Mai Mahiu-Narok Highway linking Nairobi to Kisii.
Inter-cultural and political dynamics on local missionaries
by Eric Bosire • 17 August 2023
The term missionary is generally understood to refer to Christian workers who leave their home to work among people they don’t know.
I applaud missionaries a lot: Leaving the comfort of your home to go to people you hardly know is not for the faint hearted. You are not certain about the reception you will get from the people among you’ll live. As much a missionary may have learned about the people prior to going there to live among them, on the ground things will be different. This is largely brought about by the differences in cultures, the culture of the people will be different from the missionary’s own.
In a past article, we got to know how Dr. Mwita, and generally about how local missionaries go about their mission work. In the line of duty, they meet people from different ethnic backgrounds and hence different cultures. The cultures may be positive or negative depending on the view of the missionary.
In Kenya, every part of the country has its own political inclination. Every ethnic community has its own political party they are supporting. This has been necessitated by our political leaders, but it also goes without saying that some regions support different parties. The cultural and political differences may affect mission work in one way or another. On this I looked for Dr. Mwita of Migori Bible College and Bishop Otieno who was a local missionary in the past to give me their in-depth experience on the inter-cultural aspect and the political challenges they face as local missionaries.
Dr. Mwita said they do what he calls intermission, meaning to intentionally shift one’s mindset to be open for a new mission experience. What they often experience, especially when they enter a new field, is cultural shock. “The cultural shock is in so many areas, in food, in clothing and in the social way of life,” said Dr. Mwita. In the line of duty, it’s a recommendation by Dr. Mwita not to condemn any of the cultural practices be it in the type of food or style of dressing or the social life of a particular people. “You have to study the culture and know how the culture is both biblical and non-biblical.”
For you to be accepted, Dr. Mwita said that you should learn to eat their food together with them, the food might not be pleasant because of difference in food preferences but they should learn to adopt slowly, he advises that one should not go wholesomely rather bit by bit until you fully adopt to the environment and get used to the type of food available.
According to Dr. Mwita, the style of dressing and way of life in an area can be a shock or can be something that is misunderstood. Before you condemn it as a missionary, it is important to understand why it is happening and why their culture fits their clothing the way they are. This helps you as a missionary to do deal with the culture in the best way possible making your work effective without hindrance.
“The Bible is super culture and everything we see in people's culture, there is a way the Bible goes in and makes it better than it is. You don't become compromised by losing the values of the Bible because of people's culture and therefore you make people see the value of their culture inside the Bible. It's is something I have learnt and it is what I teach my students before they go out for both long and short missions,” said Dr. Mwita.
Over the years Dr. Mwita and his team of local missionaries have been appreciated by other communities and societies because when they went out there, they accepted the people the way they are and we helped them to see what they are according to the Bible. “The main missionary issue is Christ centred, to show people Christ and make him known to people, other things are additional,” said Dr. Mwita.
In the Bible as far as Dr. Mwita is concerned, we learn from people like Apostle Paul in his second missionary journey, he goes to Athens and there he meets people who are worshiping idols but again he realized that they had another god that is called the Unknown God and therefore he based his teachings on the Unknown God and that made the people of Athens ready to listen to Paul more than it was expected. This is very clear in the book of Acts chapter 16. “Culture should not be a barrier, culture should be a stepping stone that helps us to reach people with the message of Christ,” said Dr. Mwita.
Language barrier is a major issue when it comes to mission work and Dr. Mwita admits this and so to solve it, one of the things they encourage missionaries is to know what he calls the basic words of every tribe and culture. “For you to be able to do well you need to learn the basic words of a certain culture for example you need to know the greetings, how people great in the morning, afternoon and evening. Know how they call the Bible, and how they call a man and a woman. We also encourage proper pronunciation of these basic words because wrong pronunciation may irritate the people listening to you. Learning the language bit by bit helps a missionary to fit in the community easily.”
