African "custom"

In this dialogue, I use the term "African custom" to mean specific
animistic customs related to spirit worship. I do not mean African
customs in general (such as dress, food, etc). The word used in French
"coutume" is translated to "custom" or "habit" in English, but this
translation does not fully capture the meaning the way it was used.

"I'm going to be gone today. Me and my friend here are going to spend
the day at the mortuary place," my friend explained.
"Who died?" I asked.
"Oh, he was the paternal uncle of so-and-so."
"The one who makes grass fencing and palm-leaf hats?"
"Yes, he's the one."
"Was he sick?"
"He was paralyzed on one side for three days. He absolutely refused to
go the the hospital. He died last night around midnight."
Wanting to know more of the story, I continued with more questions as we
walked from my house toward the gate. "Was he sick before that?"
"Yes, he was not stable in his mind. He was crazy. He has been that way
for years."
Seeing that I was still a bit puzzled, my friend continued to explain
more of the story.

"You know that big tree by the Adventist church in Bendele? The really
big cassidra with lots of branches on the same land as the church? That
tree used to be the sacred African custom tree. That tree used to be our
church. My father and grandfather and great-grandfather used to worship
that tree. My great-grandfather gave his knowledge of that tree to my
grandfather, and my grandfather gave it to my father. That tree and the
land around it used to be for the devil. But when my father became a
Christian, he left the tree and did not pass it on to me."

"Very interesting," I replied. "So how does this affect the man who just
died?"

"Oh, yes," he continued. "Years ago, that man cut down a palm tree on
the African custom land. That land belonged to the devil and so did that
tree. Ever since that day, he has been crazy in his head. He has tried
many times to kill himself. He threw himself into the well, but he came
up alive. He went at night to an Arab camp and began beating their oxen,
but then the Arabs saw that he was crazy in his head, they didn't kill
him. He tried throwing himself into the river, but the river spit him
out. And now, God has determined his time to go and he has died. They
plan to bury him today."

"The devil has power, that is for sure," I said. "But isn't God stronger?"

This question aroused a defensive response. At the gate, we stopped
walking and faced each other. "Jonathan," my friend said decidedly, "our
African custom is very complicated. When you are 100% Christian, you
must not touch anything that belongs to the devil. If you do, you will
absolutely have problems. You can't go and cut down something of African
custom. You can't just go and combat Satan like that. It is very dangerous."

My friend continued, "I know someone in our village who works with the
African customs. If you mess with his things, you have two months to
live—maximum. Stealing is still wrong, even if you are stealing the
devil's things. You can't just go and steal those things without having
big problems."

To reinforce his point even further, he told me of another story. "One
man became a pastor of a church. Since he was a Christian and a pastor
for God now, he decided to cut down the tree in his yard. It was the
same kind of tree that is on the land for the church, the same kind that
people worship. The neighbors and other villagers warned him not to
touch that tree, for it was a sacred tree. But he claimed that he was
God's now and that the devil could not hurt him. He cut down the tree.
Right away he became paralyzed and remained paralyzed until he died two
and a half years later. It's God who made the tree grow, not Satan. Why
should he cut down something that God has made?"

"You see," he concluded, "our African custom is very complicated. If you
say that you are 100% Christian and that the devil doesn't have power
over you, you don't understand our custom. The best thing for a
Christian to do is to never touch or go near things of African custom."

My mind begins to think of various Bible examples relating to this. I
think of Gideon who tore down a monument to Baal. I think of various
kings who tore down high places. These people did touch the things of
the devil and destroy them. I also think of Job, who experienced the
power of the devil even though he was faithful to God. I think of the
seven sons of Sceva. I think we have good material here for several
Bible studies together.

Solar mp3 story: Joel

Joel recently approached me with his request that I would teach him
English. I agreed to help him with English if he would help me with
Nangjere, the local language here. So we have started meeting once or
twice a week to do some language study together.

Tuesday afternoon is one of our normal meeting times. Last Tuesday he
came to inform me that he would not be doing language study that day.
His small child had died. We talked for a short time before he returned
home.

On Wednesday I went to visit his home, though he did not know that I was
coming. In African culture, it is good to go and sit for a while with
the family of whoever died. For us, it is an opportunity to connect with
them and to show that we care. As I walked up to the mat in the shade of
a large Neem tree, I heard the audio Bible playing. Three or four ladies
had come to visit Joel and his family, and they were all sitting around
the mp3 player on the mat.

I greeted the others, then approached the father and mother. With bowed
head and in silence, I squeeze their hands--first that of one parent and
then the other. Nothing is said for a half a minute or so. We grieve
together. Then, we squeeze hands again.

That part of the ritual finished, Joel starts a conversation that
quickly turns to spiritual topics. The audio Bible is playing
continually. He starts asking questions about some of the verses he has
heard. Some of the ladies are interested in the questions too. A simple
visit turned into an opportunity to share the Word of God.

