Saturday, March 5, 2011

Ikoma-Nata-Isenye


One of the more unique church buildings in Ikoma-land



The Ikoma, Nata, and Isenye people groups (combined population 36,000) live on the edge of the Serengeti national park and it's not unheard of for elephants and giraffe to wander through their area. Musoma (the town in which we live, the regional capital) is the closest town to their areas, and it is about six hours away, so rural and remote are legitimate words to use when describing that part of Mara Region. Andrew did his village homestay in the Ikoma area, and as you might recall, it was far out enough that he had to take a bus, ride on the back of a motorcycle, ford a river on foot, and walk a while to get there!

The Ikoma and Nata languages are closely related and Isenye is a little bit different. At this point we are confident that the Nata people will be able to use the Ikoma Scriptures, but need to do a little more research before we know for sure about the Isenye. These three groups get along well, but there are two other nearby groups with which they have historically had problems - the Kuria, who look down on them, and the Maasai, who have cattle-thieving battles with them. Wild animals, particularly lions, have been these peoples' other main threat.

In the Ikoma area there are several denominations, including Roman Catholic, Mennonite, Anglican, and a few Pentecostal ones, but there are not many Christians. The god of the Ikoma is a pair of elephant tusks. Being Ikoma and worshiping these tusks are inseparable things. When people go to church and read the Bible in Swahili, others consider them to be practicing an outside religion.

A few years ago I had a moving conversation with an elderly Ikoma believer who was passionate about the Bible being translated into Ikoma. He told me that not until they can read the Word in their own language will Ikoma people see that one can be Ikoma and be a Christian. He has no doubt that the tusks and spirits associated with them are powerful, but the God of the Bible is even more powerful and he believes that one day the Ikoma will know this through the Ikoma Scriptures.

The two Ikoma translators are pictured above. Their names are Muya and Mussa, and they are quiet, hard-working men. The two of them get along very well and are great assets to the cluster project. Both are leaders in their churches - Muya is a pastor with the Pentecostal Evangelical Fellowship of Africa, and Mussa is an elder with the Mennonite Church of Tanzania. Muya's wife lives in the Ikoma area farming their land and taking care of their cattle, and he travels out to visit her on weekends when he has a chance. They have nine children, some of whom live with Muya in town, some of whom live with his wife in the village. Mussa's wife, who comes from a Muslim background, lives with him here in town with their three children. Mussa's parents live nearby him; his father is the man I mentioned in the paragraph above.

After reading about the rest of the language of the Mara Cluster, please let us know if you have a burden to pray for the Ikoma in particular and we'll let you know more, including specific requests as they arise.

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