This is a picture of a Nsepa ceremony. This is a healing ceremony that the Mwinika perform to “chase” the bad spirits – believed to cause the sickness – away. If a person has been identified with a sickness caused by “nsepa” (a specific spirit), a witchdoctor that has knowledge about the nsepa must be paid to perform an all night ceremony.
On this picture a witchdoctor helper is making sure that the flour is sprinkled in all the right directions. Grain offerings are often used in Mwinika ceremonies. Another element often seen (as in this picture) is the use of flags. Different flag colours signify different spirits. They believe that there are bad spirits and “better” spirits. The witchdoctor seeks the help of the “good” spirits to chase away the bad… But even the good spirits are fickle to them “good” does not mean the absence of evil, but rather these spirits are not as bad as the worst ones!
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This is a picture of a witchdoctor preparing his medicine to perform a healing ceremony. Powerful witchdoctors often wear white during such ceremonies.
Even if the sickness has passed (before the ceremony has been performed) and “nsepa” (or any other sickness/spirit) has been identified, they must still do the ceremony, otherwise the sickness will return or even worse: the person can die. We have learned that the absence of sickness does not mean to the Mwinika the absence of the threat of a spirit! Can you imagine how difficult it will be for the Mwinika to change their beliefs? Even if they are not sick, (or has been healed from a hospital treatment), the thread still exists… If they have “nsepa” they have “nsepa” and only a nsepa witchdoctor (often asking a huge amount of money) can really “heal” them!
That is why we are teaching from Genesis to Christ: the Mwinika must understand the foundations of their identity and believe in Christ. They have to understand who God is… He is the Creator of ALL things and has power over even the bad spirits. He alone is GOOD and has no bad or evil in him. They have to understand where sickness, brokenness and poverty come from: man’s rebellion against God! They have to understand that this was not God’s choice, or that He made things bad, but it is caused by man’s rebellion against God… Their fatalism makes them believer that God is a “moody” powerful and distant Being that can heal you one day and let you die the next… They must learn that pain is not something God caused or “wills”, but that He can use difficulties to bless those that love Him. These are no small worldview changes!
Pray for the Mwinika. They are up against much more than just a lack of knowledge of the Truth; they are also bound by the spirits who have reigned and destroyed them for centuries. These spirits will not release their power grip on the Mwinika easily.
But we KNOW and BELIEVE: Christ has victory over the darkness! He is the Truth and the Life! Through Him we can find not only eternal life, but also now, here on earth, a life free from the bondages of darkness.