Monday afternoon: Believers’ Meeting at our partners’ village.
Francois is teaching about Abraham and Isaac and how the Lord provided a perfect ram to die in Isaac’s place. He taught that just like this ram died in Isaac’s place, Jesus died in our place, once and for all. Then the group started to talk about one of their worst fears: death.
I asked: “Do we know where we are going when we die?”
“Yes!” a few said. “When we are believers and we die, we go to be with God. If we are not believers, we will go to the eternal fire.”
Historically, the Mwinika did not know where their loved ones go after death. Much of their lives are spent in trying to prevent death from claiming a loved one. During a funeral, the women would cry over and over again: Where are you? Where are you!?
One of the clan leaders, who was not at the previous meeting, then asked: “So, we do not need to cry “where are you?” anymore?”
“No,” Shar and Jati explained, “we can know now for sure where we go when we die. If one of us believers die, we don’t have to be sad anymore … we are going to be with them one day again! If a believer die, his spirit is taken up to God.” Their eyes shine while they testify to this amazing truth!
How beautiful to hear the truth straight from the mouth of a Mwinika!
This little group of believers are facing many challenges though: They know that the healing ceremonies that are so much part of their culture is not “helping”. They know that the spirits being appeased are not their ancestors and are bad! They feel uncomfortable to be present … but how do they avoid going? It is expected, yes absolutely mandatory for a Mwinika to go to such a ceremony involving a family member. Not going would be worse than an insult, it would be full out rebellion and the rejection of everything they hold dear in their culture. It is part of the very fibre of their being.
Their challenge is that they are not comfortable with many things in their culture anymore, but they have no idea what to do to substitute it; they still do not know how to live differently. Pray that they will hold close to the Lord and that He will teach them through his Spirit how to live and die for Christ.