Browsing by Author "Fijolek, Adam"

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    The Concept of the Will of God (Mpango Wa Mungu) Among the Sukuma of Tanzania
    (Tangaza College, 2011) Fijolek, Adam
    In the first chapter we will describe briefly the history, geography and some cultural, social, political background of the Sukuma people. We will also present a brief history of the Christian presence in Usukuma. That will help us understand better the mentality of this fascinating people. In chapter two we shall examine the understanding of the will of God among the Sukuma. In order to do that we will first look at the beliefs of the Sukuma, in particular their belief in the Supreme Being and the role of the ancestors in their daily life. Secondly, we shall explain the problem of fatalism which seems to be permeating the Sukuma attitude towards life. We shall also look at God's role in the daily living of the Sukuma. In chapter three we will attempt to present the Sukuma's concept of God's will as a challenge to our Christian mission. In that we shall turn to the pages of the Holy Scriptures. We shall reflect on our topic in the light of Christ Jesus who is the icon of the loving Father. Lastly, we shall give some practical suggestions for a positive development and change of the seemingly biased thinking of the Sukuma. It is worthwhile mentioning that our study will be focused and based on the Catholic understanding of God's will.
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    The Concept of The Will of God (Mpango Wa Mungu) Among the Sukuma Of Tanzania)
    (Tangaza University College, 2011) Fijolek, Adam
    While having my pastoral stage in Tanzania, mainly in the dioceses of Mwanza and Shinyanga, among the Sukuma people I had a great opportunity to observe many marvelous things. Together with some shorter periods of time in Usukuma which amounts to a bit over a year in total I was often surprised by people's simplicity of life, their approach to their "joy and hope, the grief and anguish" (GS, 1). During my time in Tanzania I made a great effort to learn the Swahili language and the Sukuma culture. Only when I was able to speak some of it, I began to understand the people's mentality more and more. I liked most of the things about the Sukuma, but as I made more significant progress in the knowledge of Swahili I began to discover that there is something wrong with their understanding of God and his salvific will for us. I noticed that there is a certain expression that comes about in people's conversations quite frequently and I realized that it was like a cliché of some sort. The saying was, "Mpango wa Mungu". It literally means: Plan of God or God's Will. Perhaps I would not have paid much attention to it, if not for some particular events. I found myself in some sad situations within a range of two days connected to the death of two innocent infants. Their death was not much a surprise to me, because the death rate of infants in Tanzania is one of the highest in Africa. What upset me and eventually made me reflect deeply on the issue was the approach of people responsible for the maintenance and the medical care of those two children, that is their parents and the 2 medical personnel at hospital. Let us now explain the background against which this saying is so commonly used. In the case of the first infant, the parents docilely came to terms with the death of their one and a half month old baby girl by saying that it must have been Mpango wa Mungu. They ignored the fact that the child was dismissed from hospital because the doctors claimed that everything was all right. The girl died on the way home from hospital! The latter was a one year old boy who was refused attendance by a nurse at a hospital. She claimed that if it dies, it will be Mpango wa Mungu. The child after an intervention was attended but died a few days later. These two events, as well as many more of lesser gravity, made me reflect on the issue of the will of God among the Sukuma. They were the source of my motivation and inspiration to write this essay. To my understanding it smacked of fatalism. I then decided to delve into the problem more deeply and see what would be the possible reasons of such a conception of God among the Sukuma. The fathers of the Second Vatican Council reassure us that, "At all times the Church carries the responsibility of reading the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel, if it is to carry out its task" (GS, 4). The Sukuma's apparently fatalistic conception of the will of God seems to me to be one of the signs of the times emerging in the Sukuma church. Whether the problem stems from the traditional Sukuma understanding of God or whether something has gone slightly wrong in the process of the evangelization of this wonderful people will be the focal point of our investigation. We shall try to identify whether the Christian mission had any influence on the Sukuma's vision of God. The fact of the matter is that as Christians we cannot agree with such an understanding of the God who is love. To change the fatalistic thinking about God among the Sukuma remains a pastoral challenge for all who work among the Sukuma people. The aim of this essay 3 remains ultimately pastoral. Our research was not conducted in Usukuma. In this research I relied mainly on the books of some other researchers of the Sukuma, on a few members of the Sukuma tribe living with me in the community and, as I mentioned above, on my personal experience and observation. We shall attempt to clarify the issue at stake in three main chapters. In the first chapter we will describe briefly the history, geography and some cultural, social, political background of the Sukuma people. We will also present a brief history of the Christian presence in Usukuma. That will help us understand better the mentality of this fascinating people. In chapter two we shall examine the understanding of the will of God among the Sukuma. In order to do that we will first look at the beliefs of the Sukuma, in particular their belief in the Supreme Being and the role of the ancestors in their daily life. Secondly, we shall explain the problem of fatalism which seems to be permeating the Sukuma attitude towards life. We shall also look at God's role in the daily living of the Sukuma. In chapter three we will attempt to present the Sukuma's concept of God's will as a challenge to our Christian mission. In that we shall turn to the pages of the Holy Scriptures. We shall reflect on our topic in the light of Christ Jesus who is the icon of the loving Father. Lastly, we shall give some practical suggestions for a positive development and change of the seemingly biased thinking of the Sukuma. It is worthwhile mentioning that our study will be focused and based on the Catholic understanding of God's will.