This morning, one of my favorite Gumuz women sat on our front porch explaining how lightning had hit the tree next to her grass hut. My first mental response was "Praise the Lord....isn't it great how God protected your home." Second mental response: the community probably thinks it is a really big deal.
Life out here is not very scientific. It is very spiritual. My friend, who is a strong believer, explained that she needed some coffee in order to respond to this near tragedy. Her reason for coming was quite obviously two-fold. One, she needed some coffee. Two, she was wondering how to respond in a biblical way instead of a cultural way. Did we want to come?
With my parents being in Gesses, we had the freedom to leave our kids at home with them this morning so we could attend the meeting that was to take place. On the way, I invited Askale, a highland Ethiopian woman, who happened to be in Gesses today. She has a great love for the people and a great understanding of their culture. She also knows this woman really well. We also stopped by a church elder's house to see if he was coming. He was. Rolf had planned a meeting with the elders for this morning and in the end, they all ended up at our friend's house. God was bringing His people to a place for His purpose. This Gumuz friend of ours happens to have married into a family that has not responded to the gospel yet and so we knew that this was not going to be simply a time of thanksgiving.
So imagine you have no scientific understanding of the natural elements. You certainly don't understand the reasons behind lightning. But you have a great understanding of the spirit world. You understand evil and good. You understand demons and you fear them. Fire falls from the sky and strikes a tree so near to your house that you can feel it. This fire hits the ground, leaving a hole but where did it go? Will it return? The natural response is to appease this god so that he won't send this fire again. And to make matters more difficult, you have seen lightning strike 4 times in the last year or two and last time you didn't appease the god.
The discussions were calm but they were certainly focused on the warped tree that we sat facing. It looked like it had been skinned and the skin was lying in a twisted mass at the base of the tree.
I couldn't follow all of the discussion but it certainly revolved around one thing: how to appease the god who sent the lightning. There were about 15 Gumuz adults in a semi circle. The believers remained fairly quiet while the others discussed whether to slaughter a chicken, a goat or a sheep and how many.
As we were served our first cup of coffee, one of the relatives got up and walked to the base of the lightning struck tree. He muttered "Do not return to us again. Do not bring this bad thing to us again." He then poured the coffee onto the ground and returned to his seat. 5 minutes later, the chief of this village and the grandfather to this family arrived and he also took a cup of coffee and also sought to appease this god of fire.
I was thinking....I can't believe I gave coffee that is now being sacrificed to Satan. I can't believe my friend and the church elders are allowing this discussion to even take place. I ignorantly thought that my friend's faith was stronger than the fear around her. But God had brought a unique group of people together and as the discussion began, I prayed.
It seems, that the Gumuz as a whole have accepted that there is a creator God and that He is the most powerful. But, their actions show that they still live in fear of the spirit world and that they really believe Satan is more powerful.
Rolf asked leading questions which then opened the door for the elders and Askale to speak. One of the Gumuz church elders and another believer led in the discussions following Askale's talk and there was a great openness and desire to understand. I continued to pray. I prayed for this chief who is the oldest Gumuz that I know and has had a violent past. I prayed for his wife and for his grown children and for his grandchildren.
The discussion seemed to end quite suddenly. There was understanding and smiles on people's faces. One of the believers stood up and prayed and following that my friend who had remained quiet throughout the discussion began to sing one of the songs she had created several months ago. She sang about God being the most powerful and everyone in the circle seemed to know the song and sang along. My prayer was: may these words not just be sung but believed.
Although the gospel may be accepted, it does not always mean that previous beliefs are abandoned. It also doesn't mean that the relatives didn't return later today to appease the god they fear but it does mean that there is an openness and a desire to follow our Creator God.
Pray for the believers who desire to Love the Lord our God with all their heart, soul and mind. Pray that the believers will have wisdom and be filled with courage. Pray that the elders would lead in boldness and truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment