Chapter 9
Nomadic Pastoralists and Missionary Priorities
A final objective of this study is to consider the significance of the nomadic pastoral peoples from a missiological and eschatological point of view. It should be understood from the outset that this is based upon the premise that the ultimate purpose of the world wide Church of Jesus Christ is to reproduce itself in every ethnic group. The final climax of its destiny and human history will then be fulfilled when there are believers from every tribe and tongue and nation delighting to worship and obey the Lord Jesus Christ. This requires that they will not only have heard the gospel but seen it presented in such an effective manner that it will be comprehensible and attractive to them within their own God-given culture.
A further purpose of this chapter is to point out that the nomadic pastoral peoples are a serious challenge remaining to be realistically faced by Christian Missions. They may not be many in terms of total world population, but in numbers of separate ethnic groups they are probably one of the last major blocks of unreached peoples where the Christian church has not yet penetrated. They are possibly the toughest challenge that the missionary enterprise will have to tackle in terms of physical hardship, distant cultural barriers, and from religious opposition. It seems logical then to suggest that, rather than leaving them until last as the least responsive people, mission leaders should be facing this challenge with urgent and serious commitment, giving appropriate attention to these most unreached peoples.
A further purpose of this chapter is to point out that the nomadic pastoral peoples are a serious challenge remaining to be realistically faced by Christian Missions. They may not be many in terms of total world population, but in numbers of separate ethnic groups they are probably one of the last major blocks of unreached peoples where the Christian church has not yet penetrated. They are possibly the toughest challenge that the missionary enterprise will have to tackle in terms of physical hardship, distant cultural barriers, and from religious opposition. It seems logical then to suggest that, rather than leaving them until last as the least responsive people, mission leaders should be facing this challenge with urgent and serious commitment, giving appropriate attention to these most unreached peoples.
9.1. The "Nations" in the Old Testament Scriptures.
God's purposes for all the people on earth is not just a revelation found after the coming of Jesus Christ and the New Testament era but is clearly predicted in the Old Testament.
The first reference to God's inclusion of all peoples appears in the promises made to Abraham in the book of Genesis, some of which has already been quoted in other contexts. A summary will be given here to provide the foundation for other scripture references.
To Abraham - "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3) "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him" (Genesis 18:18) "through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me" (Genesis 22:18)
To Isaac - the Lord appeared to Isaac and said "Do not go down to Egypt-- live in the land for a while and I will be with you and will bless you, For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws. So Isaac stopped in Gerar. (Genesis 26:2-6)
To Jacob - "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through your offspring. (Genesis 28:13-14)
In the book of Psalms there are more than 100 references to God's concern for "all peoples," "and nations" "to the ends of the earth." Psalm 67 is a good example:
"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us, God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (Psalm 67:1-7)
In Psalm 72 particular mention is made of the desert tribes:- "He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. The desert tribes will bow before him"...(Ps 72:8-9) "All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him"...(Psalm 72:11) "All nations will be blessed through him and they will call him blessed". (Ps. 72:17)
The prophecy of Isaiah contains approximately 80 references to God's plan to include all peoples and nations in his redemptive purpose. For instance:
"Many peoples will come and say 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths...He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many nations. (Is. 2:3-4)
I the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the Gentiles to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.....Sing to the LORD a new song. His praise from the ends of the earth.....let the desert and its towns raise their voices: let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice (Isaiah 42:6-11)
I am the LORD and there is no other.....a righteous God and a Saviour, there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.....Before me every knee will bow; and by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength. (Isaiah 45:18, 21-24)
The latter quotation from Isaiah is undoubtedly the source of one of the most striking passages in the New Testament referring to the global dimensions of God's plan for all peoples.
He (Jesus) humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8-11)
God's purposes for all the people on earth is not just a revelation found after the coming of Jesus Christ and the New Testament era but is clearly predicted in the Old Testament.
The first reference to God's inclusion of all peoples appears in the promises made to Abraham in the book of Genesis, some of which has already been quoted in other contexts. A summary will be given here to provide the foundation for other scripture references.
To Abraham - "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3) "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him" (Genesis 18:18) "through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me" (Genesis 22:18)
To Isaac - the Lord appeared to Isaac and said "Do not go down to Egypt-- live in the land for a while and I will be with you and will bless you, For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws. So Isaac stopped in Gerar. (Genesis 26:2-6)
To Jacob - "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through your offspring. (Genesis 28:13-14)
In the book of Psalms there are more than 100 references to God's concern for "all peoples," "and nations" "to the ends of the earth." Psalm 67 is a good example:
"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us, God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (Psalm 67:1-7)
In Psalm 72 particular mention is made of the desert tribes:- "He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. The desert tribes will bow before him"...(Ps 72:8-9) "All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him"...(Psalm 72:11) "All nations will be blessed through him and they will call him blessed". (Ps. 72:17)
The prophecy of Isaiah contains approximately 80 references to God's plan to include all peoples and nations in his redemptive purpose. For instance:
"Many peoples will come and say 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths...He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many nations. (Is. 2:3-4)
I the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the Gentiles to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.....Sing to the LORD a new song. His praise from the ends of the earth.....let the desert and its towns raise their voices: let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice (Isaiah 42:6-11)
I am the LORD and there is no other.....a righteous God and a Saviour, there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.....Before me every knee will bow; and by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength. (Isaiah 45:18, 21-24)
The latter quotation from Isaiah is undoubtedly the source of one of the most striking passages in the New Testament referring to the global dimensions of God's plan for all peoples.
He (Jesus) humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8-11)
9.2 The example of Jesus Christ on earth. - his attitude.
It is in the verses immediately preceding this universal declaration that the difference is revealed between the attitude of many Western Christian missionaries towards distant and disadvantaged peoples and that of their leader and model Jesus Christ.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross---.(Philippians 2:5-8)
It is readily accepted in principle that all development workers need to live simply and as close as possible to the people amongst whom they are working if they are to win their trust and acceptance. This attitude of simplicity and empathetic social identification is even more to be expected and evidenced in those seeking to show an appropriate Christian witness to non-Christian societies. If the intervention is to be appropriate it must be attractive and acceptable to the target society. They must feel that it is being brought by someone who understands their needs, both spiritual and physical and is willing to identify with them - even to the point of adopting their lifestyle. This is the model that Jesus Christ showed in his incarnation, choosing to enter this world not at the highest social level or even in a comfortable middle class home but willing to be born into a poor peasant family - even to be "made flesh" in a situation which involved some inevitable social disgrace.
The stated purpose and priorities of Jesus
Jesus also made plain from his first recorded message in the synagogue in Nazareth that his first priority on earth was to go to the poor and disadvantaged, quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah.
The Spirit of the LORD is on me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed....(Luke 4:18,19)
These stated goals were actively demonstrated throughout His life, leading eventually to the most humiliating death - being crucified between two common criminals. It seemed that Jesus had no difficulty identifying with the poorest and most marginalised members of his society. It was only the proud and self righteous who invited his reproof. This is well illustrated by the familiar parable Jesus told about the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple, addressed "to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else" (Luke 18:9) The conclusion of this parable expressly states that, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 18:14). It is this attitude of the Lord Jesus which needs to be adopted by His followers when they aspire to serve Him where his love is most needed, amongst the truly poor, usually the economically and politically marginalised.
The model of the actions of Jesus Christ.
In the time of Christ, the science and technology of community development were very different from modern methods and interventions employed today. Nevertheless there are salutary lessons to be learned from the activity of Jesus Christ whilst He was on this earth by those who are motivated by Christian compassion to engage in wholistic development.
1. He began His life's work by choosing a team of local people from the ordinary working classes to be with Him and to watch his approach to people in various types of human need (Luke 5, 6:12-16)
2. He started His active ministry by appearing with His new team of disciples amongst large crowds of common people "who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases" (Luke 6:17-18)
3. He taught a revolutionary doctrine of love your enemies and declared His special concern for the poor and despised in his teaching on the Sermon on the Mount, still widely respected even by secular and non-Christian scholars.
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. But woe to your who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Who to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep." (Luke 6:20-25)
4. Jesus taught His followers not by secluding them in a theological training school for several years but by moving with them amongst ordinary people of the land to which He had been sent. Some of the earliest recorded examples of his actions involved healing individuals from the highest levels of society to the poorest, i.e.: the Roman centurion who demonstrated such great faith in Jesus and humility that he did not consider himself worthy to meet Jesus but sent some friends to ask Jesus to heal his servant. This story is immediately followed by the record of the concern of Jesus for a poor widow whose only son had just died.
"As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out--the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, 'Don't cry.' Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, 'Young man, I say to you, get up!' The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. 'A great prophet has appeared among us,' they said, 'God has come to help his people." (Luke 7:12-16)
5. Another aspect of the activity of Jesus on earth which is particularly pertinent to those working amongst nomadic pastoralists is that He did not stay in one place or build any permanent institutions, but "travelled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means." (Luke 8:1-3) This example would have special interest in societies where women do most of the work whilst the men sit around and talk or watch the work going on.
6. The activity Jesus demonstrated himself and deputed to his followers frequently had a two-fold aspect--declaration of Christian teaching and physical and spiritual healing of the sick. "When Jesus had called the 12 together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick....So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere." (Luke 9:1-2, 6)
Wholistic development as practised by Jesus.
The interventions Jesus used and sometimes enjoined on his disciples were primarily healing of bodies, minds and spirits, and on at least two occasions feeding large crowds of hungry people.
