Kutu revisited

Continuing to sort out details of the vision trip for churches from the U.S., once again we find ourselves in the area where the Kutu people live.  This time our plan is to spend the night in a Kutu village enabling us to check out the local guesthouse.

Finding this small guesthouse way out in the middle of a Kutu village is a surprise.

While it is not the Ritz – actually, very far from it – it could enable an engaging church to stay among the Kutu people, eliminating four hours of travel per day.







In the evening, after the day’s work is finished, people come together for fellowship and some times entertainment;  staying in the village affords a wonderful opportunity to share the Jesus film or have discussions around a fire with a cup of chai (tea).

After we “check in” – which consists of Obama, (the young man pictured above) opening the room door and handing us the key – we set out to walk around the little village.




People are welcoming and friendly. We visited this village on a previous trip and as we meander down the dusty village paths we meet up with those who remember us from our previous visit and we are introduced to new folks.

With darkness approaching, we decide to check out the local eating establishment. Chips mayai is the menu. Chips mayai (mah-ya-ee) consists of french fries reheated with a scrambled egg (that’s the mayai part) poured into it and cooked through. It is served with toothpicks for eating and tomato sauce (not really in the category of ketchup)

The cook/owner of this outdoor establishment brings out a wooden table and confiscating chairs from some young men nearby; he sets up a place for us to eat.  It appears either he doesn't have many customers at one time, or they usually stand while they eat.
After buying a bottle of water from a nearby duka (stall/store), we settle down to dinner.
Taking our time over dinner, we talk with the cook who continues frying his chips in a large pot over an open fire. (I wonder how many times he has burned himself.)

We ask if he would cook breakfast were we to come with other visitors.  Although he usually opens around 3:00 p.m. and only cooks chips mayai, he tells us he could if we made arrangements with him.

This is a good plan, economically helping a small community by sleeping and eating in the location is an added bonus for the people of the village.

Pray for the vision trip to the Kutu.  An engaging church, open to spending a few days in the African bush, living very simply, sharing the gospel story and discipling new believers would make a great impact in Kutu villages like this.  It will be a sacrifice, but the rewards would be innumerable.

... on being Kutu

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”        Isaiah 55: 10-11

Not totally inaccessible, but challenging to reach, the Kutu people live in the shadow of the beautiful Uluguru mountains in central-eastern Tanzania.

If you were with us when we visited the Vidunda people, you may realize that we are in the same general location.  At that time however, we were not able to reach any Kutu villages; this is our quest today.

Fortunately, it is dry; the road will be a greater challenge during the rains.

Driving down the dirt path, we are surprised at how dry this area is compared with other parts of Tanzania we have visited on this trip.

Stopping at a small cluster of huts, we ask about the Kutu people of the area and learn that this is indeed a Kutu family.  They are farmers, as are most other Kutu people, growing corn, rice, millet and sesame seed.

The sesame seed or ufuta ((uu-fuu-tah) the word for oil), is harvested and stored in large sacks; waiting to be sold and transported to oil processing companies.

This Kutu family is Catholic and we learn that there are Kutu who are Muslim as well as Catholic.



We are surprised to see an interspersing of Maasai people herding their cattle through the area. No one has mentioned Masaai living here.

While challenging, it is always fun to talk with folks whom God places in our path. We try to find out information on who lives in the area, what languages they speak, how money is made to survive, and what churches, if any are in the village as well as daily life activities.

More animistic than either Muslim or Catholic, the Kutu people layer their animistic practices on top of other religious beliefs.

*Pray for God’s Spirit to fall on Kutu hearts; that they would have a longing to know the God who causes all things to grow.

*Pray for an outpouring of God’s Spirit on non-Muslim Kutu exposing their need to believe and trust Christ as the only way to life everlasting; ask God to then put a burning in their hearts for their Kutu neighbors who are Muslim.

Pray for the Kutu people of Tanzania

“Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14.



Located in the vast country of Tanzania, the Kutu, historically, have largely been overlooked by religious groups.  Living along the eastern side of central Tanzania, the Kutu live by subsistent farming; planting rice and maize and raising goats, sheep, and chickens.



Following the Islamic religion, mostly through dress and the observance of Ramadan, the Kutu are not particularly devout,   however; Kutu children attend Islamic school where they are taught the Koran.

While a smattering of Christians and churches can be found among the Kutu; many find it difficult to leave behind their worship of ancestors and try to add a belief in Christ along with their prayers to the ancestors.

Pray for the Kutu to have ears to hear and hearts open to understand that Jesus is the only way to God and to the hope of eternal life.

Pray that God would impress upon the hearts of His people an urgency to share His truth with the Kutu people.