people. We shall also look into the five magnetic points of religion where we shall crosscheck her with the Engel’s scale. Finally we shall do the evangelization as we evaluate her whole worldview in relation to Contextualization and syncreticism.
2.0 BACKGROUND OF NYANKHAMBULE.
The historical background of my great grandmother dates back to the early days of the Ngoni people when they entered Malawi (Nyasaland) from Zululand. Her parents were the direct generation of those who moved from Zululand into Malawi. She got married to Yakobe Mkweu who wrote many Christian Hymns in the local Ngoni/Tumbuka language.
Yakobe Mkweu was a shepherd and he used to spending time in the mountain with the cattle where he could write and compose hymns of praising the Supreme Being who created the mountains trees and rivers with beautiful green grass. However Nyankhambule daughter Lomatchinga got married to Aram, the son of the Inkosi Mabilabo 1, the direct grandson of Zwangendawa. It’s these two (Aram and Lomatchinga who are my very direct grandparents. Nyankhambule is very old because she has seen six generations coming and going. She also saw the generation of her children coming and going then she has seen generation of her grandchildren (my father) and finally she sees this generation of her great, great, great grandchildren.
2.0 NYANKHAMBULE WORLDVIEW.
Many people define worldview differently. For instance, Andrew says that worldview is the collection of people’s pre-suppositions or conviction about the reality of things and situations around them. He says they are so fundamental to what we believe and know and normally determines what we consider important (p: 155). But James olthius says this is the framework or again fundamental beliefs through which we view our world. While James calls this framework, Adeyemo call this the grid that that people uses to see their world. But Andrew Hoffecker says that worldview is the collection of presuppositions or convictions about reality, which represents total outlook of life, and nobody is without such fundamental beliefs (P: 1X).
As we shall be looking into worldview of Nyankhambule, there are some few things that we need to understand. Firstly is that the lives and culture of the people in this region has been greatly impacted by missionaries who came into the area in the eighteen hundreds. Her worldview has seen different generations of people with their different understanding of things. But the generation of her husband (yakobe Mkweu) was full of people who kept a lot of cattle in the mountains and used to singing songs of the Being of the mountains and skies and the rivers. However what we shall look into now are some of the elements of the Mabilabo Ngoni People of today. Of course education and westernisation have changed many things. But despite this, the majority of the people maintain what they traditionally are. In the western world, people are identified by their successes while in the Mabilabo Ngoni area, they are identified by their tribe, cultural customs, families and communities.
3.1 NYANKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF THE COSMOS.
Looking into the cosmos, she believes that this is something that came into being by the great magical work of the Supreme Being whom she calls Chiuta (the one who owns everything). She views the cosmos as a place that chiuta gave her so that she enjoy the mountains and trees, some of which provides fruits and shelter. Her husband wrote Hymns where the two thank Chiuta for creating the mountains and the rivers. She views the cosmos as something that was made by this chiuta who stays beyond the blue skies. Now in the area where she comes from there are rivers and mountains that have names with meanings.
Looking at the creation mandate of Genesis 1:28, she has no problems with it. This creation mandate is biblical and came from the heart of God (chiuta). While this is biblical true, it is also cultural true. The Mabilabo Ngoni believes in having many children. Children are important because they help in many different ways. Children are the riches parents can have. In this culture, children matters a lot. If one is rich but without children, he carries no big respect at all. If a lady is old but no children, she is still considered a girl. But if a girl has a child though still young, she is considered an old lady. The last thing of course in this tradition for those who are married is to stay for a long time without children. Traditionally, she believes that children are that which makes the cosmos beautiful and a great place to live in. Thus people are encouraged to have many children.
