The Pimbwe people and hot water

Maji Moto (Mah-gee Moe-toe), the name of a Pimbwe (Pea-m-bway) village in southwestern Tanzania, means hot water in Swahili. Actually, there are a couple of Maji Moto villages in Tanzania. You would expect this as the Rift Valley runs directly through the country.  The Maji Moto village located in eastern Tanzania near Mt. Kilimanjaro is commercially developed.

The maji moto springs where we find ourselves today, as we visit the Pimbwe people, is not commercially developed at all.  In fact, historically, it was rather a hindrance to the people as the hot water emerging from the earth was seen as a product of witchcraft and the Pimbwe people the holder of that power.

Entering the outskirts of Maji Moto -- everyone is headed
to the market.

Today is Sunday and as we approach the village we realize that Sunday is market day rather than the Lord's day here in Maji Moto.  The place is over-run by people from the surrounding areas.

Large groups from different tribes crowd around stalls of produce and dig through piles of clothing holding up various items asking the price.

Obscenely loud music blares from several stalls selling cell phones and cell time. Looking ahead, there is no way through the hordes of people -- the place is a zoo!


While Maji Moto is a Pimbwe village, Sukuma and Fipa people are prospering the most, not the Pimbwe.

Wishing we had come on a different day, we turn down a path, away from the village center, and look for accommodations. We will not stay here tonight, but when a church engages the Pimbwe people, Maji Moto will be an ideal place from which to base.

Removed from their traditional hunting grounds in order to carve out Katavi National Game Park in the years following Tanzania's independence, the Pimbwe transitioned from hunter/gatherers to farmers. Corn, the main crop, with beans, peanuts and other vegetables in accompaniment are grown on small sections of land tilled with a hoe, by hand – subsistence farming. They also sell honey, brew beer, and harvest timber to make a living.

Today, while geological knowledge explains the hot springs, the Pimbwe have yet to put their faith in Jesus Christ -- they are not being educated in the things of God.
Instead, they are educating themselves in urban/western lifestyle, the power of money and economic prosperity, this seems to be the main goal of many in Maji Moto.

Pray for the Pimbwe people, that they would see their need for a Savior.

Ask God to prepare Pimbwe hearts, much like they themselves prepare the soil, so when the seeds of the Gospel are sown they will take root and flourish.

Pray for those whom God is calling out, that they would be faithful to come and plant the Gospel message in Pimbwe villages.