Back in August, I (Joshua) posted a more academic essay sharing some of the behind-the-scenes linguistic and cross-cultural research that is part of missionary life — Enkiteng Hermeneutics: Reading the Bible with Maasai Christians. Further development of that resulted in two different publications. I’d be pleased if you took a look:
“An Enkiteng Hermeneutics—Reading (and Hearing!) the Bible with Maasai Christians: A review essay and proposal.” Global Missiology 18, no. 4 (October 2021): 2–16. read as pdf here read as html here
“A Four-in-One Book Review: A Four-in-One Book Review: On the Bible and Intercultural Hermeneutics among the Maasai.” International Review of Mission 110, no. 2 (November 2021): 358–363. read as pdf here
Some of my other research had also been published earlier this year. Take a look, tolle lege (“take and read”):
“My God is enkAi: a reflection of vernacular theology.” Journal of Language, Culture, and Religion 2, vol. 1 (2021): 1–20. a pdf of the entire issue is available here
“Conversion or Proselytization? Being Maasai, Becoming Christian.” Global Missiology 18, vol. 2 (April 2021): 11 pages. read as pdf here read as html here
These samples of our mission research aren’t as glamorous as sharing pictures of baptisms or of new church building dedications — but without this sort of foundational work, the glamor too often tends be temporary and shorn of lasting glory.
This translates «שִׁ֣ירוּ לַֽ֭יהוָה שִׁ֣יר חָדָ֑שׁ» (Hebrew) or «ᾌσατε τῷ κυρίῳ ᾆσμα καινό» (Greek). Some of y’all might know the King James: “Sing unto the LORD a new song!”
But the Maa phrase can translate into English as “Dance unto the LORD a new dance!”
Um, what?! How’s that?
If we’ve visited with you, you may remember the answer. The noun <osinkolio> means equally “song” and “dance.” The verb <arany> means equally “to sing” and “to dance.” Thus “arany osinkolio” can be translated four ways into English: ……. • I sing a song, ……. • I dance a dance, ……. • I sing a dance, or ……. • I dance a song. In the Maasai cultural imagination, singing with the voice without also dancing with the body (or is that dancing with voice while singing with the body?) is unimaginable, except for the infirm or lame.
While other African languages have different words for singing and dancing, as does English, this lexical insight applies across many African cultures.
Application: of COURSE we line dance during worship here. What else?
“to clean or remove charcoal
from the outside of the calabash gourd
after cleaning the interior of the gourd.”
The gourds — used as containers especially for milk and sour milk — are cleaned with a stick of wild olive wood (olóírién), the end of which is a live coal. This burns away any pathogens or other bad stuff and lines the interior of the gourd with charcoal, which has a filtering/purifying effect. It also gives your milk a smoky taste. So if you’re taking chai in the villages and your tea tastes a bit like smoked cheese, this is why.
So AMESÚTonly refers to the removal of olive wood charcoal from the outside of a gourd that’s just been cleaned on the inside.
Lenana was a well-known Laibon (oloiboni, “ritual expert”) of the Maasai, b. sometime between 1860 and 1870 (he was circumcised in 1882, perhaps at the age of nineteen? … traditionally, Maasai did not keep track of their birthdates, but only of when they were circumcized) and dying in 1911. The name Lenana means “of the gentleness.” An important Maasai leader during the colonialization of East Africa by Great Britain, he is better known among the Maasai themselves by the other form of his name, Olonana (“he of gentleness”).
Lenana is a fairly common Maasai boy’s name. I’ve not heard (though I don’t know everything) of anyone else named Ololana, though.
The term, as an adjective, is a term of endearment — • Li alashe lai lenana is “O my brother of tenderness” • Lo ltau lai lelana is “O my heart of tenderness,” the dynamic equivalent of “Sweetheart” in English. I (Joshua) often address Ruth with the short form, lo ltau lai (O my heart!).
I probably hear the adjective more often than the name.For “sweetheart” more literally, you could say oltau lemelok (or lo ltau lemelok in the vocative).
The feminine equivalent of lenana (pronounced, by the way, like LAY-NAH-NAH, for English-speakers) is nanana. I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard it, though. Namelok ([feminine thing or person] which-is-sweet) is more common as an adjective for females.