Only those who cannot believe in a God who is more powerful than them are likely to dispute that Jesus possessed miraculous powers to heal and feed people in need. There is considerably more doubt about what Jesus meant when he gave his followers the power to do the same sort of supernatural miracles. "When Jesus had called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases..." (Luke 9:1) Even his most loyal and earnest followers cannot claim to heal like Jesus did. He seemed unable to pass by any case of sickness or death, or possibly it was sickness or death that could not tolerate the presence of the Son of God - a mutual intolerance of anything less than life and wholeness as men and women were meant to live.
It is noteworthy that however many people Jesus healed he did not heal every sick person in the society where he lived. For thirty years he lived as the son of a carpenter with no record of his having learned that or any other trade or doing any supernatural activity. It was only during and after a profound spiritual encounter at the River Jordan and in the nearby desert for 40 days that unusual power is said to have come upon him. "Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert......Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and news about him spread through out all the countryside." (Luke 4:1,14) He appears to have recognised the enduement of this new power as he quoted soon afterwards from the prophet Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor". (Luke 4:14)
It is in the verses immediately preceding this universal declaration that the difference is revealed between the attitude of many Western Christian missionaries towards distant and disadvantaged peoples and that of their leader and model Jesus Christ.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross---.(Philippians 2:5-8)
It is readily accepted in principle that all development workers need to live simply and as close as possible to the people amongst whom they are working if they are to win their trust and acceptance. This attitude of simplicity and empathetic social identification is even more to be expected and evidenced in those seeking to show an appropriate Christian witness to non-Christian societies. If the intervention is to be appropriate it must be attractive and acceptable to the target society. They must feel that it is being brought by someone who understands their needs, both spiritual and physical and is willing to identify with them - even to the point of adopting their lifestyle. This is the model that Jesus Christ showed in his incarnation, choosing to enter this world not at the highest social level or even in a comfortable middle class home but willing to be born into a poor peasant family - even to be "made flesh" in a situation which involved some inevitable social disgrace.
The stated purpose and priorities of Jesus
Jesus also made plain from his first recorded message in the synagogue in Nazareth that his first priority on earth was to go to the poor and disadvantaged, quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah.
The Spirit of the LORD is on me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed....(Luke 4:18,19)
These stated goals were actively demonstrated throughout His life, leading eventually to the most humiliating death - being crucified between two common criminals. It seemed that Jesus had no difficulty identifying with the poorest and most marginalised members of his society. It was only the proud and self righteous who invited his reproof. This is well illustrated by the familiar parable Jesus told about the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple, addressed "to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else" (Luke 18:9) The conclusion of this parable expressly states that, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 18:14). It is this attitude of the Lord Jesus which needs to be adopted by His followers when they aspire to serve Him where his love is most needed, amongst the truly poor, usually the economically and politically marginalised.
The model of the actions of Jesus Christ.
In the time of Christ, the science and technology of community development were very different from modern methods and interventions employed today. Nevertheless there are salutary lessons to be learned from the activity of Jesus Christ whilst He was on this earth by those who are motivated by Christian compassion to engage in wholistic development.
1. He began His life's work by choosing a team of local people from the ordinary working classes to be with Him and to watch his approach to people in various types of human need (Luke 5, 6:12-16)
2. He started His active ministry by appearing with His new team of disciples amongst large crowds of common people "who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases" (Luke 6:17-18)
3. He taught a revolutionary doctrine of love your enemies and declared His special concern for the poor and despised in his teaching on the Sermon on the Mount, still widely respected even by secular and non-Christian scholars.
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. But woe to your who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Who to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep." (Luke 6:20-25)
4. Jesus taught His followers not by secluding them in a theological training school for several years but by moving with them amongst ordinary people of the land to which He had been sent. Some of the earliest recorded examples of his actions involved healing individuals from the highest levels of society to the poorest, i.e.: the Roman centurion who demonstrated such great faith in Jesus and humility that he did not consider himself worthy to meet Jesus but sent some friends to ask Jesus to heal his servant. This story is immediately followed by the record of the concern of Jesus for a poor widow whose only son had just died.
"As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out--the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, 'Don't cry.' Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, 'Young man, I say to you, get up!' The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praised God. 'A great prophet has appeared among us,' they said, 'God has come to help his people." (Luke 7:12-16)
5. Another aspect of the activity of Jesus on earth which is particularly pertinent to those working amongst nomadic pastoralists is that He did not stay in one place or build any permanent institutions, but "travelled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means." (Luke 8:1-3) This example would have special interest in societies where women do most of the work whilst the men sit around and talk or watch the work going on.
6. The activity Jesus demonstrated himself and deputed to his followers frequently had a two-fold aspect--declaration of Christian teaching and physical and spiritual healing of the sick. "When Jesus had called the 12 together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick....So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere." (Luke 9:1-2, 6)
Wholistic development as practised by Jesus.
The interventions Jesus used and sometimes enjoined on his disciples were primarily healing of bodies, minds and spirits, and on at least two occasions feeding large crowds of hungry people.
Only those who cannot believe in a God who is more powerful than them are likely to dispute that Jesus possessed miraculous powers to heal and feed people in need. There is considerably more doubt about what Jesus meant when he gave his followers the power to do the same sort of supernatural miracles. "When Jesus had called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases..." (Luke 9:1) Even his most loyal and earnest followers cannot claim to heal like Jesus did. He seemed unable to pass by any case of sickness or death, or possibly it was sickness or death that could not tolerate the presence of the Son of God - a mutual intolerance of anything less than life and wholeness as men and women were meant to live.
It is noteworthy that however many people Jesus healed he did not heal every sick person in the society where he lived. For thirty years he lived as the son of a carpenter with no record of his having learned that or any other trade or doing any supernatural activity. It was only during and after a profound spiritual encounter at the River Jordan and in the nearby desert for 40 days that unusual power is said to have come upon him. "Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert......Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and news about him spread through out all the countryside." (Luke 4:1,14) He appears to have recognised the enduement of this new power as he quoted soon afterwards from the prophet Isaiah. "The Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor". (Luke 4:14)
9.3 The promise of power.
It is significant that the same gospel writer who records these evidences of power coming upon Jesus Christ also records the following final statement of Jesus to his disciples.
"Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day," and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these thing. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24: 45-49)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
The purpose of the promise of power - to "the ends of the earth".
There is another point worthy of note in the two preceding references to power being promised by Jesus Christ to his followers. In both cases it is specifically stated that they would be his witnesses beginning at "Jerusalem and to all nations." The promise given in Acts chapter 1 expressly states a beginning and an ending and possibly some intermediary stages in an expanding movement which can be described as having four phases of advancement. "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1: 8)
This last recorded statement of Jesus made before his ascension to heaven clearly indicates that he intended their witness to move from Jerusalem, presumably as quickly as possible and for that reason the power was given. It is regrettable that for so many years some of his most earnest followers and erudite biblical scholars have argued about whether this power was meant only for the twelve apostles who were trained by Jesus or whether the promise was for all who would obey his command to take the Christian message to all the peoples on earth. There would seem to be little need for debate in the light of the fact that those first disciples failed to make much progress in fulfilling his command. In fact there is room for conjecture that the Church may never have left 'phase one'- in Jerusalem, if a great persecution had not broken out against them there. At the time of the death of one of their leaders, Stephen, by stoning it is recorded,
"On that day a great persecution broke out against the Church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city. (Acts 8:1-8)
It seems that the apostles to whom the promise of power had been given chose not to leave Jerusalem but the spread of the message and the Church beyond 'phase one' was left to men like Philip, but above all to the leader of the persecution, Saul after his change of heart and name to Paul
It was shortly after Saul's conversion that the statement appears that "the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord." (Acts 9: 31) By that time, probably less than ten years after being given the command and the promise of power, the Church had completed phases one to three but none of those twelve apostles appear to had left Jerusalem.
Peter grasps the purpose for which he was chosen to lead.
It is only after the arrival of this happy state of peace and rapid growth that Peter is recorded as starting to travel "about the countryside to visit the saints" (Acts 9:32). When he reached a place called Lydda, he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. Aeneas, Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of you mat." Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. (Acts 9:33-35)
As further evidence of Peter's ability to use his supernatural power the narrative continues immediately with an account of his willingness to use it to raise a woman called Dorcas from the dead, with a similar result that many people in that city of Joppa believed in the Lord. ( Acts 9:36-42)
It was in that same city that Peter received a direct revelation and command from God that he must be the one who was to take the next great step forward in taking the Christian gospel to the first non-Jewish people. This was a very difficult social and religious chasm for Peter to cross which is presumably the reason why God had to show him the same vision three times of a large sheet containing all kinds of animals regarded as unclean meat by the Jewish. Three times he was commanded to kill and eat despite his protests that he had never eaten anything impure or unclean.
There is little doubt that the hunger which Peter had been experiencing before he lay down on the rood top whilst he awaited the meal had something to do with the content of the vision which he saw, but it was the significance of the message which was most important. "Whilst he was still wondering about the meaning of the vision," the men arrived who had been sent by the roman Centurion called Cornelius who was to become the first Gentile convert. Peter then understood the significance of the vision of the unclean meat and the accompanying voice which told him, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean" (Acts 10:15)
The major turning point in the spread of Christianity.
