Ndonde-Hamba people of Tanzania

“And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.’”    
Luke 14:23  -- The Parable of the Great Banquet.

Talk about out in the middle of nowhere!

Presently there is no cell phone signal in the areas where the Ndonde people live. Driving south 30 minutes through cashew tree farms and brush, then walking another 30 minutes through cornfields and forest and climbing up to the top of a small rock outcropping will get you a weak cell signal to the outside world. All the local people know the place!  Can you imagine!





Reportedly, the population of the Ndonde (N-doe-n-day) is around 12,000 people.

They are concentrated in southeastern Tanzania.  As we travel through the eastern areas of Tanzania, it seems the areas south of Dar es Salaam are economically depressed and much less developed than those north of Dar – still, we haven’t been west yet.


The Catholic church has a mission in Kilimarondo village, the heart of the Ndonde people, and there is an Anglican church in another Ndonde village, but it seems that the Ndonde people, are not being reached with the true gospel.
We see great lostness and little effort to reach the Ndonde people who live lives so basic.

One of the challenges will be an ongoing presence among the people.  We can not bring hope to people, be used by God to bring forth babes in Christ, and then leave them to fend for themselves.  We must have ongoing discipleship to help them grow and mature in their faith.

Ndonde man of Muslim faith

Christ said, “Go and make disciples.”  This is our mandate.  It would be irresponsible of us to evangelize an area and then leave, even for three or four months, without one who will remain and nurture those babes in the faith.

Reaching the Ndonde with the gospel will be a logistical challenge.  It will take men and women with a strong calling and commitment to reach the less obtainable, willing to live in a basic mud shelter, sleeping on the floor, using an outhouse and eating extremely basic food.

A continuous presence is essential.  Allowing the Ndonde people to observe faith through a holy lifestyle and faithful witness.

*Ask God to prepare the hearts of the Ndonde to receive the faithful witness.

*Pray for ministers of faith whom God is calling even now to live among the Ndonde people.

*Pray protection and strength for Christians who may even now be silent believers in these villages.

God is calling us to go out into the highways and hedges of the world so His house may be full.  Are you willing to obey His call?

Is there a people called Machinga? pt. 2

 "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field."        Luke 10:2


As we continue our quest for the Machinga (Mah-cheen-gah) people, we meet Amina (Ah-meen-ah). She lives in Rutamba and is from the Mwera (Mm-wear-ah) people group. She grows corn, rice and vegetables – mostly green leafy varieties, but probably okra and tomatoes as well, when the season is right.  Coconuts are a major source of income for the people in this area.
Amina is sitting outside her house chatting with two Muslim ladies, her neighbors from the Makonde people group.  (They do not allow us to take their picture, which is often the case with Muslim women here). They are wearing a cloth covering their head and neck as well as long sleeves.  I imagine they are very warm as it is a sunny, hot day.
In talking with Amina, her friends and some of the men in the village, we understand that the people living in Rutamba are from the Mwera, Makonde, and Yao (YA-ow) people groups.


Hilary – (at least that is what I think he said when I asked him his name), is also from Rutamba.  He is from the Makonde people group.  He shows us the lake where the men from Rutamba catch fish to eat and to sell.  It is a bit of a trek from the village and while we didn't make it all the way we saw the tip of it from a distance.


If you lived in Amina and Hilary’s village you would truly feel cut off from the rest of the world. Rutamba is too far out for a cell signal, electricity hasn’t reached them, and of course everyone gets their water from a well.  Information from the outside world reaches them via the occasional visitor.


We were prevented from reaching one village today.  Moka (Mo-kah) is about an hour down this road.   As we stop to investigate the situation we meet a woman walking from the direction of Moka.  She says there are two more areas like this one with “much mud” before we reach Moka village.
This mud is too deep for our vehicle and the marshy area prevents us from going around – if we get stuck we will have little chance of getting a tow as this road is little traveled, and if there are two more just like it – well, logic dictates that we turn around here.
This Muslim woman says she is from Moka and there are no Machinga people in Moka.

Our car draws quite a crowd, as do our white faces.  We are the entertainment for the day -- and quite often we are entertained as well.

