What do you get
When you cross an African tribe with the month of February?

The Nc'wala Ceremony! Each year at February's end, the Ngoni tribe of the Eastern Province of Zambia throws a party. It's big. It's wild. It's traditional. It's N'cwala. Leopard skins are the attire of the day. Accessories include spears, clubs, shields and eagle feathers. Aside from a handful of Peace Corps volunteers, I'm about the only white face amongst the thousands of black. Honorary Guests include H. E. Levy Mwanawasa, Zambia's current President and the Paramount Chief of the Ngoni people, Chief Mpezeni the 4th. Speeches are given. Songs sung. Dances danced. Oh, what dancers! Talk about kicking up one's heels! The ground literally shakes with the stomping and stamping. Their timing is impeccable, their voices are as harmonizing as they are thundering. And there is death. Flesh is pierced. Blood is spilt. Not of man but of animal. One lone bull. Prized. Singled out. Specially chosen.

Paramount Chief Mpezeni the 4th at the Nc'wala Ceremony

The ceremony climaxes when an Ngoni warrior spears the bull to death. Another quickly slits the throat and collects the blood. Chief Mpezeni drinks long and drinks deep.

A mad rush ensues. Knife toting Ngonis cut at the carcass, hoping for a hunk of meat. In minutes the animal is ravenously dissected, parts of it even consumed on the spot. Ngoni warriors known as "hyena," eat some of the raw meat, intestines and organs.

A new harvest year has begun!

A family-day outing? Actually, not really. My wife and children do not mark the calendar and count the days to N'cwala. They don't anticipate it as we do Christmas and Easter and birthdays. Nc'wala is not a family fun day. It comes with a lot of "negatives."

The pressing crowds; the drinking; the fights; the frenzy; the revelry. Even the stares (at white faces) and the pick-pocketers all contribute to an uncomfortableness. Top it off with careless spear wielding warrior wanna-bes and it's not a day at DisneyLand!

Then why am I there? Good question.

I want to observe. I want to learn. I want to understand.

The first I've done. The second, I've just begun. The third? Probably never will.

The cultural nuances and thinking intrigues me -- but it can also escape me like a fleeing buffalo. Just when it's in my sights --swoosh - it's gone with the flick of a tail.

Though often culturally ignorant, still I'm a called pastor who stands before God's people. Yes, God's people. People confessing Christ as Lord and Savior. People redeemed by God's own sacrifice on the cross. A holy people. A royal priesthood. A people belonging to God.

But these are the same people who have been there at these ceremonies. Even participated. Many have emerged from a sinister background of superstitious beliefs. Many grew up with tribal customs and traditions that would shock even the most seasoned of missionaries. The people have experienced first hand the harsh realities and rigors of both their life history and belief system.

So my time here... I want to be time well spent. Pleasing, if not men, then God. I not only want to learn the culture but I want to address it. To speak to it and about it. Sermons and Bible Classes and Devotions. The Master Teacher, Jesus Christ, pulled illustrations and examples from the culture and environment around Him and hung them before the people. So did Paul. And if you allow me some room to speculate, I assume all the other disciples turned preachers did likewise.

Dare I do any less?

Might I write and preach more applicable sermons if I know my audience? And from where they have come? And the history from which they have emerged?

Might I teach more appropriately and apply more personally the Scriptural Truths to my listeners if I know who my listeners really are?

Might I gain a more attentive ear from them if they know that I know? I think so, too.

"God, help me know the Scriptures. Give me a discerning heart. Help me call sin a sin. Equip me to be a preacher of both law and Gospel and divide it rightly. Grant me wisdom - Your wisdom - both to live and to do in this amazing country of Zambia."

May God continue to move the Zambian people to be both willing and eager to gather at other places for more important "ceremonies." Places of worship. To sing. To dance. To listen. To see with the eyes of faith another death. Flesh pierced. Bloodspilt. Not of an animal but of a man. A God Man. Prized. Singled out. Specially chosen.

Jesus Christ.

Dear Mission Partners, just look what we got!

In Him, Missionary John Holtz Chipata, Zambia		Click image - Take a satellite tour from St. Paul's to Chipata, Zambia
March 2006 Communiqué

For St. Paul's Members: You can support Mission Partner John Holtz by including a special gift in the monthly offering envelop with the "Mission Partner" box or mail a gift to St. Paul's, labeling it "Mission Partner.