3.2 NYAKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF NORMS.
Though nyankhambule and her husband went up the mountain singing and composing hymns in praise of this Chiuta whom they believed stays far beyond the blue skies, they were still surrounded by the world which practiced a lot of traditional things. She was part of this tradition because culturally one has to automatically be part of what the community is doing. Of course, she believes that each time and each day, they have to be a close link between us the living and our ancestors. For instance, she believes that nothing happen without a main cause. Whatever thing that takes place has a cause that has to be in connection with the ancestors. For instance, when there is any outbreak in a community, then this would mean that there is immorality or anything wicked and the ancestors are angry. She believes that bad people when they die, they come back and torment the living. She believes that norms are important and have to be followed and strictly obeyed by all if communities are to be safe from the curses.
3.2.1 View of the Ancestral Spirit.
As far as nyankhambule is concern, the world of ancestral spirit is real. She looks at them as people who are still part of our world and lives and that we can communicate with them daily. There is respect for them and each day one has to make sure that he live good life. Now not all ancestors are good of course. She believes that some of them are bad. But we need to get reminded here that this respect vary from the age one died. This explains that there is more respect for those ancestors who died while old while those who died young, carry less respect.
Other people think that being of old age then she is likely to worship them which is not true. Actually she doesn’t respect them but just highly regard them because she believes that they communicate for us to the big Chiuta who stays beyond the blue skies. Now the question is how do they respect the ancestors? They do that by making sure that their graveyard is clean and properly maintained. Thus in all her life, there is a high regard for the ancestral spirit. People according to her, need to life good life so as to please them. Bad life that living people live displeases them and she believes that other times when angry, they come in many forms in the villages. This can be in form of hunger, inadequate rains, and diseases outbreak.
3.2.2 View of the Calendar.
Though in our time we have the western concept of calendar, she views it in terms of the main events and activities that took place in the Ngoni history and traditions. This include days like the inauguration of Mabilabo 1 and the day when all the Ngoni led by Zwangendabah crossed the Zambezi river in a small boat. This was a big day because about thirty thousand ngoni warrior plus their children used this one boat to cross the Zambezi River. This is also important because on that day the it is believed that the sun stood still until they finished crossing. The calendar in her case is also based on the major events like hunger and the year of plenty.
3.2.3 View of Magic
Though Nyankhambule is surrounded by the many elements of Christianity now, her worldview is not changed. She looks at magic as both good and bad. This explains that there are two different kinds of magic. She doesn’t use magic herself but her parents and great grand parents taught her that magic is either good or bad all depending on how it is used. Good magic is a traditional thing, which protects while the bad magic aims at killing innocent people. Of course we need to understand that this bad magic has the element of witchcraft, which is basically there to harm and destroy. Many people in the area use good magic to protect their children from traditional spells, witchcraft, and other harmful things. This is called (vinthumwa).
3.2.4 View of Death.
As regard death, she views it as a tool that brings people and communities together. This is a vital time because it is a time when someone joins the grand parents who died. It is believed here that when one dies, he joins the world of the ancestors. Now death for the good people is regarded, as a privilege to join ancestors hence it does not bring too much fear. Since she believes that death is a time when one joins the ancestors, it is therefore very important that one has to be buried where his ancestors and his people are. It is not acceptable to burry in town or anywhere unless it’s a place where his relatives got buried. She however emphasis that people of different family tree don’t have to be buried together for the sake of good fellowship, This is done so that the community of one family unit of ancestors should be maintained in one place. This explain that when someone in town dies, people travel many thousands miles to the village to burry him. She believes that the cost and all expenditure are not important than the life of togetherness that one can experience with the ancestors. Also regarding this, she maintains that people of different family tree don’t have to be buried together for the sake of good fellowship among the dead.
3.2.5 Burial. Procedures
Burial in many African communities is done according to the traditions and cultural beliefs of those people. While Christian Pastors perform church sermons, many times there is an additional of the African traditions. For instance, before the people enter the graveyard where the forefathers and all family people got buried, the village chief leads the whole team of mourners to the graveyard. His main job is basically to ask those who died before (ancestors) to welcome the spirit of the one who has just died. Thus he does that by mentioning and shouting names of all those who died before. This is normally done this as the mourners approach the graveyard gate . She believes that this is important here because the moment you come to the graveyard, you are coming to the home of ancestors and one need to explain why they are coming. This is done because she believes that there is a live communication going on between the living and the dead.