We visited several villages today.  Some with little contact to the outside world; others with road conditions that cut them off from the outside world.
People are open and willing to talk with us about their village life, their heritage and culture.  One Muslim woman who was ill even allowed one of us to pray for her.  However we saw few churches and no evangelical work.  Our working theory was confirmed;  there are no Machinga people. Machinga may refer to people from Mchinga One and Mchinga Two and the surrounding villages.  Still – whether Machinga or not, these people need to know the true God of creation, the Savior of mankind, the Lord of the harvest.

*Pray for Makonde and Yao people who are mostly Muslim to have dreams and visions which bring thoughts and questions about God.

*Ask God to send His workers to these areas with answers to those questions.

*Pray for the Mwera people, who, while not blinded by Islam, still don’t have a saving faith in Christ, that God would plant within their hearts and minds an unsettled feeling that can only be satisfied through belief and trust in Christ.

Is there a people called Machinga?

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”                   1 Peter 2:9

Conflicting information abounds about the Machinga people (Mah-cheen-gah) as to whether they exist and whether there is actually a language. One source says there are 73,000 Machinga in the southeast of Tanzania. Today we are on a quest for the Machinga people.

First stop -- put some petrol (gasoline) in the car.
Coming out from Kilwa on the main road we find no proper fuel station. But here is a small duka (shop) which serves as their filling station.

Looking at the map, we decide to put in ten liters (2 ½ gallons) just to ensure that we make it to a proper filling station 100 kilometers (62+ miles) down the road.  Jerry holds the funnel and tea strainer – yes, I said tea strainer – as the proprietor pours in the fuel.

We don’t want to end up pushing the last 10 kilometers!

Meet Mary and her youngest daughter Emma.  Mary and her husband, Edwin, lead a GCC (Great Commission Christian) fellowship in Mchinga One village (Mmm-cheen-gah). We have a lovely visit with Mary; Edwin is traveling, so we are not able to talk with him. It is wonderful meeting other believers;  no matter their home country or language, there is an immediate connection because we all serve the same Lord.  Mary gives us the names of villages where we might find some Machinga people.  

As we leave the village we drive past their little duka (shop) called Light and Hope where they sell solar electrical items and share the gospel of Christ.



Pray for Edwin and Mary and their ministry, that truly they will be light and hope in the village of Mchinga One. (Mmm-cheen-gah)

Pray for their older children who are living and going to school in Kenya – the schooling situation in this area of Tanzania is very inadequate.

Our quest for the Machinga people continues as we search out the villages of Rutamba, Ruvu and Moka.

Kilwa

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession and through us always spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” 
2 Corinthians 2:14-15

God is good.  While disappointed to see the trip to the southwestern side of Tanzania cancelled, we are being afforded many opportunities, traveling down the eastern side of Tanzania, to gather information pertaining to the engagement and lostness of many people groups in both eastern and western Tanzania. An informational trip will still need to be made west, but God is placing people in our path who know things we need to know.

As you look at this picture, you will laugh if you remember all the travel difficulties we faced during the rains in South Sudan.

We make it through this area without incident; however,   some men are pushing a bus out and it looks as if the trucks have been here for a few days waiting for the mud to dry a bit.  We are praying that it continues to dry up,  until we make our return trip through here next week.


In Tanzania, we have not been farther south than Dar. It does appear that the southern areas are more depressed economically than the areas we have visited in the north; of course the country as a whole is more depressed than Kenya.

You probably won’t think so as you see this picture taken from our room at Kilwa (KEEL-wah), our stop for the first night.

As Kilwa is on a small peninsula jutting into the Indian Ocean, much of the lodging is on the beach.

Here is our room with a view for the night.

Even with this wonderful view, the area is largely economically depressed with little tourist activity.



There are a couple of churches in Kilwa – an Evangelical Assemblies of God and a Catholic church. There are several mosques as well.  The people living in the area are largely Islamic.

During our overnight in Dar, God put us in contact with someone who knew a Christian in Kilwa.

Over breakfast, we talk with him about the spread of the Gospel, getting his ideas of what that would look like for the Kilwa area.

God continues to lead us and put people of information in our path along the way.

Pray for this one and the spreading of the gospel in Kilwa and among the Muslim population.

Pray for the four of us as we continue our journey.  We thank God for His placement of key individuals before us with information about people and villages.  Pray that we would be open to His voice and direction as well as discerning of the people He moves into our path.