The Bible was still playing as I left.

Eyes Upon Me from All Directions

It's time to get a malaria test done Jonathan and I both decide. I've
had fevers since Thursday and today they are higher instead of lower.
Around 11am, with my temperature 102.6F, I strap Gideon on to me
securely and get on the motorcycle. I feel weak but don't have any other
choice but to carry Gideon since Jonathan is driving and it's safer to
have Gideon between us.

At the hospital I sit down on a bench outside while Jonathan goes to get
the paper slip used to order tests. Gideon is still strapped to me and
content. After sitting down my eyes scan my surroundings and I quickly
realize I'm being stared at from practically all directions. There's a
group of ladies huddled together way over by peds that have stopped
everything to stare at me with big grins. And than there's some men
sitting outside the emergency room looking straight at me. Under the
mango tree in front of me a few ladies look my way. Just 50 feet from me
a Arab lady gives me a big smile. Some men look at me as they walk by.
Yes, lots of eyes were upon me. "Not so great" I think to myself. "But
that's what I get for being a white lady with a white baby." Now that I
have a baby I get a lot more stares than I ever did before.

But looking at the positive side, I've added joy to their day by coming
here. I see several smiles and that's a lot better than what it could be.

I get my finger poked and blood taken and head back home. Now my fever
is 103.5. It's hard to be sick in Chad but I have felt a lot worse
before. The test came back negative. Good! That probably means I don't
have malaria. Thank you God!

Solar mp3 story: Masons

We are happy that the construction phase of the base here in Bere is
nearly finished. There are a few smaller projects still under
construction, however. With the advantage of hired help comes the
disadvantage of managing the workers and the noise that they sometimes
make with their discussions or radios.

Recently the work crew have been blaring the radio, disturbing the peace
of the compound. I want to be respectful, but I also do not appreciate
having the radio on for me or my family to hear all the time.

I approached the head mason with a solar mp3 player in hand. When the
other workers saw what I had in my hand, they all gathered around me. I
described how to use the player and suggested that they play it
sometimes while they work.

Sometimes now, instead of secular music, we hear the New Testament in
Nangjere. Pray that the Holy Spirit will bring conviction to the
hearers' hearts.

Solar mp3 story: Frederick

I first met Frederick over four years ago. He was a small young boy with
a large grin on his face. His eyes did not look in the same direction,
so he often had to turn his head to point his eye so he could look at
me. His skinny little legs were mostly floppy and limp and have been
that way for most of his life. With the help of his parents or neighbor
kids, he tied sticks to his legs with strips of old rubber moto
inner-tubes to stiffen his legs a little. That, in conjunction with a
pair of wooden crutches, enabled him to shuffle short distances away
from home.

Frederick came to the gate that day and asked me for 25 francs. That is
equivalent to 5 cents USD. He wanted to buy a small piece of bread. Over
the months and years, he still comes to visit.

He lives just a few hundred meters from our compound. When we drive to
town, he is often sitting on the worn-shiny trunk of a felled palm tree.
Just sitting. Sometimes with a group of friends. Sometimes alone. While
many other boys his age go to school, he stays home because he cannot
walk that far.

Last week he came to visit. He had a letter from his father asking me to
help him with his legs. I don't think there is much that can be done to
help him, but I promised to do a little research. If it will help, I'd
like to raise enough money to send him to the handicap clinic in Moundou.

I also gave him a solar mp3 player containing the New Testament in
Nangjere. He was delighted. Frederick now listens to the Bible regularly
at his place on the shiny palm log. And when we drive by, we often see
him with a circle of friends listening...

Please pray that the Holy Spirit will speak to the hearts of those who
listen to God's Word and that their lives will be changed.

Solar mp3 story: Martha

Martha comes in the morning to sweep our yard several times a week. She
also fills our large water container on our front porch so that we have
water with which to cook, bathe, and flush. Her reliability and good
work ethic have encouraged us to keep her as our regular helper. Her
kids have visited many times since I arrived in 2009.

As usual for a woman in this culture, she is illiterate. She
communicates freely in Nangjere, her native language, but knows very
little French. She couldn't read a Bible in either language, even if she
owned one. But since she cannot read, she owns no books. What little she
knows about the Bible comes from what her friends have shared with her
or what she has heard in church.

One morning while Martha was busily sweeping our yard, I came out the
door and greeted her. I presented to her one of our solar mp3 players,
explaining that it contained the New Testament in Nangjere, her very own
language. She was thrilled, delighted, amazed. She could hardly believe
it! Her grin stretched from ear to ear as she held out both of her hands
to receive the New Testament. It was as if she had just been given $1000.

Sweeping stopped immediately. Broom aside, she intently listened to the
Word of God as she sat statue-like on the small chair. It was near noon
before she finally got up to finish her work. Now she was hauling water
in the noon sun.

Over and over again she told me, "Thank you. Thank you."

Gideon likes his swing!