Dr. Mwita and his team are able to beat some cultural barriers by accepting to learn from the people. “Don't go with a closed door policy that you know and they don't know, create an environment whereby you learn from one another,” said Dr. Mwita. Through this they are able to gain accessibility to the people they visit.
Dr. Mwita noted that it is important to consider the age factor in a new area and culture. How are the elderly treated, and how do you talk to them? “In many cultures the best way to be welcomed is through the elders because they know the culture better than the young people and so a missionary will learn how things are done in a certain culture through the elders.”
In the African traditional setup some cultures were practiced which are now obsolete because of how life has evolved and people have embraced Christian values. However, some people still practice these cultural activities.
I sought to know from Dr. Mwita if they encounter any unfamiliar cultural practices and what do they do about it. Dr. Mwita admitted that indeed some traditional cultural practices by some communities are still going on and they pose a great challenge for instance the Kuria people still practice Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). “Biblically speaking there is nothing like FGM and having stayed with these people, we found out that they have seasons they practise it,” said Dr. Mwita.
To solve the issue Dr. Mwita said they came up with two ways of dealing with it, first is to have an early teaching that comes before the season when FGM is practiced. By doing so, some people will understand and say no to the vice. There are those who might not agree to it but after sometime they will come into agreement.
Another way advised by Dr. Mwita is to have activities that have the minds of the people who practise FGM engaged in other things. “Have things that excite them, things that take their minds off that particular vice like organise a celebration for the girl child, organise trips and meet the costs. Use that opportunity to teach the Bible and the social life,”
Dr. Mwita said that through this measures you might not capture or convince everyone but at least a percentage of the people will listen and adhere to the teachings. “Results have shown that in that manner, as a missionary, you cannot always save everybody, but you can be able to at least save 30% to 40% of the people and progressively you are able to do it in the different cultures other than FGM,”
According to Dr. Mwita, their work has not gone in vain because currently when they visit churches in Kuria, out of ten girls, six have said no to FGM and four are still struggling. On the other hand, local missionaries learn different cultures. They get to study the different life styles of people hence expanding their knowledge. Dr. Mwita said they do borrow a leaf of the good cultural practices and take them back home with them. For example, some cooking recipes. The local missionaries also introduce cultures from where they come from.
Dr. Mwita emphasized that missionaries should first of all understand why a community is practicing a certain culture and if it is a bad practice, look for meaningful ways of discouraging it.
The politics of the day also affect the work of the local missionaries because of political differences and inclinations. Political influence and instability can greatly affect the major milestones gained by missionaries.
On the political aspect, Dr. Mwita said that when we had the post-election violence in the year 2007-2008 due to disputed presidential election results, many missionaries decided to go back home, they went back to their societies, others were called back to their churches due to the tribal clashes that were experienced at that time and so they feared for their lives. The high political temperatures led to post-election violence, but Dr. Mwita noted that that was the best opportunity to preach the gospel. “When there is a political instability in a country, many people lose hope and the only people who can salvage the situation are missionaries who come with the message of hope,”
According to Dr. Mwita, there is a positive and a negative way of looking at the political instability effects on the work of missionaries, but the negative side of it supersedes the positive side because of missionaries withdrawing and going back home and all work that has been done become stagnant and can lead to incomplete projects and activities. “On resumption you are forced to begin afresh, because of the instability people have lost all that you taught them, and how you walked and talked to them goes in vain and also there is the aspect of wastage of time and money,” said Dr. Mwita.
The people look at a missionary as an icon and so in the event of a political instability they will want to know your stand on the issue at hand, because they really believe you must have something about the political quagmire of a country. “This is where a missionary should be very careful, before you give your comment and your stand, you must make sure you are there to preach peace. Play a neutral ground to avoid bringing more trouble. Therefore a missionary should know what to do in every season and time,” said Dr. Mwita.
Political instability is not only in Kenya, when you look at Paul the apostle in his three missionary journeys, there was also some political turmoil.