At this dramatic turning point in this global spread of the Christian gospel God also gave an unusual demonstration of spiritual power when all the household of Cornelius gladly received and believed Peter and the message he brought. This was presumably necessary to convince the religiously prejudiced Jewish Christians that Gentiles were also included in the Kingdom of God and must be welcomed into the Christian Church. It is specifically recorded that 'the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptised with water? They have received the same Holy Spirit just as we have"' (Acts 10:45-47)
At the same time Peter also gave the first signs that he was beginning to appreciate the full extent of the global movement he had been chosen to initiate. In Acts 10: 34 Peter exclaimed "I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right". The most remarkable outcome of this dramatic event was that whereas Peter was used by God to "open the door of the gospel to the Gentiles" he does not seem to have been actively involved in bringing any other non-Jewish believers into the church. This seems to have been left to any of the leaders of the church who were not amongst the original 12 apostles, in particular to the reluctant convert Paul and his missionary teams.
To whom was the promise of power given?
The point of this discussion and its application to contemporary missiological thinking is that if the promise of the power of the Holy spirit was only given to the 12 original apostles then they singularly failed to fulfill the command and the purpose for which the promise was given - to take the Christian message to "all nations". That task has been left to all who see the imperative of the command and the purpose for which Jesus gave the promise of his power.
There is no denying that there has been a diminution in the practice of the supernatural power used by Christian workers to fulfill that purpose in proclaiming and demonstrating that love of Christ for all peoples but there are enough documented evidences of its occasional manifestation to encourage his followers to believe that there is still power available when the situation warrants it.
It is significant that the same gospel writer who records these evidences of power coming upon Jesus Christ also records the following final statement of Jesus to his disciples.
"Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day," and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these thing. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24: 45-49)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
The purpose of the promise of power - to "the ends of the earth".
There is another point worthy of note in the two preceding references to power being promised by Jesus Christ to his followers. In both cases it is specifically stated that they would be his witnesses beginning at "Jerusalem and to all nations." The promise given in Acts chapter 1 expressly states a beginning and an ending and possibly some intermediary stages in an expanding movement which can be described as having four phases of advancement. "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1: 8)
This last recorded statement of Jesus made before his ascension to heaven clearly indicates that he intended their witness to move from Jerusalem, presumably as quickly as possible and for that reason the power was given. It is regrettable that for so many years some of his most earnest followers and erudite biblical scholars have argued about whether this power was meant only for the twelve apostles who were trained by Jesus or whether the promise was for all who would obey his command to take the Christian message to all the peoples on earth. There would seem to be little need for debate in the light of the fact that those first disciples failed to make much progress in fulfilling his command. In fact there is room for conjecture that the Church may never have left 'phase one'- in Jerusalem, if a great persecution had not broken out against them there. At the time of the death of one of their leaders, Stephen, by stoning it is recorded,
"On that day a great persecution broke out against the Church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city. (Acts 8:1-8)
It seems that the apostles to whom the promise of power had been given chose not to leave Jerusalem but the spread of the message and the Church beyond 'phase one' was left to men like Philip, but above all to the leader of the persecution, Saul after his change of heart and name to Paul
It was shortly after Saul's conversion that the statement appears that "the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord." (Acts 9: 31) By that time, probably less than ten years after being given the command and the promise of power, the Church had completed phases one to three but none of those twelve apostles appear to had left Jerusalem.
Peter grasps the purpose for which he was chosen to lead.
It is only after the arrival of this happy state of peace and rapid growth that Peter is recorded as starting to travel "about the countryside to visit the saints" (Acts 9:32). When he reached a place called Lydda, he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. Aeneas, Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of you mat." Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. (Acts 9:33-35)
As further evidence of Peter's ability to use his supernatural power the narrative continues immediately with an account of his willingness to use it to raise a woman called Dorcas from the dead, with a similar result that many people in that city of Joppa believed in the Lord. ( Acts 9:36-42)
It was in that same city that Peter received a direct revelation and command from God that he must be the one who was to take the next great step forward in taking the Christian gospel to the first non-Jewish people. This was a very difficult social and religious chasm for Peter to cross which is presumably the reason why God had to show him the same vision three times of a large sheet containing all kinds of animals regarded as unclean meat by the Jewish. Three times he was commanded to kill and eat despite his protests that he had never eaten anything impure or unclean.
There is little doubt that the hunger which Peter had been experiencing before he lay down on the rood top whilst he awaited the meal had something to do with the content of the vision which he saw, but it was the significance of the message which was most important. "Whilst he was still wondering about the meaning of the vision," the men arrived who had been sent by the roman Centurion called Cornelius who was to become the first Gentile convert. Peter then understood the significance of the vision of the unclean meat and the accompanying voice which told him, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean" (Acts 10:15)
The major turning point in the spread of Christianity.
At this dramatic turning point in this global spread of the Christian gospel God also gave an unusual demonstration of spiritual power when all the household of Cornelius gladly received and believed Peter and the message he brought. This was presumably necessary to convince the religiously prejudiced Jewish Christians that Gentiles were also included in the Kingdom of God and must be welcomed into the Christian Church. It is specifically recorded that 'the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptised with water? They have received the same Holy Spirit just as we have"' (Acts 10:45-47)
At the same time Peter also gave the first signs that he was beginning to appreciate the full extent of the global movement he had been chosen to initiate. In Acts 10: 34 Peter exclaimed "I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right". The most remarkable outcome of this dramatic event was that whereas Peter was used by God to "open the door of the gospel to the Gentiles" he does not seem to have been actively involved in bringing any other non-Jewish believers into the church. This seems to have been left to any of the leaders of the church who were not amongst the original 12 apostles, in particular to the reluctant convert Paul and his missionary teams.
To whom was the promise of power given?
The point of this discussion and its application to contemporary missiological thinking is that if the promise of the power of the Holy spirit was only given to the 12 original apostles then they singularly failed to fulfill the command and the purpose for which the promise was given - to take the Christian message to "all nations". That task has been left to all who see the imperative of the command and the purpose for which Jesus gave the promise of his power.
There is no denying that there has been a diminution in the practice of the supernatural power used by Christian workers to fulfill that purpose in proclaiming and demonstrating that love of Christ for all peoples but there are enough documented evidences of its occasional manifestation to encourage his followers to believe that there is still power available when the situation warrants it.
9.4. Wholistic development includes the power of the Holy Spirit.
The conclusions most pertinent to this study of wholistic development are as follows.
1. That the power of the Holy Spirit has been promised to fulfill the command to take the Christian gospel in word and action to every ethnic group on earth.
2. That power may not be evidenced in supernatural miracles but can be seen in transformed lives of new believers and in divine grace and enabling for those ready to serve.
3. The Christian message which is as appropriate today as it was when first demonstrated by Jesus involves a two fold declaration. First by preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. Secondly by engaging in whatever physical and spiritual intervention is appropriate. Jesus had the great advantage of being able to heal all diseases and to drive out all demons but he did not have the benefit of modern medicine. The contemporary equivalent of his activity whilst on earth will therefore include the use of these modern medicines and procedures as well as using the power offered to us in the Name of Jesus to set people free from evil spiritual forces such as demons and beliefs which blind people to the truth of the Gospel.
On top of these interventions and the other biblical precedent of hunger relief are the whole range of modern development practices and technologies such as are described in the earlier chapters of this study. These will be of varied degrees of relevance in different societies, even amongst nomadic pastoralists in different parts of the world but the common feature desirable in all development interventions is the attitude of compassion, humility, identification with the needs of the poorest which Jesus Christ most perfectly exhibited. These qualities can often be well demonstrated by individuals who have no claim to Christian faith or commitment, in fact it appears that sometimes Christian activists may be the most insensitive in their approach to non Christian people. This will certainly be the case if they come with a strong conviction of their moral and economic superiority, usually combined with the common cultural arrogance that money and Western technology can cure all social problems and thereby convince people of the virtue of their Christian religion.
The conclusions most pertinent to this study of wholistic development are as follows.
1. That the power of the Holy Spirit has been promised to fulfill the command to take the Christian gospel in word and action to every ethnic group on earth.
2. That power may not be evidenced in supernatural miracles but can be seen in transformed lives of new believers and in divine grace and enabling for those ready to serve.
3. The Christian message which is as appropriate today as it was when first demonstrated by Jesus involves a two fold declaration. First by preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. Secondly by engaging in whatever physical and spiritual intervention is appropriate. Jesus had the great advantage of being able to heal all diseases and to drive out all demons but he did not have the benefit of modern medicine. The contemporary equivalent of his activity whilst on earth will therefore include the use of these modern medicines and procedures as well as using the power offered to us in the Name of Jesus to set people free from evil spiritual forces such as demons and beliefs which blind people to the truth of the Gospel.
On top of these interventions and the other biblical precedent of hunger relief are the whole range of modern development practices and technologies such as are described in the earlier chapters of this study. These will be of varied degrees of relevance in different societies, even amongst nomadic pastoralists in different parts of the world but the common feature desirable in all development interventions is the attitude of compassion, humility, identification with the needs of the poorest which Jesus Christ most perfectly exhibited. These qualities can often be well demonstrated by individuals who have no claim to Christian faith or commitment, in fact it appears that sometimes Christian activists may be the most insensitive in their approach to non Christian people. This will certainly be the case if they come with a strong conviction of their moral and economic superiority, usually combined with the common cultural arrogance that money and Western technology can cure all social problems and thereby convince people of the virtue of their Christian religion.
