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| Andrew discipling believers February 2007 |
The Challenge of Wusuraambya
Reaching the Wusuraambya people with the Gospel began many years ago with the challenge of learning the difficult Wusuraambyan language, applying it it paper and giving it an alphabet that people would accept and eventually learn to read and to write. With words like yawurayawubwaramuduyabuuiyatnemulukaavunesi, however, it has been quite a challenge teaching the Wusuraambya people to both read and write their own language.
The present Wusuraambya Church Planting team has finally translated and printed Genesis and Mark, and they have drafted many Old and New Testament Scripture verses to aid in teaching the foundations of the Gospel beginning in Genesis. Three "phases" of Bible lessons have been prepared and taught, the third being the Book of Acts. As the believers grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures, so does their desire to share this good news with others. They are presently teaching the foundational lessons for the Gospel for the third time since 2005, with a listening audience varying from 60 to even 100 people depending on the weather.
It is hoped that the book of Acts will be completed and approved for printing later in 2007 and that we will be able to begin teaching from the book of Romans beginning in January 2008. This will be good preparation for those believers who hope to reach out into more distant villages sometime soon.
Wusuraambya Culture
The Wusuraambya tribe is part of a greater tribe with a common language but many dialects, a population of 10,000 or more people, scattered over a walking distance of 2-3 days. Divided by a large river and a tradition of fighting until the late '50's, it is only during the last 50 years that these people are being united into one people group. Until the recently they wore grass or bark skirts, bark capes, and a variety of arm bands, head bands, and necklaces decorating their upper bodies. Their traditional houses are round houses with steep thatched rooves, raised floors, fire pits in the middle of every house, and firewood piled under the house to keep warm and for cooking.
Economy and Education
The only source of income in Wusuraambya is coffee, an industry which produces possibly $50-$100 for the average household annually, not nearly enough to cover the cost of clothing, staples such as salt, rice, soap, matches, and other basic necessities, not to mention the annual schoolfees need for the local community school. A student is expected to pay as much as $25 a year in the higher grades. He can only complete grade 6 in the tribe and then has to go to school in town which costs much more. The difficulty of paying for schoolfees coupled with a vast shortage of teachers makes it next to impossible for people to complete highschool and go on to college or university.
Medical help
There is a local aidpost where basic medical help is available whenever a nurse is present to help out. When the local orderly is away from his post the people have to walk 5 hours to the next airpost.
Most illness is thought to be the result of sorcery or the returning spirits of the dead. Rituals are performed to appease the dead. Some people will rub mud on their bodies to keep the spirits from entering into the them and causing sickness and death or deformity of unborn babies.
Freedom in Christ
Those who have put their trust in Christ as their Saviour are no longer afraid, and they no longer try to appease the spirits of the dead. As they rejoice in Christ others are seeing the change and saying, "We want to hear this teaching!" Several villages are waiting for the Wusuraambya believers to come and teach them as soon as they are ready. |
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