Oct1 Written by:Kayle
10/1/2009 11:44 PM
Every lecturer and faculty member is assigned to 1-2 students that they “spiritually advise”—a student that we meet with every other week to talk about what is going on in their lives and how we can be praying for them. I am really enjoying meeting with Mrs. Ncube (pronounced “new-bay”) and talking through issues that arise.
I am learning so much from her about traditional African beliefs and life that play such a role in the lives of Zimbabwean Christians. Mrs. Ncube has a rural home in a village about 30 minutes away from Bulawayo. Every so often, her and her family will go to their rural home for the weekend. She was telling me that there are witch hunters going around the country hunting out the witches. Upon first hearing this, it sounds like a positive thing. However, the men who are the witch hunters have evil intentions—it is not to rid the society of those who cause so much harm, but it is really to play upon the fears of the people and to get rich! These witch hunters will somehow get the permission of the local chief to come into the village to rid it of its witches. Then they will call all the people of the village to gather together. They will typically perform some sort of “test” to see if one is a witch. If you pass the test, then you aren’t a witch, but if you fail the test, then you are a witch. If you are accused of being a witch, you can be cast out of the village, your house may be burned down or you may be scorned by everyone. If you don’t come to the gathering, then it is proof that you are a witch as you obviously have something to hide and you can also be cast out of the village, your house may be burned down or you may be scorned by everyone. As a Christian, what do you do? Do you go and face the risk of being deemed a witch, or do you not go in protest that you don’t believe in this stuff and risk your house being burned down? If you are deemd a witch and say to the witch hunters that they are lying, then they tell you that they will send tokoloshes upon you, which are these little boy spirits that have the strength of men and they will come and beat you up. The people here are SO fearful of the tokoloshes.
Another thing these witch hunters do is destroy community by saying, “Do you know why you’ve been sick? It is because your aunt put a curse upon you.” Or “Do you know why your crops failed? It is because your friend put a curse upon you.” It is true that Africans tend to become jealous of someone who has success and can put curses on those who are succeeding or are doing well. But the witch hunters cause everyone to be suspicious of each other and, as a result, relationships are destroyed. Then the witch hunter goes on to say, “If you want to rid yourself of this curse, then you need to give me 2 cattle.” The witch hunters play on the fears of the people who will give these men cattle in order to get rid of the curse. These witch hunters get very rich as a result! Again, what do you do as a Christian if you are falsely accused of putting a curse on someone or are told that someone put a curse on you? How do you guide people who claim to be Christians and yet, due to fear, will pay off these witch hunters?
Mrs. Ncube said when the witch hunters came to their village, her family along with two other families protested and didn’t go to the community gathering, but trusted in God for their protection. I asked her what happened. She said the chief of the village told the witch hunters that these families had gone mad (mentally crazy) as they believe in the white man’s religion (Christianity). So the witch hunters amazingly left them alone!!! Amazing! Praise God!
Being a Christian is very difficult in the face of these deep rooted fears! It is SO important for Christians here to learn that Jesus is more powerful that all the evil spirits and that they must trust in him for their protection! Mrs. Ncube always encourages me with her faith and boldness in the face of cultural pressures and beliefs.
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