9.5. The essential attitude of a learner.
One of the features of pastoralist societies referred to in chapter one of this study is the quality they possess of social cohesion within their families and clans which bind them together, especially in adversity, to support one another. One of the characteristics frequently noted by this writer in the pastoralist societies amongst whom he has lived is that whereas the expressions of human love may be very different from technologically advanced societies, their loyalty and concern for each other within their extended families are much to be respected. These are qualities which would fit very easily into the standard of Christian family and community life taught in the New Testament but so sadly eroded in contemporary Western society. Particularly in their attitude towards the elderly and the almost total absence of abused and abandoned children it is possible to say that nomadic pastoralist societies are in no way socially primitive - however technologically backward they may appear.
In other words it behoves Christian development workers to come into such culturally remote societies with a large degree of respect and willingness to look for and learn from the virtues of such marginalised peoples as nomadic pastoralists.
The other area where the humble attitude of a learner is needed by outside development workers is in a willingness to take a long term approach to learning the world view and value systems of nomadic pastoralists. This is especially important for Christian workers who want to be culturally sensitive and to serve these people. In general it appears valid that the more distant the target society is from that of the development worker the more difficult it is for him to understand that world value and the longer the learning process therefore requires.
Taking the long view of wholistic development
It behoves the development worker who enters a pastoralist society with a view to using a wholistic approach to be prepared to spend a long time, probably several years learning, what that particular pastoralist group believe about God, the after-life, good and bad spiritual forces, forgiveness, reconciliation and salvation. This writer has found that some have no word for love and mercy or that sin may mean something totally different in a particular pastoralist society (e.g. the Bunna of Southern Ethiopia for whom sin meant hurting anyone in your own clan. To go to another neighbouring tribe, kill as many people as necessary to be able to steal their cattle was considered a good thing, even the essential requirement for establishing manhood and marriageable status)
The high view of God held by nearly all nomadic pastoralists (see chapter one..) means that they need to be approached in a completely different manner than that used amongst sophisticated urban skeptics or agnostics with whom the missionary recruit has usually grown up and learned from. Whatever name is used for God, it is usually the most common word to pass the lips of pastoralists, not only in their greetings and their many blessings but with reference to every aspect of their lives. The awareness of their dependence on God as their provider and protector is frequently so strong as to make even a sincere Christian development worker conscious of his lack of practical trust in his God.
The common difficulty in adopting this long view of learning approach is that it is contrary to the expectations and inclinations and of nearly all well motivated outsiders, both western and third world urbanised and educated development workers. The outsider needs to do something and to prove to his donor agency or sponsor that he is hard at work. Unfortunately the hard work he or she engages in may not just impede the opportunity to learn but often may be negative in terms of appropriate development as noted in chapter two.
Semi-nomadic research as an entry point to the learning process.
This writer has found that one of the most acceptable roles to adopt when trying to acquire the opportunity and freedom to learn slowly and in depth is to enter the society as a researcher, especially if there is some small contribution he can make at the same time to meet the needs of that society which do not involve any capital intensive projects or permanent buildings. These conclusions were only arrived at after many years of attempting other strategies or more often trying to implement some other outsider's project proposals.
In the case of this research among the Waso Borana the main contribution that this researcher made was to bring in practical suggestions and insights gained from experience, often negative, in other pastoralists societies. [1]
As noted in the comments in chapter four on the benefits of conducting research amongst semi-nomadic pastoralists in a semi-nomadic manner using the benefit of a tent on top of a four wheel drive vehicle, this proved to be well accepted by the people involved in the field research. Comments were frequently made about the speed with which the tent could be unfolded and packed away again. That took about two minutes which understandably impressed the women who usually spend several hours dismantling and reassembling their houses of sticks and skins. The ability to produce a pan full of sweet tea sufficient for a large family in about ten minutes was even more appreciated. That simple gesture of friendship usually afforded not only an immediate welcome but often an invitation to join them at their camp for the night where a goat would sometimes be proudly presented and slaughtered as a reciprocal gesture of friendship and acceptance. The fact that the means of transport used during research was a turbo-charged diesel-powered Land Rover instead of the camel, donkey, or ox used by the various groups of pastoralists did not seem to arouse any comment or resentment amongst any of them. In their estimation these outsiders were very poor as they did not possess even one goat or sheep. One astute herd owner even said that he was sorry for us as our "camel" could not have babies like his did periodically. His only needed thorn bushes to keep them going, our vehicle required expensive fuel which had to be brought from outside. [2]
One of the features of pastoralist societies referred to in chapter one of this study is the quality they possess of social cohesion within their families and clans which bind them together, especially in adversity, to support one another. One of the characteristics frequently noted by this writer in the pastoralist societies amongst whom he has lived is that whereas the expressions of human love may be very different from technologically advanced societies, their loyalty and concern for each other within their extended families are much to be respected. These are qualities which would fit very easily into the standard of Christian family and community life taught in the New Testament but so sadly eroded in contemporary Western society. Particularly in their attitude towards the elderly and the almost total absence of abused and abandoned children it is possible to say that nomadic pastoralist societies are in no way socially primitive - however technologically backward they may appear.
In other words it behoves Christian development workers to come into such culturally remote societies with a large degree of respect and willingness to look for and learn from the virtues of such marginalised peoples as nomadic pastoralists.
The other area where the humble attitude of a learner is needed by outside development workers is in a willingness to take a long term approach to learning the world view and value systems of nomadic pastoralists. This is especially important for Christian workers who want to be culturally sensitive and to serve these people. In general it appears valid that the more distant the target society is from that of the development worker the more difficult it is for him to understand that world value and the longer the learning process therefore requires.
Taking the long view of wholistic development
It behoves the development worker who enters a pastoralist society with a view to using a wholistic approach to be prepared to spend a long time, probably several years learning, what that particular pastoralist group believe about God, the after-life, good and bad spiritual forces, forgiveness, reconciliation and salvation. This writer has found that some have no word for love and mercy or that sin may mean something totally different in a particular pastoralist society (e.g. the Bunna of Southern Ethiopia for whom sin meant hurting anyone in your own clan. To go to another neighbouring tribe, kill as many people as necessary to be able to steal their cattle was considered a good thing, even the essential requirement for establishing manhood and marriageable status)
The high view of God held by nearly all nomadic pastoralists (see chapter one..) means that they need to be approached in a completely different manner than that used amongst sophisticated urban skeptics or agnostics with whom the missionary recruit has usually grown up and learned from. Whatever name is used for God, it is usually the most common word to pass the lips of pastoralists, not only in their greetings and their many blessings but with reference to every aspect of their lives. The awareness of their dependence on God as their provider and protector is frequently so strong as to make even a sincere Christian development worker conscious of his lack of practical trust in his God.
The common difficulty in adopting this long view of learning approach is that it is contrary to the expectations and inclinations and of nearly all well motivated outsiders, both western and third world urbanised and educated development workers. The outsider needs to do something and to prove to his donor agency or sponsor that he is hard at work. Unfortunately the hard work he or she engages in may not just impede the opportunity to learn but often may be negative in terms of appropriate development as noted in chapter two.
Semi-nomadic research as an entry point to the learning process.
This writer has found that one of the most acceptable roles to adopt when trying to acquire the opportunity and freedom to learn slowly and in depth is to enter the society as a researcher, especially if there is some small contribution he can make at the same time to meet the needs of that society which do not involve any capital intensive projects or permanent buildings. These conclusions were only arrived at after many years of attempting other strategies or more often trying to implement some other outsider's project proposals.
In the case of this research among the Waso Borana the main contribution that this researcher made was to bring in practical suggestions and insights gained from experience, often negative, in other pastoralists societies. [1]
As noted in the comments in chapter four on the benefits of conducting research amongst semi-nomadic pastoralists in a semi-nomadic manner using the benefit of a tent on top of a four wheel drive vehicle, this proved to be well accepted by the people involved in the field research. Comments were frequently made about the speed with which the tent could be unfolded and packed away again. That took about two minutes which understandably impressed the women who usually spend several hours dismantling and reassembling their houses of sticks and skins. The ability to produce a pan full of sweet tea sufficient for a large family in about ten minutes was even more appreciated. That simple gesture of friendship usually afforded not only an immediate welcome but often an invitation to join them at their camp for the night where a goat would sometimes be proudly presented and slaughtered as a reciprocal gesture of friendship and acceptance. The fact that the means of transport used during research was a turbo-charged diesel-powered Land Rover instead of the camel, donkey, or ox used by the various groups of pastoralists did not seem to arouse any comment or resentment amongst any of them. In their estimation these outsiders were very poor as they did not possess even one goat or sheep. One astute herd owner even said that he was sorry for us as our "camel" could not have babies like his did periodically. His only needed thorn bushes to keep them going, our vehicle required expensive fuel which had to be brought from outside. [2]
9.6. Some practical suggestions for "entering" pastoralist societies.
A few practical suggestions will be made for the benefit of those able and willing to take the long slow approach to wholistic development appropriate for nomadic pastoralists.
Making the first contact.
1. Representatives of most pastoral groups can be found in many town and cities of the third world where they have drifted as part of the urban ebb and flow. Some will be destitute and demoralised and certainly in need of some expression of concern. Others will still be active and enterprising - usually with part of his family remaining with the animals on the grazing land. Such a person is more likely to be ready and willing to return to their family and the herds if given an invitation. It has been found quire easy in several countries of both East and West Africa to make a friend in a town of someone who is from the particular pastoralists group being targeted. They are usually quite easy to spot in certain slum quarters or working as guards for the rich home owners. After a good relationship has been established, if the suggestion is made that you would like to meet his family and to see their animals there is usually a very positive response
The urban migrant will usually be eager to go as soon as possible and will want to send messages back to his family that he is coming with some special visitors as soon as a date is decided.
