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August 09, 2006
The mission continues... Part 1: Yero and co.
This is the first part of a number of posts where I will share a bit about the vision for my continuing work in Burkina, and some thoughts about mission and the church today.
A Fulani Village in Burkina Faso
Saadu, Sambo, and Hamadu lounged on the mats and chairs, Fulani tea bubbling away in the background, and listened attentively as Yero told a story. It was a story about two Fulani men travelling with their cows, and a dilemma that arose. I could see the listeners getting involved as they pictured themselves in the situation of the herders in the story.
"What do you think?" asked Yero, "What should they do?"
An animated debate started. After a while, everyone looked at Yero, and asked what he thought, as the originator of the dilemma. And Yero began to talk about the teachings of Iisaa Almasiihu - Jesus Christ. Everyone became quiet again, and listened attentively once more...
Yero used to be a Muslim religious teacher. But finally it was in Christ that he found the forgiveness, grace, and truth that he had been looking and striving for. It was in the Quran that he first came across Jesus, and it was the honour given to Jesus there that first drew him to look more at Christ. He is thankful for his background in Islam that led him to Christ, but he knows his hope is in the one who died and rose again, and he longs for his family and friends to know this same life-changing encounter.
As I listened to Yero, I knew that I would never be able to share the good news of Christ, nor incarnate the life of the kingdom of God to the Fulani anywhere near as well as Yero does among his own people. I resisted the temptation to teach him the "4 spiritual laws" - his Fulani parables were a much more powerful way of getting people to engage with the story and message of Christ, and explore what the kingdom of God might look like among the Fulani.
Be careful how you build
Small though the Fulani church there is, it is maturing, and there are people like Yero who are exploring what shape that church will take as they tell the story of Christ within the Fulani context. The church of Christ and the ministry of the kingdom of God must be built on local people like Yero, and not on expat missionaries. They are able to relate the message and life of the kingdom to their people in a way unencumbered by the cultural, economic, and spiritual baggage that we bring from our western context.
Of course, they have their own challenges, as they seek to work through how the kingdom of God relates to their own cultural and religious heritage. One of the things I want to do is to try and help people like Yero work through those issues, and find ways forward that are genuinely Christian, and genuinely Fulani - without being corrupted by a western cultural approach that has become so tainted by our individualism, consumerism, and rationalism.
Tags: burkina burkina faso church mission jesus christ missionary ministry africa fulani christianity
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Posted by Keith at August 9, 2006 10:40 AM
Comments
"his Fulani parables were a much more powerful way of getting people to engage with the story and message of Christ, and explore what the kingdom of God might look like among the Fulani."
We have so much to learn from this work. Oh, that we could each do the same here...
Posted by: wilsonian at August 11, 2006 03:17 AM