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September 30, 2003
How to talk to cows
Dear friends,
Hope you are well. Here there is jam tan, we are all fine. The rice has fruited or grained or whatever the right word is, and now we are just waiting for it to ripen. A couple more weeks and there will be chicken vindaloo all round, or at least something to serve it on.
We have been showing the Jesus film in Boukouma and it has gone down very well indeed. Three nights, a couple hundred people each night, and all of them falling over themselves to say how good laawol Iisaa (the way of Jesus) is. Nowhere else have I come across so many people so enthusiastic about Jesus but so reluctant to follow him. Most of them are held back by fear of their families. There is one lad called Rasmane, for example, who will start ‘terminale’ at school this year (equivalent of A-level year). He wants to follow Jesus, but his uncle, who pays his school fees, says he will stop paying his fees if he becomes a Christian. Tricky.
I had a couple days in a Fulani settlement this week to learn a thing or two about cattle-herding, following a herder called Jibliiru and his thirty or so cows. At this time of year the grass is plentiful and the Fulani herd their cattle night and day, the cattle feeding up in preparation for dry season. The cows only sleep about twenty minutes each night, and the herders seldom get more than three or four hours. It is interesting work - walking along with the animals as they graze, encouraging the stragglers, fencing in the forerunners. Jibliiru amazed me with his ability to keep track of all the cows, especially when they were spread out amongst the trees. He never counted, but always knew instinctively when one was missing.
When I got back to Boukouma I wrote down everything I had learned, including Jibliiru’s guide on how to talk to cows. Here, for what it is worth, is an extract. Who knows, it might come in useful in a pub quiz one day.
Oss! Go
Hey! (intone downwards) Turn round
Hey! (intone upwards) Eat some more
Tay! (intone upwards) Come here
Tay! (intone downwards) Drink
Aaa-eee! Where are you? (especially amongst trees)
Tschah! Stop that!
Surra surra! Please don’t kill me
The last one is what you say if a cow charges you - you lie down on the ground and put up your hands and say surra surra. That would be the one with four rolled r’s in it, wouldn’t it! I asked Jibliiru what makes a cow charge, and he said, “Fay - na’i mboodaa” which means “Nothing at all - cows are evil.”
If a command is directed at a particular cow, you name it - every cow has a name based on its combination of colouring and markings. There are a few hundred possibilities, but thanks to my time with the jooru back in Petegoli, I am well on the way to mastering these. I now hit the right name about 75% of the time!
Thanks for your prayers. I know many of you have been praying for the work at Boukouma; we appreciate that and it looks like the harvest will be good. We have been kept safe from the resident snakes and even found a pair of wellies in Djibo big enough to fit me.
When you have a moment, please pray for Rasmane and the many others in Boukouma who feel drawn to Jesus but dare not give him their lives for fear of the consequences. Pray also for Jibliiru and the herders, and for Keith and I as we try to communicate to them the message of the Good Herder.
Love to you and your families,
Alla beydu jam,
Steve
Posted by sahelsteve at September 30, 2003 04:33 PM