Welcome to a Mening home.

As we sit in Owili Gabriel’s compound, the women visiting with women and the men with the men; we are eager to learn all we can about the Mening way of life.

Meet Nanyang Betty, wife number three of Owili Gabriel, and their most recent child – number 17 (for him) -- I believe.


Living in such isolation the Mening encounter a myriad of challenges.  Many health issues stem from the lack of available medical care.  Malaria and complications during childbirth were mentioned as prevalent health issues.  There is a small clinic in this community which is open when the medical assistant makes the trip out.



The Mening are an agricultural people. They grow what they eat and more often than not, they eat all that they grow. So there isn't much left to sell, even if they could take their harvest to market.

Subsistence farming means dependency upon normal weather patterns – and we all know the lack of normalcy in weather patterns!

However, farming is their thing and if the size of this cabbage is any indication, they do it well!

The planting, weeding, harvesting, storing, preparing, and cooking of food is primarily the work of the women.

Another of Gabriel’s wives shows us where they store the grain after harvest. They use the dried gourd she is holding to scoop out the dried maize (corn), beans, or sorghum.





We are invited into the kitchen hut for a tour.  Inside it is a bit smoky as a pot is on the fire in the back corner, but we find something  amazing – of which these ladies are quite proud – and rightly so!

At the right of the doorway near the curved hut wall we see what appears to be a work station for grinding grain -- a very creative idea.  I've never seen anything like it.  The stones for grinding are embedded into a mud plaster work bench which stands about 12”-15” high.  As you can see from the picture there are four grinding areas, so four women can work together grinding grain.

The work bench is positioned about a foot from the wall enabling the flour to be brushed off onto a mat as it is ground – notice the off center position of the stones –  the near side is off-set providing optimal leverage for the person grinding, then the stone goes back to the very edge on the far side where the corn meal is easily brushed onto a mat as it is ground.



The following short video shows how this grinding is accomplished.

As evidenced in the video, a woman's work is quite arduous.  They must be strong to carry water and firewood, as well as do the farming and cooking, the washing and child care.  No wonder few village women are educated -- who would have the time?

Pray for inroads into the lives of Mening women.  Pray that some would be found among them to understand and translate God's truths.

Pray for common ground opening discussions about the stories in God's word.

...may the whole earth be filled with His glory -- the Mening

"Praise be to His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory.  Amen and Amen."   Psalm 72:19

If someone were to say to you --  Oriaga?   (Orr-ee-ah-jah?)  How are you?

Your response would be -- Oruu  (Orr-rue) fine/good -- if you were Mening that is. 

Forced to relocate in 1956 as the Ugandan government carved out the boundaries for the Kidepo National Game Park; today, the Mening people remain a marginalized group.
As if giving evidence to this fact, the road -- just a dirt track -- is rough, even in the best weather conditions – impassible during the heavier rains.




Ketebo (Keh-teh-Bo) is the spoken language of the Mening people.  Although there is a written form of the language,  there are few Mening who are literate. 

As a group, we are heartily welcomed in Opotipoti village (O-po-tee-po-tee), the southern most end of the Mening area – this, in direct contrast to rumors some had heard of the Mening being a violent and possibly even cannibalistic people.  Nothing could be further from the truth.





The Mening believe in a Creator, but they also believe that appeasement and sacrifice must be made to their dead ancestors.  At death, a goat must be sacrificed to appease the deceased person’s spirit, this ensures that the ancestor will provide a blessing – if this does not happen, Mening believe the family will be cursed.

Mening men sit here at night around a small fire telling stories and
relating events of the day -- I'm sure our visit will be the topic of
discussion for many nights to come.

Pray for Jesus Christ to make Himself known to the Mening people through dreams and visions -- that as they sit around these fires at night, many Mening will desire to know who is this Christ -- the Son of the living God.

A New Testament Bible was left with a Mening man who has a son able to read and understand English.  Pray that the seeds of God's truth, as it is read and discussed at night around these fires, will help the Mening people desire to know Christ -- pray for a harvest of believers when this group returns to engage the Mening people.

Meet a Mening family next week and get a glimpse into Mening life.

God will make a way!

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

A recent research trip took us to the north eastern part of Uganda in search of the Mening people.  As we leave Nairobi, our only sure plan is to meet up with a group from the U.S. who want to find the Mening people, beyond that – well, God will make a way.

Meeting this wonderful group of eleven coming from Missouri and Illinois to minister in Africa was a joy.  Arriving late in the night after a long drive from Kampala, everyone is ready to find their beds; the adventure will begin on the morrow.