It is said that upon his death, Olonana’s corpse was secretly moved from his homestead (enkang) in Kiserian to this site, where his body was accorded the rare privilege of burial, marked by planting an oreteti sapling. (Historically, corpses were laid out on the ground and hyenas come to eat the body at night. Burial is a rare salutatory honor in traditional Maa culture.) The oreteti is a sacred tree of ceremonial significance in Maasai culture. Oreteti trees are places of sanctuary and holiness.
Oretetirefers to fig trees:ficus natalensis, ficus sycomorus, ficus gnaphalocarpa, ficus mucosa. It is one of four types of trees considered sacred or holy by the Maasai. Note the smooth green leaves (even in the dry season), and also that there are no thorns.
Lenana’s Oreteti: (click pictures for a larger images)
This oreteti tree is now nearly 110 years old, and is an important landmark — geographically and culturally. The Oreteti AIC (Africa Inland Church) congregation has its building a short walk down the mountain from here, taking its name from this tree.
(Photos taken on 1 October 2019. I was meeting with Benson ole Kurraru, the pastor of Oreteti AIC. He also oversees AIC church planting and ministerial training in the Olalaiser area of Kajiado county.)
Branding is important. This is why Madison Avenue (the global center of the advertising industry in New York City) is a center of influence and of wealth. This is why the hosting television network charges millions of dollars for a thirty second commercial during the Super Bowl (the championship game of professional american football). A cowboy in America’s Old West — or a Maasai olchekut even today — could identify the owner of the herd with a mere at a glance at a cow’s branding mark.
(Note: the Maa word olchekut is usually translated as “shepherd” but is used of cowherds and goatherds as well.)
Branding can work for weal or for woe. If a Maasai teen-aged boy so much as flinches when he is circumcised, he is branded as a coward for the rest of his life. In the 1985 film Back to the Future, George McFly suffered the effects his whole life of having been branded as a weakling as a youth, until his son Marty altered the present by changing the past. Currently nearly half of Americans are horrified at the prospect of their country being branded as “Trump Nation.” Yet nearly half of Americans were terrified at the possibility of their country being branded by the “progressivism” of another Clinton presidential administration. Branding matters.
Countries in Africa (including Kenya) are often branded as backwards, undeveloped, and primitive. This is often done by NGOs and even by missions agencies as they are seeking financial support for various developmental projects. Sadly, this branding often first creates and then perpetuates a cycle of dependency. But this is often done by comparing the poorest of those in the slums with those comfortably middle-class (economically speaking) from suburbs and cities in the West.
Many of you have seen pictures of endemic poverty in African slums in Nairobi (Kenya), Lagos (Nigeria), or Johannesburg (South Africa) and been told “this is Africa.” Others have seen the perpetual corruption and impunity of dictators like Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and been told “this is Africa.” Those of you at least our age remember the popular song “We Are the World” and pictures of emaciated Ethiopian children with the swollen bellies of starvation and think “this is Africa.” Still others hear “Africa” and think only of stories of genocide (e.g., Rwanda in 1994), perpetual civil wars (e.g., Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC; formerly called Zaïre), Boko Haram’s atrocities against christians (mostly in Nigeria), social unrest and violent atrocities after a contested election (e.g., here in Kenya after the December 2007 election), or even just of “zoo animals.”
But how many Americans would like the USA to be characterized, branded, only by images of Old West gunfighters, or urban rioters, or the terrible morals in so many Hollywood movies, or the ostentatious conspicuous consumption of wealthy celebrities, or the gruesome practices of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, or by the divisiveness of “the other side” during the 2016 elections? Most Americans would protest, “that is not my America.” And so for those of you who do not live in Africa, we invite you to take a second look with new eyes at the various countries of this continent.
It is as important to celebrate glorious success as it is to bring needs to light. So when we host visitors here in Kenya, we want them to see the rich texture and vibrancy of Kenyan life. We’ll visit a church in the Kibera slum, talk with successful Nairobi entrepreneurs and artisans, swing by a world-class Nairobi shopping mall, sit with small-town church members in their large stone church building, and drink tea in a remotely rural Maasai hut.