Dr. Mwita said that the issue of political inclinations is not a priority to salvation. Missions are Christ centered regardless of the political party one is supporting, if Jesus is involved then there will be no cause for alarm. “There is always that temptation of wanting to please the people, in the process of trying to please the people so that they fit to the information that you want them to receive. Therefore, you don't go beyond, you must have boundaries.”
Dr. Mwita draws the people near but with boundaries. “For example, today we have sex workers, I don't go condemning their business but I should not play sex with them because when I do that, I'll be compromising my faith. Therefore, I have to have standards and keep the boundaries for me to accomplish my work. In the book of Philippians 1:6 the Bible says that good work that God began, He would always accomplish it. We have to be ready as missionaries to accomplish God’s work in whichever way
I also interviewed Bishop Otieno1 of Trumpet Terbanacle Church, Kisii. He started developing interest in Kisii while still a student at Kenyatta University in the early 90's. He was drawn to Kisii because at the University according to him, you could hardly find born again students from Kisii in the Christian Union. It made him wonder whether there are preachers in Kisii and on that note he embarked his journey to fulfill the vision he had for Kisii.
He started his local missionary work by holding meetings in the town and its environs and planting churches around Kisii. Bishop Otieno later decided to settle in Kisii. He is now the senior pastor of Trumpet Terbanacle Church and holds key positions in various church leadership forums.
Bishop Otieno is not from Kisii and therefore he was not familiar with the Kisii culture. “The reality at that time was I was a stranger to the Kisii culture, and therefore there was the cultural shock in terms of language barrier bearing in mind that in those days Swahili and English was not widespread as it is today,” said Bishop Otieno. Being a freelance missionary, the language problem hindered his work. He resorted to getting an interpreter in his meetings as he also had to learn the local language.
According to Bishop Otieno, a lot of traditional cultures in Kisii had moved into some Christian experience. He however noted that there were some practices that were ongoing, “Kisii people for example practiced FGM, but they did it under cover unlike other communities.” Which brings another aspect of the Kisii people of being secretive. “Where I come from people are not secretive, things are done communally we are extroverted unlike the Kisii people who are largely introverted. Though the Kisii people may be aggressive, their aggression is manifested when they are angry. You might sit with a Kisii person, share with them and on the surface you might be deceived that they have taken what you have said, because they don't express themselves. Down where I was born we either receive you or we don't,”
On the denominational doctrinal challenge, Bishop Otieno had to deal with people who profess Christianity though their born again experience didn’t show a living relationship with the living savior “When you look for the fruit in them, you don't find it, you literally had to fish people, here we are not fishing people from cultural traditions. It's like you are fishing people from nominal Christianity to bring them to a living faith,” said Bishop Otieno. He remembered that Kisii Town used to be a ghost town on Saturdays, no shops were open, no vehicles. People were in church especially the Seventh Day Adventist people.
From Bishop Otieno’s experience, the Kisii people are very friendly, “I don't remember any incident of violence or outright rejection. Even when you dispute, they don't take the dispute with aggression, they disagree amicably.”
Bishop Otieno said that he used to hear that Kisii people eat people. It is something that can send shivers down the spine of a person, but Bishop Otieno not being a fearful person had to confirm this narrative. Stories were that that the witches and night runners operate at night but, when he used to walk late in the night from his missions, he did not encounter any unfamiliar happenings, not even thieves.
That notwithstanding, as a native myself I know that witches abide in the Kisii community and on that note I wanted to know what Bishop Otieno taught or advised about the same. He was quick to admit that he addressed witchcraft a lot and enlightened people about the power of God. “In fact I had a lot of power encounters with witchcraft and from time to time I burnt the charms and the paraphernalia used by the witches,” said Bishop Otieno.
He said that one time a municipal revenue collector took him to their home where the father practiced witchcraft. The father was not happy about it, because most of the witches do not admit blatantly to what they do, but Bishop and the revenue collector were not going to be disrupted by the old man's anger, they prayed at the homestead until the old man started shaking.