Having said that, she completely believes in the manner in which the dead body is placed in the coffin facing the eastern direction. She also believes in the style of the coffin itself. For instance, the Mabilabo Ngoni people are put in a triangular coffin where the dead person is placed kneeling with a spear in his right hand. She believes that the dead body has to face east because the Mabilabo Ngoni came from the eastern (Zululand). The kneeling explains that though dead, he will still be a great protector and fighter in another world.
3.2.6 Types of Death.
In this culture where Nyankhambule comes from, death has got many main causes. There is old death where one dies while old. This is the most acceptable death and people have no problems with it. There is another kind of death cause by the anger of the living spirit of the dead. This mainly comes through the spread of many diseases in the area. Also not all disease are the same. In her view, there are diseases caused by natural phenomena and again there are diseases caused by the magical spells. There is also the so-called sudden death. This sudden death is the most confusing one and many people don’t like it. Many times she believes that they are caused by ancestor’s anger, witchcraft or magic.
4.0 NYANKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF THE EXISTENCE.
The biblical concept of man existence emphasized the active part of human life. As regard the dead, it is passive. Unlike the biblical understanding Nyankhambule and many of the old people in the area, views their existence active in both the physical and spiritual. Thus it is called the living spirit of the death. There is a continual life after death where one joins the ancestors. Within the ancestors, she believes that there is active life that takes place within the dead in their spiritual world. This explains that whatever the living people are doing, they have something to do with the dead. Their reality is that there are two worlds that work together.
5.0 NYANKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF SALVATION.
There are a lot of interesting things that she believes as far as salvation is concern. Of course the coming of Christianity changed some ways and forms of doing things. Actually she believes salvation come when someone is doing good works. This of course relates to the community. Thus the people perform good works so that they create more chances of living good and happy life after they die. The people believe that those who life bad life on earth, have their soul suffer when they die. Thus one save himself from this by doing good works to the community so that they enjoy life when they die. It is believed that good people have good life after they die while bad people have bad life after they die.
As regard the so-called eternal hope, this is not present in the vocabulary because life ends, as they live with the ancestors. In Christianity we believe in the coming judgment while nyankhambule believes that many people pass judgment on themselves by the kind of work they perform. This explains that work is the ticket to either good life or bad life. Thus people are encouraged to work hard and do good to all people because there is reward at the end in another life.
6.0 NYANKHAMBULE’S VIEW OF THE SUPREME BEING.
As regard the supreme being (chiuta), she believes that he has power than any thing that has ever existed. This being is called by many different names all depending on what that being is performing. This can be that day, that week that month or that year. His main name is called Chiuta and is personal but distant. He lives very far beyond the blue skies that no one can touch or physically see him.
God’s (Chiuta) other names includes; Fumu (king), Mlengi wa vyose (creator of all things), movwili (someone who helps) and mwenekhkongono (owner of all strength).she views this chiuta as someone who came first and was there before all things came into being. In the hymns her husband composed in the mountains , they sing saying that chiuta was there way back before all things came into being she maintains that this chiuta sometimes thunders in the black and dark cumulus clouds before the heavy rains fall down. When there was an outbreak of any disease, the people could go to the ancestors and ask this chiuta who was also mchizgi, mtetezi and mthanki (protector) to protect and heal the people. It was and still in some cases the duty of the ancestors to talk to this Chiuta on behalf of the people. According to Nyankhambule, she believes that the living have no power to communicate to (Chiuta). She views this Chiuta as someone who came first and was there before all things came into being. In the hymns her husband composed in the mountains, they sing saying that Chiuta was there way back before all things came into being. She maintains that this chiuta sometimes thunders in the black and dark cumulus clouds before the heavy rains falls.
