As missionaries, we have always attempted to identify with the people we are discipling. This presents a challenge when working with people in the village context. Do we live in a grasshut? Do we plant a field? Do I, as a woman spend my time collecting firewood, carrying water by hand and cooking over an open fire? Ethiopian missionaries do this very well and foreigners don’t. When I was single, Claire and I would spend some weekends in the homes of Sudanese. This allowed us to get a good grasp on language and build friendships quickly but it was also hard. (Sleeping on bamboo beds, no washroom facilities, etc) During the week, when we were teaching though, we would live in our own homes.
Raising a family presents some extra challenges and in the end, we forfeit complete identification for longevity. So we cook using gas, have solar electricity for lighting and running a washing machine, have a bed per person, water storage, a tin roof and a cement floor. Our hope is that these things don’t distract us from relationships but to be generous with what we have and effective in how we live.
Ways we have tried to connect and identify with the Gumuz so far: We charge our neighbours cell phones (yes some Gumuz have cell phones), eat the local food, sit with them, go to church, learn language and songs, carry our drinking water from the well (Rolf does this though it is mostly women’s work), deal with rodents and scorpions, treat illnesses and get sick (not purposefullyJ).
Our desire is to live among the people and model Christ in their context and to find a balance in doing this well. May our conveniences not keep us from loving the Gumuz and sharing Christ’s love with them.
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