Later the revenue collector's old man relinquished his tools of work, the charms and the paraphernalia. Bishop Otieno burnt them. “He got scared to touch those things, but when he saw the confidence with which we touched those things and set them on fire and nothing happened to us, then he said surely our Jesus is alive. He got converted and quit witchcraft,”
Bishop Otieno continued to preach to people that witchcraft is powerless and it has seen people change over the years he has been in ministry. “The preaching and the teachings has helped to work against the fear and then there is a lot of enlightenment coupled with the fact that Kisii now has become quite cosmopolitan,”
The native’s solution to the witchcraft menace was to lynch those caught in the act. However, Bishop Otieno discourages this and says, “a witch, if there is any, is a sinner like any other person, they are captives of Satan and are in bondage. When you lynch them, you are not showing them the light. The solution is to pray for them and bring them to light. These witches have covenanted with powers of darkness; they fear that if they leave they will die. A covenant can be broken by another stronger covenant. If you show these witches that there is a stronger covenant which is the death of the son of God on the cross and when they believe, those powers are broken and they are set free from the powers of the demons.”
According to Bishop Otieno getting the witches to convert and turn back to Jesus is not a matter of convincing them it's a matter of arresting the power that has taken them captive. “The world of darkness is real, but real in a funny way because people get deluded to believe in the lie and walk in the lie which affects them spiritually putting them in bondage. When the spiritual encounter takes place the witches are completely disarmed and are set free in the mind and hence able to listen to what you are telling them.”
Witchcraft made people to live in chronic fear and in turn lead to chronic fear of death. “It took the preaching and power encounters to break the chronic fear in the people and their minds are liberated,” said Bishop Otieno.
The work of Bishop Otieno and team allowed for establishment of evangelical spiritual churches which formerly could not happen in Kisii.
Politically Bishop Otieno noted that the Kisii people are quite liberal, “Kisii people are democratic and are not inclined to one political party like where I come from.” On that note no matter your political alignment, the Kisii people will not reject you. “Kisii church leaders received me well and later appointed me their secretary in the Kisii Interdenominational clergy forum. I have served for almost 20 years now,”
The fact that bishop Otieno never makes his political stand obvious and the fact that he always interacts beyond and across cultures, that has always worked out for him in turbulent moments related to politics. He said that political instability affects local missionaries and their works due to political influence from the political leaders that is catalyzed with money in terms of tokens and handouts.
The government through the Chief’s Act in the early 90’s got into the way of the mission work by Bishop Otieno. Chiefs were administrative officers appointed by the president. “For you to hold a meeting you needed the chief to approve, to give you license. Sometimes we could go to the chief to get the license and he would turn us down because he had denominational inclination,” said Bishop Otieno.
Thankfully in 1997 those provisiions of the Chief's Act were repealed in the context of the constitutional reforms through the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG). That solved the headache of having to get licenses from chiefs to hold meetings, now all that was needed was to notify the police. “We were also denied access to social halls by government officers despite having the freedom of worship, association and expression constitutionally. To me this was out rightly abuse of office,” said Bishop Otieno.
From what I have learnt is that local missionaries should know how to play their role as missionaries to deal with the dynamics of culture and politics.
Next: Major teaching conference held in Nairobi, by Bosibori Osusu.
Notes:
1 A bishop in the pentecostal churches of Kenya is an administrative term denoting a senior church leader. back
About the author:
Eric Bosire is a Kenyan Journalist. He is based in Kisii.
About the image:
Photograph taken by Eric Bosire through the window of a matatu while traveling in the early morning hours before there was much traffic.
Suggested citation:
Eric Bosire: Inter-cultural and political dynamics on local missionaries, MissionField News (ISSN 2813-2270)
https://missionfield.news/2023/14_Dynamics
2023-08-17.