Prayer Ammo for Africa

Paul & Sherry Pelletier recently went on missionary service to Kenya, Africa. We miss having these good friends nearby, but we do keep in touch through email.

Below is self-explanitory, by Paul. If you desire to pray for their ministry (or anyone's ministry in Africa) here is some good prayer ammo for your arsenal.

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Greetings,

I picked up a good book at the book fair. Foundations of African Traditional Religion & Worldview by Yusufu Turaki. I would like to share the basic theological and philosophical views that are crystallizing the big picture of African life for me.

Fundamental Theological Beliefs:

1. Belief in Impersonal Mystical powers: Activities of mysterious higher powers, personal or impersonal, that generate or deposit power in things or objects (I found this similar to new age thinking and various sorts of pantheistic, Hindu faiths. In the African context witchdoctors and other type of folks attempt to harness this power whereas wicca and new age have folks who try to master crystal energy and things along these lines).

2. Belief in Spirit beings: Mystical power is not only attributed to objects and things but spirit beings, spirits, dead ancestors, etc. Similar to the above it is believed these spirits can inhabit inanimate objects such as rocks and contributes to the mystical belief in powers that need to be harnessed. There is much more to this but the general idea can be understood.

3. Belief in many Divinities: African terminology prefers divinities or diety's to "gods." There is debate over whether these diety's are worshipped or merely serve as intermediaries, (similar to the saints in the Catholic Church). Some divinities are from African legends, and like many other polytheistic faiths, have divinities for various parts of life; health, harvest, sun, moon, rivers, etc.

4. Belief in a Supreme Being: It can be established that many Africans believe in a supreme being but that direct worship of this supreme being who is over the lesser beings does not really happen. The first three areas of belief mentioned are the areas that mostly effect the daily life of Africans. The supreme being in traditional African life is not so much concerned about the affairs of men who are to seek out lesser powers to meet their chief desires. A person may actually acknowlege the God of Abraham as a supreme being and never worship Him as such.

5. Belief in a Heirarchy of Spiritual Beings and Powers: All spirit beings for part of an order, but the distinction between the levels is vague and fluid. Africans respond to these spirit beings according to each spirits place in the hiearchy.

Fundamental Philosophical Beliefs

1. Holism: It is a complex interdependency where each part of an organism has a function. Everything is connected, spirits, sky, earth, etc. There are no clear boundaries between the physical and material. Western dualism creates serious theological problems for traditional Africans. Africans do not live in a confused world of non-integrated parts. Life is a mysterious, but in is part of a whole. The whole is governed by a law of harmony, the goal of which is to maintain a state of agreement or peacefulness (while there are some positive lessons to be learned here one can also see how this leads to pantheism; similar to new age).

2. Spiritualism: The traditional African philosophist might slightly differ with the notion that there is no real difference between the physical and spiritual world but might say the world is more spritual than material; (which we can see tempts into a gnostic view). It is believed that whatever happens in the physical realm has a spiritual coordinate. The response to life situations is spiritual; in sickness, the organic issues is overlooked and a spiritual solution is sought for. This is a combination of pantheism and polytheism.

3. Dynamism: Given the understanding of holism and spiritualism; dynamism is a way to communicate with the spiritual world. There is a desire for power to be
harnessed from the spiritual world to deal with life's troubles and desires. There are rituals, sacrafices, offerings, festivals, ceremonies, witchcraft and sorcery. Whatever is empowering is right and since man's needs cannot be met without power then a powerless religion is valueless.

4. Communalism: People are not individuals, living in a state of independence, but part of a community. One does not claim individual rights as in a Western approach Some author's claim there are at least 40 characteristics of communalism that contrast with Western individualism. The concept of community is not restricted to human beings alone but embraces the world of spirits and ancestors. Villages of different clans with various histories are what make up the essential community first then the household of parents and children.

At the root of kinship is a belief shared that there is a common ancestor which estalbishes a certain legend or tradition about that community. Within the community each clan has its own name, identity and social function; such as custodian of religious affairs, warfare, or hunting.

Each clan is made of the individual corps family of parents, children, grandparents, etc. This system of relationships has been seriously disrupted
by the introduction of universal religions such as Christianity, Islam, and modernism.

Communalism is not restricted to human relationships but the spirit world. Communal life can be considered ancestrally chartered.

It is important to avoid offending the spirits just as it is to avoid offending human beings. However, if one should offend the sprits or human beings
the communal system says the community must also bear responsibility and cosequence for the offense. This belief can result in the denial of individual responsibility for one's own actions.

Living in harmony with nature is also part of the communal system.

5. Fatalism: The traditional worldview considers that one is either born with or given at birth a destiny or a guardian spirit. This destiny whether good or challenging is to be accepted with gratitude and one's life has spirits about them to ensure the destiny that has been given. One's destiny is fixed but can be
interupted by others and where consulting power to reverse any disruption in a destiny is sought. The concept of destiny can also be manipulated by others (here I would caution that being in charge of Africans is not a career oppportunity). Some groups claim a destiny of power of other groups even among Africans (this is sort of a caste mentality) these types of beliefs lead to areas of violence, conflict, and tension.

Well, hope this overview assists some of you in praying and understanding about the African context a little more.