Building relationships in the bush.
2. When the visitor eventually arrives accompanying the family member they are almost certainly assured of a warm welcome. The urbanised nomad is being reunited with his family and is usually rather proud of being able to bring the visitor to his family camp or settlement. He is accorded a special measure of respect, particularly if the visitor or his vehicle are the first to drive into that camp. The visitor would do well to bring some suitable gifts of food or clothing and will frequently find the host family reciprocating in the best manner they can provide as well as the customary generous hospitality. If the visitor is able and willing to eat and drink all that is placed before him or her it will definitely help establish good relations. where this is not possible it is not an unpardonable offense if some valid reason is given for declining some particular item "on the menu".
3. If the visitor can stay for a few days he can begin to build relationships that can lead to a wider and wider network into the extended families and other clan members. This is the method that was used to good effect in establishing the basis for doing field research in all parts of the Waso Borana featured in this case study.
4. In some pastoralists societies where a significant proportion of the people are living in semi-settled lifestyle it may be appropriate and easier for the "outsider" to establish a base at one particular settlement where he can be accepted and integrated into that semi-settled community. In many situations these sedentarised people may be 'drop-outs' from nomadic pastoralism who no longer have enough animals to allow them to follow their traditional life style. In these cases such people may be willing recipients of whatever kindness and generosity the outsider may be able to bring but this all too easily leads to an unfortunate dependency relationship.
In other situations, pastoralists who adopt this semi-sedentary life choose to live like that because they are sufficiently well endowed with large herds and good grazing that they can afford to do so. At any one time a sizable proportion of the people, usually the youngest and the oldest, are able to stay in settlements with varying degrees of permanence. The milking cows are kept close to the settlement whilst the dry animals are taken further away and not brought back to the camp for long periods.
An example of the semi-sedentary approach.
In one "good" situation experienced by the writer in north Eastern Mali, a particular fortunate section of the Fulani people living fairly close to the Niger river had occupied the same site for several generations. Most of them were still living in dismantleable grass houses but a few had even adopted the mud construction techniques of the neighbouring sedentary farming people. At any one time about one third of the people belonging to that Fulani community were living in the village, another third were said to be out in the bush with the animals. The remainder of the people who were considered to belong to that settlement were away in distant towns working for wages or engaged as travelling traders or healers.
In that instance a Christian missionary couple had lived for several years in that settlement in a number of traditional grass houses that had grown as the size of their family had grown to four children. The couple had both been born in Africa and had been well trained and experienced in rural agriculture and medical care. For the first years of their stay in that settlement they tried to win the trust and acceptance of the local people by introducing various techniques and programmes which demanded much hard physical work. After approximately two years the Fulani elders came to the outsiders to tell them that if they wanted to be accepted as insiders in their community they must stop doing that manual work, even the medical programme and take their places as true Fulani "people".
This led to a drastic change of activity on the part of the outsiders but also in the attitude towards them of their Fulani neighbours. The hardest part of the new life style adopted by the outsiders was to be willing to do apparently nothing for most of each day. The husband began to spend many hours sitting on a mat talking with the Fulani elders. The wife found it particularly difficult to be able to sit for hours with the women of her elevated social status listening to their petty gossip and quarrels. She also missed the busy medical work which had attracted sick Fulani from miles around. She kept medicine only for her immediate family, the neighbours apparently accepting the fact quite naturally that they would have to go elsewhere to get medical help.
A broader understanding of wholistic development.
This radical change of activity by the missionary couple may appear as a retrograde step in terms of the normal concept of development and was certainly not what they would have chosen, but in the broader understanding of wholistic development in a society where relationships are more important than technology or programmes then it achieved positive results.
The husband changed his status and perceived function in the community by giving his attention to two new activities. First he began to consult with the leading herd owners about acquiring some good breeding cattle. He bought carefully with their advice when the price was right and divided his animals between two different herding groups in the settlement who he knew were in fierce competition. He had learned that there were two factions in the community divided over a long standing rivalry for leadership which had resulted in the two herding groups which competed to win his inclusion into their faction. Both sides wanted to sell him animals which would then be herded with their animals. He wisely avoided favouring one side or the other but bought from both herds and allowed them to compete to see how rapidly they could increase his stock by astute purchasing and good breeding practices. At the time of our visit he had more than 60 animals, almost equally divided between the two herds. At the time we first met him he was engaged in one of the only energetic physical actions expected of herd owners. He was branding his recently acquired animals, using the traditional method of an iron rod heated over a fire of dried dung. His only complaint was that it was not easy to do this work which involved moving quickly, in the long robe which he was obliged to wear as a respected elder and herd owner.
The second activity he engaged in was public prayer. He adopted the practice of praying in a posture which the local people would recognize as prayer but not in the Muslim prostrate position. He spent many hours of each day talking with the elders in the community who were all practicing Muslims. When they went into the Mosque to pray he would stand outside with his hands outstretched as he prayed to the Christian God.
He assumed the same posture early each morning in his personal devotions when he went to a quiet place near to his house but where he would be seen as he prayed. He was soon recognised as a man of prayer as the people said that he prayed more than anyone else. He came to be accepted as a Christian Holy Man and given the respect accorded a teacher, even to the extent that some Muslim teachers were coming to him to study the "injil", the gospels.
The cost and consequences of family sickness.
The wife's role was less conspicuous, as befits a woman's position in that society, but her ability to raise her family in the same simple conditions in their grass houses with no electricity or piped water earned her great respect. Her most significant experience came when her husband and all four children became seriously ill with dysentery which did not respond to the medicines she had at her disposal. They were so weak that for several days they could only lie on mats in the shade. Eventually the local elders asked her to take her family away to proper medical care as they did not want to see them die there. The family had the use of a pick-up truck to drive the two days to the nearest facility where intravenous fluids could be found but the wife had never tried to drive that long and rugged journey. Finally she realized that this was their only hope so the people helped load her husband and family onto mats into the cab and the back of the pick-up truck so that she could begin that long journey.
To everyone's surprise, they all survived the journey to the capital city, Bamako, where they could get proper medical care. It took several months for them all to recover but when they eventually returned as a family to their grass houses in the Fulani village, the people declared that "Now we know that you really care about us and belong to us. We never thought that you would ever want to come back after you left us so sick and near to death." This may seem to be a rather bizarre example of development but in that particular pastoralist society it was appropriate in so far as it met the perceived needs of the people and won their trust and respect. Even when the family began to change their living pattern to meet the needs of their children by moving to the city for several weeks after two or three months in the Fulani settlement, the people accepted this as quite appropriate for one of their community.
The benefit of being non-residential.
People of nomadic orientation can come and go freely without hurting relationships, which is a lesson that some long term missionaries find hard to accept. It has been found in practice that it is not good to remain too long in one place as the people who have a tendency to become dependent will begin to gather around the missionary's home, and in famine times, he cannot avoid getting embroiled in a feeding programme. If the missionary was not there, the hungry people would be more likely to go to other clan or extended family members who would be expected to provide for them
The basic principle for the most appropriate development planning and implementation amongst societies who are of nomadic orientation is for the agent bringing the intervention to adopt at least a semi-nomadic pattern of living and working amongst them. It has been learned from experience that the more nomadic a particular group of pastoralists are, the greater is the need for the outsider to find ways to live in a nomadic manner.
Water is the key to finding nomadic pastoralists.
5. The final recommendation that will be made in this list of suggestions for making contact and building relations with pastoralists will apply to those who are the most nomadic. These may only be a segment of a larger community who go out for varying lengths of time with the animals, depending largely on the condition of the grazing and the rainfall patterns. However far these herdsman have to go, they will have to come to water at the most every three days, preferably after two. In most cases observed by this writer in both East and West Africa the herdsman will find the best combination of grazing and water that is available to them then remain in that area until either of these is exhausted. This may be a matter of only a few days but more likely will be for several weeks.
If the outsider wants to make contact with these nomadic herdsman, he or she has only to remain near a water source that is currently being used and the same people will come back ever second or third day. It is not necessary or desirable for the "outsider" to try to find the people "in the bush" as they will then be preoccupied with watching the animals. It is when the animals come to the water that the herdsmen have the time and inclination to sit down and talk. Once the animals have been watered, they will usually stand still for several hours, especially if they have not drunk for three days, whilst they ingest the fluid, often quivering with the discomfort of having gorged themselves to sate their thirst. The herdsmen after they have lifted the water out of the well, or in the case of a bore hole, taken them to and then away from the trough, will usually sit down in some shade to talk for a while to catch up on news brought by other herdsmen gathering at the watering place.
If there is a visitor who wants to talk with them and learn their opinions, this is the time to make good connections. If he cares to boil a pan of tea and share it with the herdsmen, we will be doubly welcome and will probably be invited back to one of the distant camps where the animals are corralled for the night.
This may be quite a long distance away if the grazing nearest to the water is becoming depleted which is why it is helpful to have a suitable vehicle for transport and nomadic living. This has been found in practice to be the most useful opportunity and situation to meet with the herdsmen who are often key people whose trust needs to be won and their opinions sought in the long learning process. These are the people who are most likely to know the traditional views and values of their particular pastoralist society and happy to share them with someone who takes the trouble to visit them in their remote camps where life can be exceedingly monotonous.