7.0 NYANKHAMBULE ON THE ENGEL’S SCALE.
Having looked into the five magnetic points of religion, we see that she is on –7 on the Engel’s scale. This has come into being because though she is old, she has a very clear view of the Supreme Being, which she calls Chiuta. When we look at the characteristics of this Chiuta, we are able to see that this is the God who created the world and it’s the same God we worship. This Chiuta is highly regarded because of the rivers and mountains plus trees he has created. Also she looks at the cosmos as the magical evidence of chiuta’s power. She has a very clear picture of this Chiuta and he is descriptive and is named according to how he performs.
7.1 NEEDS
Having looked into the worldview of Nyankhambule and the weakness of the whole traditional beliefs and religion, we feel that something better than what she has can be done and offered. The whole truth needs to be revealed. This truth is that people will see the face of God unless they believe in Chiuta and accept him through yesu. Of course there are a lot of areas in her traditional beliefs that create good base or grounds from where we can start from. This includes, the usage of the concept of the first born, the concept of the Supreme Being and the respect for the elder. Therefore below are the steps on how we shall evangelise nyankhambule.
7.2 Evangelism 1
Since she is at –7, she is aware of the existence of the supreme being (Chiuta) whom she calls by the local language’s name. We shall inform her that this Chiuta she believes in , is someone who made mountains rivers, skies, trees and is the God of the Bible. Of course we shall not take the trouble of using the English name but we shall use the local name Chiuta for effective communication and understanding. We shall inform her that this chiuta has given all what he has to mankind and this is contain in the Bible. This knowledge shall bring us to –6.
7.3 Evangelism 2
Now having shared about the God of the bible, we shall teach her the fundamental of the gospel which is –5. Now before we reveal these fundamental truths of the gospel, there are things that will need to be clarified. We need to understand that though we shall elencticise, we shall not do it with a bung but we shall do following her weak points. Firstly we shall inform her that though chiuta is viewed as far, he has always wanted to be close and live with all his people because he loves them all. We shall however tell her that once upon a time the first man and woman on earth sinned and broke the commandment of Chiuta. We shall tell her that all the children born were sinners including us all and we deserved eternal death and hell. We shall tell her that People couldn’t save themselves from this and Chiuta allowed his only son and the first born to Come and die on the cross so that all mankind should be saved from fire and death. It shall be told that yesu is the only true son of Chiuta who connects us with the father in heaven directly without using anything else. We shall tell her that the ancestors are hopeless and cannot provide solutions. We shall tell her that it is possible to directly go to chiuta and talk to him through his son yesu.
With this, we shall point out to her that the truth is in yesu, who came and died so that all people can have life. It will be a joy to her that she can reach chiuta directly. This shall be credible and unheard of. It is impossible in her worldview for a man to see the face of this Chiuta. Now the problem would be the removing of the ancestral spirit. We shall however clarify this one by telling her that we need to respect the ancestors by not troubling them with our petitions but should leave them and allow them to rest at peace. This will be of great importance because in this culture, there is a great deal of respect for the ancestors. Having looked into this whole truth, this shall bring us to –4, which shall be the implication of the gospel.
7.4 Evangelism 3
The gospel is the good news and this is to say that Jesus (yesu) is the true son of the living God (chiuta) who came and died on the cross to save all mankind and that he ascended to heaven. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Therefore all people need to repent for the forgiveness of their sins and come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now you can’t go straight to this old lady and bombard her with the gospel ignoring what she is. We believe that it shall be good and important to strategies and look for the weak points in her tradition and cultural beliefs. It will be from this point that we shall start from. We need to start from what she knows and progress like that. We shall share to her that chiuta has one only son yesu and this is the one he gave to the entire world for their salvation. Of course she will not understand this salvation, (saved from what?). We shall reveal it to her that all who wants to see the face of Chiuta and be in heaven have to accept yesu the only son of Chiuta whom he sent into the world to die for us.
