presenting the unchanging gospel in forms ... - Global Interaction

Chief Leta’s desire to encounter God, however, was
so deep that he invited us to start a small group
meeting. Now every time a new person joins the
group, Chief Leta says proudly, “Here, we talk about
God in our own language, Yani, because we believe
God can hear the Yani language and accepts it.”
Recently the man who leads the prayers in their
mosque came to faith in Jesus.
Beoli
Learning the language also means that we can gain
a greater understanding of people’s culture and
worldview, and connect more deeply with them.
The importance of understanding people’s basic
assumptions about life was highlighted as I sat with
some Yani men. One of them, Beoli, said, “I’ve just
been to court. When my sister’s husband died, his
brothers locked the village store that he and my
sister operated and took the key. They said to my
sister, ‘Go home to your parents’ village. There’s
nothing here now for you. This store is ours now.’”
Beoli thought, “This is wrong. In Malawi, property
grabbing is no longer permitted.” He went to the
government offi ce, and was told, “You are right. The
family of a deceased person is not allowed to grab
his property. It should go to the wife and children.”
But when Beoli told the deceased man’s brothers
this, they responded, “If you don’t stop pursuing
this case, you will see something very ‘mysterious’
take place.” Beolii added, “So I dropped the case.
My sister will get none of the property she had
shared with her husband.”
My Yani friends and I heard the same story. But our
responses were quite different. I was bewildered
and said “But, Beoli, you’ve got to go back; you
must fi ght this case. It is your sister’s legal right.”
My Yani friends looked at me as if I was from
Mars. I had heard exactly the same story, but I had
completely missed the deep cultural implications.
My Yani friends, on the other hand, had completely
understood and sympathised with Beoli’s decision.
I had interpreted the story through my assumptions,
experience and worldview. It hit me – the way I
see the world is vastly different to the way the Yani
see the world. I had assumed that, for the Yani, as
for us, the marriage relationship would be of equal
importance to relationships with mother, father,
brothers and sisters; that provision for a grieving
widow and her children would be a priority; that
children would be the equal responsibility of a
father and mother; that disputes would be resolved
by legal means; and that a court of law would be
determinative in settling a property dispute.
My assumptions were wrong. In Yani culture, a
person’s relationship with their family of origin takes
priority over a marriage relationship, especially
when a death occurs. Death is not seen as the
result of illness or accident, but the displeasure of
the spirits or witchcraft, and the widow or widower
may be held responsible for the spouse’s death.
Sorcery and witchcraft over-ride any legal factors.
Authentic Yani faith communities
Not surprisingly, low engagement by mission staff
with language and culture can facilitate culturally
inauthentic churches. Sadly, it can also mean failure
to establish any church, even if, like the Yani, the
community is open to hear the gospel of Jesus.
The gospel can and should be rooted deeply in the
culture of the local community. Paul said it, “To the
Jews I became like a Jew; to the Greeks I became
like a Greek.” We must enter into the Yani people’s
understandings and perceptions. Greeks did not
need to become Jews to follow Jesus, and Yani do
not have to become Aussies to follow Jesus.
The result of our communication must be auth-
entic Yani communities of faith focused on Jesus.
Such communities will follow Jesus and worship
16 FEBRUARY 2008 | VISION | GLOBAL INTERACTION