The importance of the evening hours
Once the animals have been settled for the night, as darkness falls, the men and boys and even the few women who may be staying out with the animals, will be quite happy to sit around a fire and talk for as long as the visitor wants to listen and ask questions. If it is a men only camp, little time will be spent on preparing food, but if it is a more favourable situation, where whole families can move and stay together, the men will be quite likely to tell the women to prepare a meal for the visitor--even providing a goat for a feast, if relations have been well established. In nearly all regions of Africa where nomadic pastoralists are found, the sun goes down before seven o'clock each evening throughout the year. These long evenings provide the ideal opportunity to learn what these key people think and care about; what they see as perceived needs or feel about development interventions they have seen or heard about.
This sort of relationship building in the field and pursuit of family connections along the network of clan associations is most valuable in preparing for effective wholistic development. It is rather demanding and often exhausting for most western researchers and development workers, but invaluable in the eventual learning process.
A few practical suggestions will be made for the benefit of those able and willing to take the long slow approach to wholistic development appropriate for nomadic pastoralists.
Making the first contact.
1. Representatives of most pastoral groups can be found in many town and cities of the third world where they have drifted as part of the urban ebb and flow. Some will be destitute and demoralised and certainly in need of some expression of concern. Others will still be active and enterprising - usually with part of his family remaining with the animals on the grazing land. Such a person is more likely to be ready and willing to return to their family and the herds if given an invitation. It has been found quire easy in several countries of both East and West Africa to make a friend in a town of someone who is from the particular pastoralists group being targeted. They are usually quite easy to spot in certain slum quarters or working as guards for the rich home owners. After a good relationship has been established, if the suggestion is made that you would like to meet his family and to see their animals there is usually a very positive response
The urban migrant will usually be eager to go as soon as possible and will want to send messages back to his family that he is coming with some special visitors as soon as a date is decided.
Building relationships in the bush.
2. When the visitor eventually arrives accompanying the family member they are almost certainly assured of a warm welcome. The urbanised nomad is being reunited with his family and is usually rather proud of being able to bring the visitor to his family camp or settlement. He is accorded a special measure of respect, particularly if the visitor or his vehicle are the first to drive into that camp. The visitor would do well to bring some suitable gifts of food or clothing and will frequently find the host family reciprocating in the best manner they can provide as well as the customary generous hospitality. If the visitor is able and willing to eat and drink all that is placed before him or her it will definitely help establish good relations. where this is not possible it is not an unpardonable offense if some valid reason is given for declining some particular item "on the menu".
3. If the visitor can stay for a few days he can begin to build relationships that can lead to a wider and wider network into the extended families and other clan members. This is the method that was used to good effect in establishing the basis for doing field research in all parts of the Waso Borana featured in this case study.
4. In some pastoralists societies where a significant proportion of the people are living in semi-settled lifestyle it may be appropriate and easier for the "outsider" to establish a base at one particular settlement where he can be accepted and integrated into that semi-settled community. In many situations these sedentarised people may be 'drop-outs' from nomadic pastoralism who no longer have enough animals to allow them to follow their traditional life style. In these cases such people may be willing recipients of whatever kindness and generosity the outsider may be able to bring but this all too easily leads to an unfortunate dependency relationship.
In other situations, pastoralists who adopt this semi-sedentary life choose to live like that because they are sufficiently well endowed with large herds and good grazing that they can afford to do so. At any one time a sizable proportion of the people, usually the youngest and the oldest, are able to stay in settlements with varying degrees of permanence. The milking cows are kept close to the settlement whilst the dry animals are taken further away and not brought back to the camp for long periods.
An example of the semi-sedentary approach.
In one "good" situation experienced by the writer in north Eastern Mali, a particular fortunate section of the Fulani people living fairly close to the Niger river had occupied the same site for several generations. Most of them were still living in dismantleable grass houses but a few had even adopted the mud construction techniques of the neighbouring sedentary farming people. At any one time about one third of the people belonging to that Fulani community were living in the village, another third were said to be out in the bush with the animals. The remainder of the people who were considered to belong to that settlement were away in distant towns working for wages or engaged as travelling traders or healers.
In that instance a Christian missionary couple had lived for several years in that settlement in a number of traditional grass houses that had grown as the size of their family had grown to four children. The couple had both been born in Africa and had been well trained and experienced in rural agriculture and medical care. For the first years of their stay in that settlement they tried to win the trust and acceptance of the local people by introducing various techniques and programmes which demanded much hard physical work. After approximately two years the Fulani elders came to the outsiders to tell them that if they wanted to be accepted as insiders in their community they must stop doing that manual work, even the medical programme and take their places as true Fulani "people".
This led to a drastic change of activity on the part of the outsiders but also in the attitude towards them of their Fulani neighbours. The hardest part of the new life style adopted by the outsiders was to be willing to do apparently nothing for most of each day. The husband began to spend many hours sitting on a mat talking with the Fulani elders. The wife found it particularly difficult to be able to sit for hours with the women of her elevated social status listening to their petty gossip and quarrels. She also missed the busy medical work which had attracted sick Fulani from miles around. She kept medicine only for her immediate family, the neighbours apparently accepting the fact quite naturally that they would have to go elsewhere to get medical help.
A broader understanding of wholistic development.
This radical change of activity by the missionary couple may appear as a retrograde step in terms of the normal concept of development and was certainly not what they would have chosen, but in the broader understanding of wholistic development in a society where relationships are more important than technology or programmes then it achieved positive results.
The husband changed his status and perceived function in the community by giving his attention to two new activities. First he began to consult with the leading herd owners about acquiring some good breeding cattle. He bought carefully with their advice when the price was right and divided his animals between two different herding groups in the settlement who he knew were in fierce competition. He had learned that there were two factions in the community divided over a long standing rivalry for leadership which had resulted in the two herding groups which competed to win his inclusion into their faction. Both sides wanted to sell him animals which would then be herded with their animals. He wisely avoided favouring one side or the other but bought from both herds and allowed them to compete to see how rapidly they could increase his stock by astute purchasing and good breeding practices. At the time of our visit he had more than 60 animals, almost equally divided between the two herds. At the time we first met him he was engaged in one of the only energetic physical actions expected of herd owners. He was branding his recently acquired animals, using the traditional method of an iron rod heated over a fire of dried dung. His only complaint was that it was not easy to do this work which involved moving quickly, in the long robe which he was obliged to wear as a respected elder and herd owner.
The second activity he engaged in was public prayer. He adopted the practice of praying in a posture which the local people would recognize as prayer but not in the Muslim prostrate position. He spent many hours of each day talking with the elders in the community who were all practicing Muslims. When they went into the Mosque to pray he would stand outside with his hands outstretched as he prayed to the Christian God.
He assumed the same posture early each morning in his personal devotions when he went to a quiet place near to his house but where he would be seen as he prayed. He was soon recognised as a man of prayer as the people said that he prayed more than anyone else. He came to be accepted as a Christian Holy Man and given the respect accorded a teacher, even to the extent that some Muslim teachers were coming to him to study the "injil", the gospels.
The cost and consequences of family sickness.
The wife's role was less conspicuous, as befits a woman's position in that society, but her ability to raise her family in the same simple conditions in their grass houses with no electricity or piped water earned her great respect. Her most significant experience came when her husband and all four children became seriously ill with dysentery which did not respond to the medicines she had at her disposal. They were so weak that for several days they could only lie on mats in the shade. Eventually the local elders asked her to take her family away to proper medical care as they did not want to see them die there. The family had the use of a pick-up truck to drive the two days to the nearest facility where intravenous fluids could be found but the wife had never tried to drive that long and rugged journey. Finally she realized that this was their only hope so the people helped load her husband and family onto mats into the cab and the back of the pick-up truck so that she could begin that long journey.
To everyone's surprise, they all survived the journey to the capital city, Bamako, where they could get proper medical care. It took several months for them all to recover but when they eventually returned as a family to their grass houses in the Fulani village, the people declared that "Now we know that you really care about us and belong to us. We never thought that you would ever want to come back after you left us so sick and near to death." This may seem to be a rather bizarre example of development but in that particular pastoralist society it was appropriate in so far as it met the perceived needs of the people and won their trust and respect. Even when the family began to change their living pattern to meet the needs of their children by moving to the city for several weeks after two or three months in the Fulani settlement, the people accepted this as quite appropriate for one of their community.
The benefit of being non-residential.
People of nomadic orientation can come and go freely without hurting relationships, which is a lesson that some long term missionaries find hard to accept. It has been found in practice that it is not good to remain too long in one place as the people who have a tendency to become dependent will begin to gather around the missionary's home, and in famine times, he cannot avoid getting embroiled in a feeding programme. If the missionary was not there, the hungry people would be more likely to go to other clan or extended family members who would be expected to provide for them
The basic principle for the most appropriate development planning and implementation amongst societies who are of nomadic orientation is for the agent bringing the intervention to adopt at least a semi-nomadic pattern of living and working amongst them. It has been learned from experience that the more nomadic a particular group of pastoralists are, the greater is the need for the outsider to find ways to live in a nomadic manner.
Water is the key to finding nomadic pastoralists.
5. The final recommendation that will be made in this list of suggestions for making contact and building relations with pastoralists will apply to those who are the most nomadic. These may only be a segment of a larger community who go out for varying lengths of time with the animals, depending largely on the condition of the grazing and the rainfall patterns. However far these herdsman have to go, they will have to come to water at the most every three days, preferably after two. In most cases observed by this writer in both East and West Africa the herdsman will find the best combination of grazing and water that is available to them then remain in that area until either of these is exhausted. This may be a matter of only a few days but more likely will be for several weeks.