This of course shall create a bit of confusion because she shall look at this chiuta as being abit careless and negligent. She shall think that may be this Chiuta does not know the concept of first borns that they are important. In this tradition, first born are important. The point is that first-born sons are the heirs to the throne and one has to care for them. To her, the death of yesu, this first-born son, will be hard to comprehend. If anything, in this culture, first borns don’t have to die. This will be pathetic and confusing but at the same time she shall have a very deep understanding of the love of Chiuta that he gave his first born son something which is not suppose to be done in this culture. This will be the only situation in the whole of her life that someone gave his first born for the betterment of other people. This will score a very high biblical point all together.
The other thing that will score points shall be the using of this first-born son as a bridge. In this culture, fathers stay very close to their first borns and this is mandatory so that they learn how to lead and serve people better in future. These first born sons also work for their fathers sometimes in many different ways. Since they stay close and work with their fathers these first born sons understand their fathers better. Now we shall inform her that just as the first-born sons are used, Chiuta also used yesu his only first born sons to come and die. This will make a clear sense because what yesu did is the kind of things that first borns in this culture have.
7.4.1. Concept of after Death.
We earlier said that she views death as something that ushers people into another word where ancestors live. This is the joining of ancestors and there is no any future hope or whatsoever hope. We earlier said that salvation just means doing good works so that one should be able to live good life with the ancestors.
Now we shall tackle this by introducing her to the elements of the theology of hell. Of course we shall start from where she is. She believes that there is good life and bad life in the world of ancestors all depending on good works while still alive. This will be our base or operation point.
We shall tell her that there is paradise and hell for the people and the bad people. We shall inform her that hell was created as a home of Satan and all bad people, those who reject yesu while paradise is a place for all who accept yesu. We shall not forget to inform her again that all those who go to paradise live with God in heaven while the bad ones go to the lake of fire (in hell). We shall finally tell her that there is big hope of eternal life by accepting yesu. Of course she shall be joyous because in her worldview, man has no right to get to heaven. Her worldviews explains that when they die, they go and stay with ancestors and not God. But here we shall put in this different view of life. She shall be glad to be in a place with Chiuta something her tradition doesn’t offer.
7.4.2 Concept of Hope.
We at his moment in time shall tell her that when she dies she shall go to hell or heaven. We shall also tell her again that she will be in the lake of fire if she is refusing yesu. But we shall encourage her that though she is very old, yesu came even for all the old people so them too may have abundant life in him. Now it shall strongly be emphasized that she need to welcome yesu as her redeemer and repent of all her old ancestral belief and ask God to forgive her. The truth shall be convey that Chiuta is calling her and wants to welcome her into this kingdom. This shall bring us to-3 which shall be the conviction of sin.
7.5 Evangelism 4.
Having done –4 there shall be strong sense of sin conviction. This will come into being because of the many years she has lived without a real sense of proper destiny. She shall be informed that real life and proper destiny is in yesu and not in the ancestral beliefs. She shall be remind that Chiuta who is full of love and mercies will forgive her. This will bring us to –3 where her response and the whole atmosphere will bring us to –1, as we shall lead her into the Lord. She will not resist because culturally, people trust first borns of kings and shall do the same to the first-born son of Chiuta. We shall encourage that Chiuta loves her and he wants to be with her in all eternity. Thus this shall lead us to +1 where after her acceptance of Jesus she shall be put into gospel preaching church.
