Our lot in life ... the Konongo of Tanzania

“O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by Your power, having armed Yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.  Those living far away fear Your wonders.”
Psalm 65: 5b-8a

Round barrel type, contraptions hang from trees in the forests surrounding Konongo villages.  Known as the beekeepers of Southwestern Tanzania, the Konongo hang these to house beehives that produce the honey they eat and sell.

June and July are harvest months for the Konongo and the harvesting of their tobacco crop is underway. Honey and tobacco are cash crops for the Konongo; however, subsistence farming doesn't bring much money.  After this harvest the men will wait until October or November for the rains to come and planting will begin again.

Living in very small, rural villages with less opportunity for good education, the Konongo are marginalized; overlooked by larger, more educated people groups in Tanzania, so they settle for their lot in life with very little initiative, many spending their days drinking home brewed alcohol.

There is a Catholic Church in every Konongo village and most Konongo, if they are churchgoers, attend the Catholic church.  Attending the Catholic Church affords the Konongo the opportunity to continue their traditional ancestral worship, which is synchronized into their religious practice.

Moravian, Seventh Day Adventist, Assemblies of God, Pentecostal and Lutheran all have a presence in Konongo villages, but they are reaching the surrounding people groups, not the Konongo.

Pray for the Konongo of Southwestern Tanzania.

Ask God to open the eyes of the Konongo to the hope of God through Christ, understanding that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life; there is no other path to God.

Pray that God would bring together engaging partners with the vision to reach the Konongo people of Tanzania.