If the outsider wants to make contact with these nomadic herdsman, he or she has only to remain near a water source that is currently being used and the same people will come back ever second or third day. It is not necessary or desirable for the "outsider" to try to find the people "in the bush" as they will then be preoccupied with watching the animals. It is when the animals come to the water that the herdsmen have the time and inclination to sit down and talk. Once the animals have been watered, they will usually stand still for several hours, especially if they have not drunk for three days, whilst they ingest the fluid, often quivering with the discomfort of having gorged themselves to sate their thirst. The herdsmen after they have lifted the water out of the well, or in the case of a bore hole, taken them to and then away from the trough, will usually sit down in some shade to talk for a while to catch up on news brought by other herdsmen gathering at the watering place.
If there is a visitor who wants to talk with them and learn their opinions, this is the time to make good connections. If he cares to boil a pan of tea and share it with the herdsmen, we will be doubly welcome and will probably be invited back to one of the distant camps where the animals are corralled for the night.
This may be quite a long distance away if the grazing nearest to the water is becoming depleted which is why it is helpful to have a suitable vehicle for transport and nomadic living. This has been found in practice to be the most useful opportunity and situation to meet with the herdsmen who are often key people whose trust needs to be won and their opinions sought in the long learning process. These are the people who are most likely to know the traditional views and values of their particular pastoralist society and happy to share them with someone who takes the trouble to visit them in their remote camps where life can be exceedingly monotonous.
The importance of the evening hours
Once the animals have been settled for the night, as darkness falls, the men and boys and even the few women who may be staying out with the animals, will be quite happy to sit around a fire and talk for as long as the visitor wants to listen and ask questions. If it is a men only camp, little time will be spent on preparing food, but if it is a more favourable situation, where whole families can move and stay together, the men will be quite likely to tell the women to prepare a meal for the visitor--even providing a goat for a feast, if relations have been well established. In nearly all regions of Africa where nomadic pastoralists are found, the sun goes down before seven o'clock each evening throughout the year. These long evenings provide the ideal opportunity to learn what these key people think and care about; what they see as perceived needs or feel about development interventions they have seen or heard about.
This sort of relationship building in the field and pursuit of family connections along the network of clan associations is most valuable in preparing for effective wholistic development. It is rather demanding and often exhausting for most western researchers and development workers, but invaluable in the eventual learning process.
9.7. A practical example of building relationships and wells.
Another similar good learning opportunity with a more practical component was observed in Northern Kenya amongst the Gabbra people whose grazing area is generally poor and therefore, their life usually extremely hard. A missionary, with a natural inclination towards building and engineering, after several years of working amongst the Gabbra, realized that their main problem was in finding permanent water sources. Many of these were obtained by digging into dry sand river beds in certain places where it had been learned from long experience that water could be found most if not all of the year by digging deeper and deeper as the water table receded.
This meant digging out large quantities of sand to gain the necessary depth --a task usually left to the women. This was dangerous work resulting in several deaths each year. It also usually needed to be done again after each rainfall when flash floods would refill the wells with sand.
The missionary began talking with the Gabbra elders about the possibility of building some permanent wells in these well-known water-yielding locations. He suggested constructing stone linings that would extend considerably higher than the normal level of the river bed so that flash floods would not be likely to fill the wells with sand. The elders were pleased to hear of the idea but had some difficulty trying to decide which of the vital sources should be used as the initial experiment when they heard that any well chosen for construction would be unusable until the work was finished.
A model of cooperative participation
A decision was finally made and the people all agreed to contribute as much work as necessary in digging the hole to it's maximum depth at the driest time of the year. This was a difficult undertaking as that is the time of the year when the herds demand the most attention. The people also agreed to carry rocks from the nearest volcanic lava beds which were the only source of stone in that area. The missionary agreed to provide the cement and to bring in a couple of stone masons who would work alongside local Gabbra men and try to teach them the skills necessary for well lining.
There was an added complication in this task as the Gabbra lift their water out of their wells by means of passing it up a chain of people who have to balance them selves as best they can on the sloping and unstable sides line of the hole in the sand. The depth of a well is measured by the number of men and women needed to get the water from the bottom to the drinking troughs at the top, 15 to 20 are not uncommon. A woman was always placed at the bottom as that was the most difficult and dangerous place involving much bending over. The water is carried in leather buckets made from the neck of giraffe.
A model of culturally appropriate technology
The missionary involved in this well lining project was not only technically proficient but also culturally sensitive and wanted to retain the traditional water lifting methods used by the Gabbra rather than depend on mechanical or solar powered pumps. He designed an inclined secondary shaft that connected with the main vertical well at its deepest point and protruded out of the sand at ground level to a similar height as the stone work of the vertical shaft. This secondary shaft was described as the spout of the tea kettle as all pastoralists know what a tea kettle looks like. It was made high enough for a person to stand upright and had a series of ledges in its floor to allow the human chain to stand safely with the correct distance between them so that the traditional buckets could be passed up the line and the water poured into troughs adjacent to the mouth of the inclined shaft. This is probably one of the best examples of appropriate technology to be found anywhere in an area where water is the main problem for a nomadic pastoral society.
The missionary added one or two other features which showed his awareness of Gabbra cultural values--for instance he designed a method of reducing the size of the opening at the at the top of the vertical shaft to prevent children and animals falling down the wells which were usually about three metres in diameter. He left a smaller hole at the top which allowed light to enter the well and could possibly be used to install a mechanical lift pump sometime in the future if the community ever demanded that level of technology. It would have been technically quite feasible to install a windmill or solar pump or even one operated by people activating a lever. The missionary engineer proved he was also sociologically astute by saying that he believed the value of people working together to lift the water was an important part of Gabbra working relationships. He suggested that if they ever insisted that he build them a mechanical vertical lift pump he would design it in such a way that it would take six to ten people to operate the lever to get any water. His intention in this was to discourage any tendency towards individualism and to maintain the traditional practice requiring people to gather and work together, usually with much singing and news sharing.
Relationship building is more important than well building
This example has been given at length as it shows an excellent model of socially acceptable appropriate development which was planned and implemented with the full cooperation of the most active members of that pastoral society. In actual practice the missionary decided that he would only continue with the well-lining work when it was possible for the local people to give their time to that work. In some cases this meant that the construction project came to a stop if there was a particularly severe drought which required the people to take their animals far away. He stated that it was not his goal to finish a well as quickly as possible, rather he saw that the construction work gave him good opportunity to spend time with the elders who were responsible for each well, besides the many visitors who came to watch, so he did not mind how long the work took. This demonstrates again that relationships are more important than results.
The cost of gaining insights and experience,- commitment.
This level of cross cultural sensitivity and insight into what is appropriate development for a pastoral group like the Gabbra is not gained in a classroom or through a brief visit such as comprise many contemporary missionary projects enthusiastically embraced by some western churches or agencies well financed by Christian donors. The missionary engineer referred to in this example has spent about 20 years working with the Gabbra, together with his wife, a nurse, and two children. It is that sort of experience and commitment that is required to begin to make a valid demonstration of wholistic development to nomadic pastoralists.
The scale of the challenge
The Gabbra are just one small ethnic entity numbering less than 20,000. There are some groups with a nomadic pastoral orientation numbering several millions in both Africa and Asia. The total number of people considered to be actively practising nomadic pastoralism can be given anywhere between 20 million and 100 million. This depends largely on definition as noted in Chapter One. The number who consider themselves to belong to nomadic pastoral societies may actually be twice those amounts for reasons also given in Chapter One. The number of different ethnic groups who can be classified as within the nomadic pastoral peoples may be anywhere between 200 and 500, again depending on definition. For example, the Tamacheq (formerly known as Tuareg) of West Africa are usually reckoned to be one ethnic group numbering more than a million. A closer look suggests that they may comprise at least five separate ethnic entities requiring five separate presentations of the Christian gospel because of great cultural differences between such socially diverse groups as the noble class, the priest class, the blacksmiths, the freemen and the former slaves. They all speak more or less the same language as they have a common orthography and literature but the historic social barriers as well as clan distinctions make the missiological strategy much more complicated.
The challenge and the dilemma for the church.
This is where the great challenge arises to the missionary movement. It is a dilemma which would seem to be insurmountable if Jesus Christ himself had not declared that " the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as witness to every ethnic group, and then the end will come." (Matthew: 24:14) Each one of these groups where there is at present no Christian witness will require the sort of commitment and experience referred to above shown amongst the Gabbra.
The extent of the dilemma referred to above is compounded by the realisation that the remaining ethnic groups where there is no Christian Church or meaningful demonstration of God's concern for them, are the most culturally distant societies and climatalogically difficult places for outsiders to enter and to live in such as the large majority of nomadic pastoralists.
Another similar good learning opportunity with a more practical component was observed in Northern Kenya amongst the Gabbra people whose grazing area is generally poor and therefore, their life usually extremely hard. A missionary, with a natural inclination towards building and engineering, after several years of working amongst the Gabbra, realized that their main problem was in finding permanent water sources. Many of these were obtained by digging into dry sand river beds in certain places where it had been learned from long experience that water could be found most if not all of the year by digging deeper and deeper as the water table receded.
This meant digging out large quantities of sand to gain the necessary depth --a task usually left to the women. This was dangerous work resulting in several deaths each year. It also usually needed to be done again after each rainfall when flash floods would refill the wells with sand.