7.6 Follow Up
Having put her into the Presbyterian Church in the area, a lot of things shall be done to her. Due to old age, we shall make it appoint to bring the gospel right at her doorsteps. Actually she has no strength to walk long distances to and from church hence we shall make it a point that the gospel of John is read to her one chapter per day and allow her to ask questions so that she widens knowledge of Chiuta. All the basics shall be taught here to her. This shall bring us to +2, which shall be walking with Christ and her obedience. Her obedience shall be checked as from daily prayerful life and love for God. Of course she shall be taught how to pray directly to Chiuta through yesu his only first born son. To fully accomplish this, we shall come up with the Nyankhambule Home Ministry where different committed Christians shall be scheduled to minister to her three times a day every week. This ministry shall also strategise on how to domestically help her at home. However it should be noted here that we shall stop here on +2, we shall however make it a point to continue feeding her with the word of God and familiarising her with bible stories.
7.7 CONTEXTUALISATION
According to Bruce Nicholls this is the capacity to respond meaningfully to the gospel within the framework of ones own situation or culture (1979:21). Unlike Nicholls Moreau says that contextualisation means that the word of Chiuta (God) should dwell among all families of mankind just as Jesus lived among his own people (2000:225). Thus this process is contextual in approach. Nyankhambule understood the gospel because of this contextual approach. The gospel was shared considering her world. We used the good cultural customs in the process of reaching out to her.
For instance, we used the traditional view of first borns and the traditional way of respect for the ancestors. We also used the existing knowledge of the Chiuta (God). Thus we contextualized and put the gospel in a way she could understand. We used illustrations from her culture and tradition, something she could easily understand.It is therefore important to start from where one is unlike from the unknown. This is the same point from where you have your way into the whole process of reaching out. Many people fail to reach out because they use different context in different direction. Of course we realise we have been elencticising but at the same time we were careful not to say things that were to put off the old lady.
7.8 SYNCRETICISM
This is a kind of a disease or problem in the whole of modern mission. It appears in a different shapes and forms. By definition, this is the mixing of Christian’s assumption that are incompatible with Christianity so that the result isn’t biblical Christianity (Meroeu 2000:924). Now as regard nyankhambule, she was born and believed in the existence of this Supreme Being for the rest of her life. Syncretism may come in if there shall be no sense of truth in the things shared to her. She is old and cannot walk long distances hence all depend on us to choose what kind of teaching lesson to give her. We have to reach to her through reading everything because she is almost blind due to old age. However we shall emphasis more on the fact that the chiuta (God) she worship is the one who created the whole world. Also we shall put more emphasis on the importance of understanding the whole concept of Yesu as opposed to the elements of the ancestor beliefs.
8.0 CONCLUSION.
Having looked into all these, the following shall be pointed out: Firstly is that every culture is rich and has elements that will makes the gospel penetratable all the time. We actually mean to say that every culture has a door that will get open when the gospel time comes. No culture is too hard enough and without such a door. Secondly, nothing is able to change the worldview of people apart from the word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit. Like Nyankhambule who is very old, her worldview and focus on things changed because the word of God performed its work. Thus the word of God will not come back meaningless when it gets into any form of tradition but that it will perform its work and things will begin to change and move.
With the continual teaching of the word of God at her house, her whole worldview shall change from that of ancestor belief to that of God (Chiuta) and Christ (Yesu). Thirdly, it has been observed that not all the traditional customs are bad. Some are good and some are. The good ones have to be effectively used in the proclamation of the gospel. Finally, its is important to realise that the gospel need to be put in a simple way and in a way that even the old people can understand. We need to simplify the gospel and maintain the truth there in. without contextualising the gospel, many will not be effectively reached with the word to the level they can understand. We are therefore encouraged to put the seed of the gospel and let it grow in the heart of the people.
9.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Adeyemo T, Toward an understanding of African Worldview (p1)
Andrew H: Building A Christian worldview- Vol.1 P. x1).
Nicholls B, 1979: Contextualisation, A Theology of Gospel and Culture,
Paternoster Press, UK
Moreau S, 2000: Evangelical Dictionary of World Mission,
Baker Book House,
ADDITIONAL REFERNCE.
James O: On Worldview.