Here is one example of positive branding for Kenya. It’s a music video / commercial for Safaricom, the largest telecom and micro-finance service provider in East Africa. It is a celebration of Kenyan life, culture, and people. Like the best advertising, it is not pushing a product so much as celebrating a vision for life. I invite you to watch and listen to this short video (less than two minutes). The lyrics (in kiSwahili) and translation (in English) follow below. This is the Kenya we know and love. These are the Kenyans with whom we partner. Yes, there is still need, which this branding doesn’t depict. But in this season of America’s Thanksgiving, celebrate with us the greatness of Kenya’s people.
…
UNGAANA, PENDANA ….. LET’S UNITE, LET’S LOVE
Kitu gani chatuunganisha, ….. What is it that unites us, Mume kwa mke, ndugu na dada, …. husband to wife, brother and sister Marafiki tunaowajali, ….. friends whom we care about, Washiriki hata makazini, ….. colleagues with whom we work?
Jambo la muhimu,
Kwa hamu na gamu,
Twatumaini taifa,
Libebalo
ndoto, zote zetu ….. The most important thing is ….. earnest anticipation of ….. a nation which carries ….. all of our dreams.
Ungaana (ungaana), Pendana (pendana) ….. Let’s unite together (let’s unite), ….. Let’s love each other (let’s love) Tumeungana twaonekana, ….. We have united, we have seen that Tuko huru tuko sawa, ….. We are free, we are equal
Ungaana (ungaana), Pendana (pendana) ….. Let’s unite together (let’s unite), ….. Let’s love each other (let’s love) Dunia ijue tuko sawa, ….. Let the world know that we are equal Twaunganisha ndoto zeta ….. We bring together our dreams
Ungaana kwa upendo ….. Let us unite together in love Ungaana kwa upendo …. Let us unite together in love Ni Upendo watuunganisha, ….. It is love which unites us Mume kwa mke, ndugu na dada ….. Husband to wife, brother and sister.
Here is, in english, an example of the types of parables we use in our teaching. This one has two versions, one to be told to men and boys and another to be told to women and girls. It was written specifically for the context of Maasai culture, but would be understood throughout East African cultures.
(Cultural note: The “club” referred to is a war club, known in Maa as an orinka and in kiSwahili as a rungu. Maasai shepherds and warriors are like the Benjaminites of Judges 20.16 and are said “not to miss.” They often throw them at hyenas to protect their flocks and herds.)
.
As told to the guys
Once there was a hyena which decided it was easier to catch baby goats and baby sheep than to chase the stronger and faster wild animals. It caused a lot of problems by eating from the flocks! The shepherds would always chase it away just by throwing a club at it and it would flee. But it kept sneaking back to eat the young animals that would stray into the bush. So some warriors decided to chase it in order to kill it with their spears.
The hyena was terrified of the warriors! Because most of the people were not in the villages at that time, the hyena ran into a village to hide. There was an honored old man, sitting under a tree beside his house! The hyena asked him to let him hide in his house. The old man refused. But the hyena begged him, promising that he would bring him meat if he hid him and protected him from the warriors and shepherds. Now that man liked to eat meat. He said to himself that “it would be nice to eat meat without killing one of my own goats!” So he told the hyena to go inside the house to hide, as his wife was in the bush gathering firewood. When those tracking the hyena came to his village, they asked that man whether he had seen the hyena. He was thinking about the meat the hyena had promised to bring, so he lied and said that he had not seen it. So those people left.
Then that man went into the house to tell the hyena that it was safe for him to come out and go on its way. But the hyena said, “I am hungry and am craving meat. So I will eat your leg!” And that is just what the hyena did.
.
As told to the ladies
Once there was a hyena which decided it was easier to catch baby goats and baby sheep than to chase the stronger and faster wild animals. It caused a lot of problems by eating from the flocks! The shepherds would always chase it away just by throwing a club at it and it would flee. But it kept sneaking back to eat the young animals that would stray into the bush. So some warriors decided to chase it in order to kill it with their spears.
The hyena was terrified of the warriors! Because most of the people were not in the villages at that time, the hyena ran into a village to hide. There was a woman, repairing the roof of her house! The hyena asked her to let him hide in her house. The woman refused. But the hyena begged her, promising that he would bring her some meat if she hid him and protected him from the warriors and shepherds. That woman said to herself that “my husband would praise me if I give him meat without decreasing the numbers of his flock!” So she told the hyena to enter the house to hide. When those tracking the hyena came to her village, they asked that woman whether she had seen the hyena. She was thinking about the meat which the hyena had promised to bring, so she lied and said that she had not seen it. So those people left.