The missionary began talking with the Gabbra elders about the possibility of building some permanent wells in these well-known water-yielding locations. He suggested constructing stone linings that would extend considerably higher than the normal level of the river bed so that flash floods would not be likely to fill the wells with sand. The elders were pleased to hear of the idea but had some difficulty trying to decide which of the vital sources should be used as the initial experiment when they heard that any well chosen for construction would be unusable until the work was finished.
A model of cooperative participation
A decision was finally made and the people all agreed to contribute as much work as necessary in digging the hole to it's maximum depth at the driest time of the year. This was a difficult undertaking as that is the time of the year when the herds demand the most attention. The people also agreed to carry rocks from the nearest volcanic lava beds which were the only source of stone in that area. The missionary agreed to provide the cement and to bring in a couple of stone masons who would work alongside local Gabbra men and try to teach them the skills necessary for well lining.
There was an added complication in this task as the Gabbra lift their water out of their wells by means of passing it up a chain of people who have to balance them selves as best they can on the sloping and unstable sides line of the hole in the sand. The depth of a well is measured by the number of men and women needed to get the water from the bottom to the drinking troughs at the top, 15 to 20 are not uncommon. A woman was always placed at the bottom as that was the most difficult and dangerous place involving much bending over. The water is carried in leather buckets made from the neck of giraffe.
A model of culturally appropriate technology
The missionary involved in this well lining project was not only technically proficient but also culturally sensitive and wanted to retain the traditional water lifting methods used by the Gabbra rather than depend on mechanical or solar powered pumps. He designed an inclined secondary shaft that connected with the main vertical well at its deepest point and protruded out of the sand at ground level to a similar height as the stone work of the vertical shaft. This secondary shaft was described as the spout of the tea kettle as all pastoralists know what a tea kettle looks like. It was made high enough for a person to stand upright and had a series of ledges in its floor to allow the human chain to stand safely with the correct distance between them so that the traditional buckets could be passed up the line and the water poured into troughs adjacent to the mouth of the inclined shaft. This is probably one of the best examples of appropriate technology to be found anywhere in an area where water is the main problem for a nomadic pastoral society.
The missionary added one or two other features which showed his awareness of Gabbra cultural values--for instance he designed a method of reducing the size of the opening at the at the top of the vertical shaft to prevent children and animals falling down the wells which were usually about three metres in diameter. He left a smaller hole at the top which allowed light to enter the well and could possibly be used to install a mechanical lift pump sometime in the future if the community ever demanded that level of technology. It would have been technically quite feasible to install a windmill or solar pump or even one operated by people activating a lever. The missionary engineer proved he was also sociologically astute by saying that he believed the value of people working together to lift the water was an important part of Gabbra working relationships. He suggested that if they ever insisted that he build them a mechanical vertical lift pump he would design it in such a way that it would take six to ten people to operate the lever to get any water. His intention in this was to discourage any tendency towards individualism and to maintain the traditional practice requiring people to gather and work together, usually with much singing and news sharing.
Relationship building is more important than well building
This example has been given at length as it shows an excellent model of socially acceptable appropriate development which was planned and implemented with the full cooperation of the most active members of that pastoral society. In actual practice the missionary decided that he would only continue with the well-lining work when it was possible for the local people to give their time to that work. In some cases this meant that the construction project came to a stop if there was a particularly severe drought which required the people to take their animals far away. He stated that it was not his goal to finish a well as quickly as possible, rather he saw that the construction work gave him good opportunity to spend time with the elders who were responsible for each well, besides the many visitors who came to watch, so he did not mind how long the work took. This demonstrates again that relationships are more important than results.
The cost of gaining insights and experience,- commitment.
This level of cross cultural sensitivity and insight into what is appropriate development for a pastoral group like the Gabbra is not gained in a classroom or through a brief visit such as comprise many contemporary missionary projects enthusiastically embraced by some western churches or agencies well financed by Christian donors. The missionary engineer referred to in this example has spent about 20 years working with the Gabbra, together with his wife, a nurse, and two children. It is that sort of experience and commitment that is required to begin to make a valid demonstration of wholistic development to nomadic pastoralists.
The scale of the challenge
The Gabbra are just one small ethnic entity numbering less than 20,000. There are some groups with a nomadic pastoral orientation numbering several millions in both Africa and Asia. The total number of people considered to be actively practising nomadic pastoralism can be given anywhere between 20 million and 100 million. This depends largely on definition as noted in Chapter One. The number who consider themselves to belong to nomadic pastoral societies may actually be twice those amounts for reasons also given in Chapter One. The number of different ethnic groups who can be classified as within the nomadic pastoral peoples may be anywhere between 200 and 500, again depending on definition. For example, the Tamacheq (formerly known as Tuareg) of West Africa are usually reckoned to be one ethnic group numbering more than a million. A closer look suggests that they may comprise at least five separate ethnic entities requiring five separate presentations of the Christian gospel because of great cultural differences between such socially diverse groups as the noble class, the priest class, the blacksmiths, the freemen and the former slaves. They all speak more or less the same language as they have a common orthography and literature but the historic social barriers as well as clan distinctions make the missiological strategy much more complicated.
The challenge and the dilemma for the church.
This is where the great challenge arises to the missionary movement. It is a dilemma which would seem to be insurmountable if Jesus Christ himself had not declared that " the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as witness to every ethnic group, and then the end will come." (Matthew: 24:14) Each one of these groups where there is at present no Christian witness will require the sort of commitment and experience referred to above shown amongst the Gabbra.
The extent of the dilemma referred to above is compounded by the realisation that the remaining ethnic groups where there is no Christian Church or meaningful demonstration of God's concern for them, are the most culturally distant societies and climatalogically difficult places for outsiders to enter and to live in such as the large majority of nomadic pastoralists.
9.8. The ultimate agenda of history.
There are a growing number of theologians and missiologists who are prepared to say that the command Jesus Christ gave his disciples before leaving them, about taking the gospel into all the world, was not only intended to be taken seriously, but is attainable in this generation. It will become a realistic goal when the Christian Missionary movement takes this challenge seriously, and re-deploys its resources where they are most needed.
It is estimated by missionary strategists that more than 90 per cent of the present resources of Christian missions are spent on areas where the church is already well established. In Africa this proportion may be as high as 95 per cent. If this imbalance in distribution of effort is not corrected then it is unlikely that the nomadic pastoralists will ever get a fair chance to hear and see what the Christian gospel means.
The translation of Christianity to any society.
It is the conviction of the writer that this message is entirely relevant to them in their traditional lifestyle without them having to be sedentarised. This is not just because of the biblical truth that God has no favourites, and has commanded that His gospel should be taken to every people group, but also because of the fact established earlier in this paper that they are most aware of the existence, of and their dependence on God. It is as unnecessary for them to settle down and behave like a stable cultivating sedentary ethnic group as it is for one of those to be expected to behave like an Englishman or an American before the church can be effectively established. The Christian gospel is totally relevant to every society, and the Christian church able to adapt to any viable socio-economic system, if God is allowed to do it His way.
Lessons to be learned from the Church of the pastoralists.
What the Church will look like that is appropriate and effective amongst nomadic pastoralists is a fascinating subject, not just for further study, but for the present day practitioners who are seeking to complete the ultimate agenda. The Western Church may be able to learn a lot from people who have no interest in real estate, only in relationships, where community is more important than competition and power struggles.
There are a growing number of theologians and missiologists who are prepared to say that the command Jesus Christ gave his disciples before leaving them, about taking the gospel into all the world, was not only intended to be taken seriously, but is attainable in this generation. It will become a realistic goal when the Christian Missionary movement takes this challenge seriously, and re-deploys its resources where they are most needed.
It is estimated by missionary strategists that more than 90 per cent of the present resources of Christian missions are spent on areas where the church is already well established. In Africa this proportion may be as high as 95 per cent. If this imbalance in distribution of effort is not corrected then it is unlikely that the nomadic pastoralists will ever get a fair chance to hear and see what the Christian gospel means.
The translation of Christianity to any society.
It is the conviction of the writer that this message is entirely relevant to them in their traditional lifestyle without them having to be sedentarised. This is not just because of the biblical truth that God has no favourites, and has commanded that His gospel should be taken to every people group, but also because of the fact established earlier in this paper that they are most aware of the existence, of and their dependence on God. It is as unnecessary for them to settle down and behave like a stable cultivating sedentary ethnic group as it is for one of those to be expected to behave like an Englishman or an American before the church can be effectively established. The Christian gospel is totally relevant to every society, and the Christian church able to adapt to any viable socio-economic system, if God is allowed to do it His way.
Lessons to be learned from the Church of the pastoralists.
What the Church will look like that is appropriate and effective amongst nomadic pastoralists is a fascinating subject, not just for further study, but for the present day practitioners who are seeking to complete the ultimate agenda. The Western Church may be able to learn a lot from people who have no interest in real estate, only in relationships, where community is more important than competition and power struggles.
[1] His wife was probably of more practical use in using her medical training and wide experience in remote rural situations where she was the most advanced health care provider for hundreds of miles.
[2] They are well aware of the cost of fuel as the herd owners in that part of Kenya have to buy and bring the diesel fuel to the remote bore holes to be able to water their cattle at the connected drinking troughs.
[2] They are well aware of the cost of fuel as the herd owners in that part of Kenya have to buy and bring the diesel fuel to the remote bore holes to be able to water their cattle at the connected drinking troughs.