By Didus Baguma, MAfr

I.       A DAY IN A JUMUIYA: ST FELISTA KABERERA, MUKULU, NAIROBI

 

Bible Sharing and Pastoral Visit to the “Lapsed” Jumuiya Members

Kaberera is one section of the informal settlement in the greater Mukulu slum. They are several jumuiyas in the area, but I belong to St. Felista Kaberera in Our Lady Queen of Africa, South B Parish, Nairobi Archdiocese, Nairobi, Kenya. The parish is run by the Missionaries of Africa, the congregation I belong to. We gathered this specific 3^th Sunday of Lent year C (3 March, 2013) in the afternoon from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm in St. Felista Prayer Room. We are a mixed group of 15 men, 10 women and several children who check in, and then go out to play. The medium of communication for this mixed group is Swahili.

1.    See

The leader of the day opens with a short prayer and an accompanying song. Our reflections are based on the readings of the following 4^th Sunday of Lent (C): Joshua 5:9-12, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Luke 15. More emphasis is put on the gospel and it is read twice. There follows a time of silence for members to internalize what has been read. The leader invites SCC members to speak out a word/phrase from the readings that has touched them.

Afterwards the forum is open for anybody who would like to share about the readings and how relevant they are to our jumuiya life or the individual who is sharing.

More women and a few men including myself share. What comes out clearly is that there is connection of the gospel theme of the compassionate father in the “Parable of the Prodigal Son” and the reality of the General Elections taking place the next day (4 March, 2013). The message that comes out clearly from the wanajumuiya is remaining united as one family and reconciling with one another like the family in the parable.

The leader regulates the reflections because on the agenda we have to decide on the practical action we are to take in the course of the week based on our reflections of the day. Then we have to continue with the last part of the movie Never Again which is part of our Lenten peace campaign resolution of our jumuiya. There is also the need to arrange for the coming Sunday since we are the ones animating liturgy at the parish.

2.    Judge

Deep sharing about the gospel theme and its connection with the current experience of members manifest the anxiety and the fear of people based on their past experience of the situation during and after the elections.

Members are emotionally challenged by the last part of the movie Never Again. At this point I intervene and tell them that through the power of their vote and commitment to peace, they can change the situation in these General Elections.

 

3.    Act

As was earlier agreed in the last meeting, we decide to go for home visits as a jumuiyaespecially to our lapsed members who no longer come for our gatherings.

From the gospel reflection about the compassionate father we agreed that we are going to emphasize peace and unity in the course of this election week by reaching out to our neighbors with a greeting and smile irrespective of their ethnic or political affiliation.

Call for intense fasting and prayer during the week aimed at invoking the Holy Spirit to lead us to peaceful actions as individuals and Jesus’ peace upon the nation.

II.   ADDRESSING THE ISSUE OF NEGATIVE ETHNICITY IN SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN KENYA

1.0 Introduction

One of the major developments in the Church in modern times has been the emergency of Small Christian Communities (SCCs). James O’Halloran defines Small Christian Communities as a Christian group consisting of 8-30 people related to a specific area or neighborhood.[1] This idea was conceived in Latin America and developed simultaneously in different parts of the universal Church including Kenya.

In Kenya SCCs are referred to as jumuiya, a Swahili word that carries a deeper meaning of brotherhood/sisterhood, communion, integration, harmony and a parental figure who takes care of all little ones without any segregation. The members are called wanajumuiya.[2]  These SCCs are living witnesses to sharing the same faith in Jesus our savior, relating the Word of God to life especially our daily life experience, reaching out to the marginalized in society, relating with one another deeply while sharing the universal Church mission of faith, love, worship, justice and collaboration with the Church leaders.[3] These fundamental features make Small Christian Communities a foundational core element for the church because the inward vitality of the communities reflects the outward ideal of the universal Church.

Doing pastoral work with one of the jumuiyas in South B Parish here in Nairobi, this community possesses all the features of the ideal Small Christian Community but my concern is that of recent some members prefer to attend and participate in a distant jumuiya far off from their residences and outside the parish demarcations of the jumuiya for these specific residences.

This research paper is based on my pastoral concerns. The firsthand information will aim at exploring the collaborative effort between the wanajumuiya and the pastor of the parish in addressing the issue of negative ethnicity in the Small Christian Community.

1.1 The Pastoral concern

The structure of these Small Christian Communities is that households adjacent to each other form this SCC. This is to their advantage in terms of accessibility and organization of activities around their own residences.

    

However in this one SCC some members decided to belong to a different jumuiya far from their residences. They are free to belong to where they want, but my concern is why they choose a far off SCC and go against the proximity structure of SCC.

  1.2 Method of reflection on the concern

As a pastoral agent I have employed the following method to come to a clear understanding of the matter:

1.2.1 Insertion and Listening

This involves attentive interest into what people are telling you about the concern no matter which voices are coming to you. I started listening to the presentation of the matter by the chairperson of the group and the reactions of the members in this SCC. They expressed the fact that the members who left never wanted to associate with the rest and would all the time speak in their own local language (Kikuyu) that no any other member understood in the meeting.   