Space will be tight. After sorting and culling clothing and other items to the bare essentials, we load up the vehicles and are ready to take off.  Reliable information put the Mening people in northeast Uganda, so we head in that direction – God will make a way.

Our research group is comprised of four nationals, eleven volunteers and the two of us. This night will be spent in Soroti, Uganda where we will meet Ambrose, the Director of Internal Security, an acquaintance of Pastor Ignatius, a local pastor from Pallisa, Uganda, who is part of our group.  We will hear his information and make a plan from there – God will make a way.

After pouring over the map and many phone conversations, it seems as though God is continuing to lead us north and east.  Information is sketchy, with some saying the group is now living in South Sudan – discouraging news logistically for us, as money for visas and importation of vehicles will be needed, but – God will make a way.

Knowing a family in the vicinity of Kaabong, Uganda, Jerry decides to contact them and ask if they have any information on this group.  Success comes late in the afternoon; after continuous attempts to obtain their cell number, we finally contact the family.  It just so happens, they are on their way home and will meet us at the cross roads – they will put us all up for the night and provide supper!  God continues to make a way. 

From new information provided we are still unsure if we will enter South Sudan, but everything appears to be pointing to the small town of Karenga, Uganda, so we load up and move out.

Upon our arrival in Karenga we actually come across a few people from the Mening group who tell us their village is called Opotipoti and it is near.  Relieved that we will not enter South Sudan to find the group, we decide to make our base of operations for the next three days in Karenga.
 We are amazed at God’s hand, visible in His leading us, much in the same way as the pillar of cloud and fire for the children of Israel, we are grateful.
God indeed has made a way!

Praise God for His leadership.  Having confirmed the existence of the Mening people; we estimate the population maybe higher than first reported.

Pray for the Mening of Uganda and South Sudan (yes, there are Mening villages just across the border) that God would be preparing their hearts to receive the seeds of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

(More to come on the Mening people!)

You're the God of the Cities

A City is unique in that it is not solely composed of one people group.  When you travel to a rural village within a people group area you are likely to find that most people speak a particular language, dress a certain way and are from the predominate tribe of the area – not so in a city.

Cities contain a plethora of people groups speaking their own language or dialect with unique customs and style of dress all within walking distance of one another – sometimes in the same apartment complex.

Cities make the issue of unique people groups very blurry because people tend to meld into and add to their own customs something of their surroundings.  For example, how many of your parents (those of us 40 years of age and older) ate tacos or enchiladas on a regular basis – we know our parents didn't –  but we eat Tex-Mexican food all the time now – we added it to our cultural food base. This same adaptation happens in large cities across the globe.

Recently we attended a workshop on reaching cities.

This picture was taken during a
prayer focus on Nairobi.

Dialogues  about reaching communities in constant motion, whether physically relocating or culturally and linguistically adapting were conducted between missionaries and nationals from all over Sub-Saharan Africa.

It was a good time of hearing from other parts of the continent and brainstorming ideas on reaching the cities of East Africa.

The meeting was held at the Baptist camp.
The words "Jesus Saves" in the Africaans language
is written in white stone on the hillside as a witness.

Ultimately we know that God is the God of the cities -- He is the King of these people – the Lord of the nations – the Light in the darkness – the Hope to the hopeless – the Peace to the restless.  There is no one like our God.




Pray for God to call out people willing to go to the cities -- they have their own unique challenges -- it will take God called, unique individuals, to reach the people who live in them.

Nairobi Aftermath - Wow what a week

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.  Trust the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal." Isaiah 26:3-4

Perhaps we all need to hear this word today.

The Westgate terror saga has turned from crisis to criticism -- isn't that always the case -- why didn't they do this -- why didn't they do that?  There's also a push for tighter security -- as if man can control the inclinations of evil.

While the world of men try to figure out how to squelch evil, the people of God know what to do -- PRAY!

The picture at the left was witnessed during a "meet me at the pole" gathering at a local christian school in the midst of Kenya's mourning days. (note the flags at half-mast) This is where power against evil is found -- through prayer.

The IMB family held hostage at the mall talked about the calm they felt during the siege -- the opportunities they had to be that calming influence to help those around them.  They didn't have great insight as to what to do while they were held hostage, but they knew the One who had them in the palm of His hand.

Even this week as the U.S. government shuts down Psalm 34 comes to mind.
"I sought the LORD, and He answered me;
He delivered me from all my fears...
He saved him out of all his troubles...
He delivers them...
Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

Continue to pray for those who lost family and friends and those who were injured during the attack.

Pray that God would continue to confront people with their need for a Savior.

Pray that He would then provide a good and faithful witness to help them find the true peace-giver.