Then that woman went into the house to tell the hyena that it was safe for him to come out and go on its way. But the hyena said, “I am hungry and am craving meat. So I will eat your leg!” And that is just what the hyena did.
Cross-cultural life & work are exhilarating. Asking what it means, practically speaking, to live with Jesus from the view point of a different language and culture can open your eyes to the teachings of Scripture in new and profound ways. We have found this to be especially true as we have struggled with culturally relevant and biblically faithful ways to teach stewardship.
In many western contexts, teaching on stewardship can be summarized like this:
That stuff you think you own? It’s not really yours; it’s God’s. So treat “your” resources accordingly.
This approach captures part – but not all – of the biblical teaching on stewardship. But in East African contexts, as soon as you say “it’s not really yours” you’ve lost your audience and thrown in the towel. The Maasai have a proverb that explains this: The cow says, “don’t lend me. Just give me away.” This is because the cow knows that if it is lent, it will not be well cared for. Only when there is ownership is there also proper stewardship. We also see this in the teaching of Jesus in John 10.12-13.
The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. He runs away because he is only a hired hand and has no concern for the sheep.
Only when you can say “it is mine” or “it is ours” can stewardship be faithfully practiced. There is another Maasai proverb that emphasizes this: All things which their owners care for endure. The twofold implication (which is clear in the Maa) is that only owners properly care for possessions and only proper stewardship enables things to last.
There is a place to teach that stewardship is the management of someone else’s resources. (See, for example, Matthew 25.14-3.) But it is also necessary to recognize we are the recipients of God’s gifts. What God has given you is now yours.
ORE TINIATA MENYE, MIMURATA
Another Maasai cultural proverb suggests an alternative approach to the traditional western interpretation. Now if you have a father, it observes, you’re not really circumcised. For many tribes in East Africa, including the Maasai, boys are ritually circumcised during adolescence. This event marks a major transition. No longer a boy, the circumcised male is now a warrior and a man. So the proverb is saying that if your father is still alive, it is as if you are still a boy. Culturally, if your father is alive, it’s as though you are still a youth.
Why is this? Because you show natural respect for your old father. You honor him by consulting with him before you so much as a sell a goat to obtain school fees for your children. Are you 60 and a grandfather? If your dad is still alive, you will consult with him before you sell a goat to obtain school fees for your grandchildren.
Traditionally this is NOT abusive patriarchy. It is not just that the old man remains the nominal head of the extended family. Rather, he is recognized to have wisdom. He can guide the younger generations in the best way forward. Being past the point of self-seeking desire, he has a broader perspective about what is best for the whole family. The primary interest of the old man is in the well-being of his whole family. So he will advise them accordingly. He receives enkanyit (proper respect and honor) and gives in return counsel and blessing.
(Western cultures used to practice something similar. We called it “filial piety.”)
For those of us who follow Jesus, we know that our Father Papa God is alive. This does not mean we are not responsible adults. It DOES mean we should invite God into the process as we consider the management of our resources.
That stuff you own? It really is yours. But your Father in heaven is very much alive. Will you consult with him about how you use your resources?
.
.
.
[Updated September 2018: We just learned the second proverb mentioned above.]
LANGUAGE IS FUN If a stranger stops to ask for directions in parts of southern Appalachia, he might be told, “honey, you can’t get there from here.” Communicating in a different language can be the same way. Concepts that are as common as dirt in one culture might be unheard of in another. So you want to learn how to say “please” in Maa? Well, there isn’t a word for that. Or maybe you want to say “thank you” in NgaTurkana? Again, that vocabulary just isn’t there. But sometimes it’s the other way around. Turkana or Maasai cultures may have nailed down a concept in a single word that would take us a paragraph or a page to wrap our minds around.
OSOTUA This is one of my favorite Maasai words. If google translator worked for Maa (it doesn’t), it might translate osotua as “peace” or perhaps as “testament.” The first is inadequate and the second is misleading. Osotua is derived from the verb <asot>, “to join together.” The root meaning of osotua is “umbilical cord” (the thing which joins the mother and infant together). Consequently, one meaning is also “belly button” (the place where the thing which joins the mother and infant together was previously attached). But this is just scratching the surface.
Osotua also refers to “a deep relationship of shared profound peace” (think the hebrew shalom, שלמ) “that is characterized by a closeness, tied-together-ness, and unity like that shared between a mother and an infant while the cord is still attached.”
A common Maasai blessing is Osotua le Nkai! (“Osotua of God”). It means, “may you share osotua with God!” It means, “may you be bound so closely together in a relationship with God that it is like that between a mother and infant when the cord is still attached!”
Another way to put it is that osotua is that type of relational peace and well-being that can only be found within a covenantal relationship. Thus you will find that the Maa translation of the bible is divided into two parts: Osotua Musana and Osotua Ng’ejuk (“The Old Osotua” and “the New Osotua”). There isn’t really a word for covenant in Maa. Olning’o, which means “kept agreement,” is commonly used. But the bible translators recognized that a covenant is (or should be) something even stronger than an unbroken agreement. A covenant is an olning’o that results in shared osotua.
A common Maasai proverb says Enkoshoke naata osotua: “It is the stomach which has osotua.” When I’m teaching in Maa, if I say “enkoshoke naata …” then the whole congregation or class spontaneously answers in unison: OSOTUA.” At one level this is as obvious as it is humorous: “It’s the belly that’s got a belly button.” Or you could say it more staidly, “the umbilical cord attaches to the belly.” But both of those miss the point. Another translation is “the stomach creates friendships.” 1 This is a proverb about table fellowship. When we eat together, we have the opportunity to begin to build osotua in our relationships. This is, of course, perfectly realized by christians when we share together in the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, Communion. When we partake of loaf and cup, ah! (“taste and see that the LORD is good!”) then we see that it is true: enkoshoke naata osotua. When we break and eat the bread together, when we bless and drink the cup together, then we experience true osotua: that deep communion within a covenantal relationship characterized by holy peace and a closeness that is like that between a mother and an infant while the cord is still attached.
And so to each of you I bid: Osotua of God to you! Osotua of Christ to you!
.
.
Note: “Maasai” is the name of the people and the culture. “Maa” is the name of the language.
1 So S. S. ole Sankan, p. 92 in The Maasai (Kenya Literature Bureau, 1971).
The Maa word for a wedding or marriage is enkiyama. Traditionally, there are two important parts of the ceremony. The first is “the wrapping with a skirt” or erotianaroto. A simple ceremony, sometimes this suffices (like going to a justice of the peace). But for a proper wedding, there is also “the leading away of the bride to her husband’s homestead.” Thus the bride is referred to as esiankiki narikitoi, “the bride which is being led away.” .
This imagery is beautiful. The Church, of course, is the Esiankiki of Christ. We also have a sort of erotianaroto ceremony. We remember that Ruth told Boaz, “spread your skirt over your maidservant.” She was telling him to cover her with his protection, to claim her, to marry her. In the same way, each of us who is immersed into Christ have been clothed with Christ as with a garment — we have been wrapped with the skirt of righteousness. The ancient church outwardly symbolized this by clothing the newly baptized with a clean, white robe after they emerged from their watery burial. .
We are also being led away from our sin and rebellion and towards the home of our Groom. Like the esayiunoti (a Maasai wife married properly, observing all fitting cultural customs, and who can thus hold her head high), we demonstrate our devotion and our pledge of fidelity by not looking back as we are led away. (Luke 9.62 and Genesis 19.26 come to mind.) .
Upon being led away and settling in her husband’s homestead, the Maasai esiankiki leaves her temporary name behind and receives a new name. A young woman may have been known as Nashipai ene Sakat (“Joy,” the daughter of the Sakat family). If she marries a man named Saruni ole Yenko, she now will naturally enough be known as enole Yenko (the woman of the Yenko family or Mrs Yenko). But her husband’s family will also choose a new first name for the bride, perhaps Naramati (“cared for, the one taken care of”). .
This sounds strange, and maybe even troubling, to western ears. But as I am reflecting, I see that this cultural practice reflects a divine reality. We, too, shall receive a “new name” (Revelation 2.17). But this will not represent an abrogation of our former name but rather a fulfillment of our true identity. As Jacob (the heel-grasping deceiver) became Israel (wrestles-with-God-and-prevails) and Lo-Ruhamah (not-pitied, not loved) became Ruhamah (compassion, lovingly-accepted), so in Christ we become whom we were created to be. .
May we all be wrapped with the skirt of Jesus and led away by him, following without looking back! . . . .