    On social occasions, they don’t eat the food prepared and instead carried always their own traditional dish and shared it among themselves in one corner. Without passing a judgment on what has been said about the members who have left, I moved on to meet these people from the very SCC they have gone to, and listening to what they say, I discover that they feel much more fulfilled and happy in this new but far off place because according to them it is easier to interact since many members are from their ethnic group, speak the same language (Kikuyu) and share many values in common. But information I gathered from this attentive listening seems to point to one factor of seeking to belong to people of your own folk.

1.2.2 Assertion

To understand this belonging, I tried to express the information I gathered to both parties and one thing that came out is that the members feel alien to the nearby SCC members and thus feel they belong to this far off community. One factor I noticed from the sharing is that the accused members speak the same language with many members of this far off SCC. Therefore my conviction is that they feel at ease to interact with members from their ethnic group, and this is confirmed by the information gathered from the two parties. My challenge therefore would be how to express this issue to them in a more understanding and non-judgmental way.

1.2.3 Analysis of the information gathered

 Culture from the information gathered plays a big role in seeking belonging by these members. Our own cultures compels us to seek the other whom we share the same values, attitudes and language. It’s not surprising therefore that even in SCCs individuals will always feel at ease to share openly to people of their ethnic group and try to distance themselves from others whom they are suspicious of like in the case of this particular SCC.

The approach to ministry by us the pastoral agents do as well contribute to negative ethnicity among the members in the jumuiya. From the sharing I had with the group that decided to leave their first SCC, they feel that their pastors as well appoint members to specific responsibilities based on where they come from. They point to the parish as having persistently employed members from a specific ethnic group claiming that they are well learned and well exposed to work with outsiders like missionaries. This attitude towards ministry by the church pastors affects the faithful in their quest to work together as one family in this Small Christian Community.

Another issue arising from the sharing is very much related to the styles of leadership displayed by pastors. From the two parties I interacted with, they acknowledge that they are aware of the problem but feel it’s only the parish priest who can “solve” the issue like how he has single handedly solved many other issues. On their part, they feel they can’t do much about it since its part of their culture and historical heritage. This Mwenye Kiti (owner of the Chair) syndrome where the leader takes all the decisions as pointed out by one community member affects the community initiative and collaborative effort in addressing their known differences so as to achieve the mission of their Christian Community.

Leadership skills from the information gathered also has played a part in compounding the problem so much so that people feel that they first and foremost belong to their ethnic group and what brings them to this SCC is secondary. The chairperson, for example, expresses this sentiment that wherever people of this ethnic group are, they would at all costs want to sabotage activities of the group because they are always power hungry. The group that has left on the other hand feels the chairperson is threatened by their presence because he comes from a minority ethnic group.  Therefore such suspicions and mistrust becomes a big issue in the community because the leader is not equipped with skills to put aside tribalistic prejudices for the interest of this diverse but with one mission community.

1.2.4 Theological Reflection

The two parties are very much aware of the goal of this SCC as fostering unity and

concern for each member at the very basic level. Therefore I brought to awareness the two parties of the meaning of Christ’s fundamental question of who my neighbor is and a general agreement was that it’s the one in need of my attention irrespective of which ethnic group he/she belongs to. This response opened up the whole area of discussion on tribalism manifested in this SCC and how much the members are aware but feel that its part of their history and background and feel nothing can be done about it. However as Christians all moved by the love of Christ, they feel it’s the duty of pastoral agents to do something about it.

Tradition plays a key role in understanding issues like tribalism and going back through what has been handed on to the members both by the traditional church and the culture, members expressed a bitter rivalry that has been going on for long in order to stamp authority of one ethnic group over the other even in church cycles. What is clear however is that the church through the Small Christian Communities are carrying out not their own mission, rather the mission entrusted to all by Christ, the model of unity. Despite his Jewish background, and the rivalry between Jews and other groups, Jesus reached out to all in compassion and love through his preaching about the kingdom of God. He urged his followers both Jews and other groups to remain united in him (John 15:13) and gave them a new commandment “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Jesus’ style of ministry is indeed our model of addressing the issue of negative ethnicity in Small Christian Communities.

   

The pastoral response is again in the church tradition of how divisions that existed right after the death of Jesus communities were dealt with. One practical example is the divisions that were splitting the Corinthian Community in Paul’s time where Paul urges the community to be united because the mission is not for them but for Jesus, the one that they follow (1 Corinthians 1:14). In the same way these members are Christians because of Christ and the mission for their SCC is for Christ not for their ethnic groups.

1.2.5 Way Forward

The way forward to foster unity among a community divided on ethnic lines is a challenge because individuals are products of their ethnic groups and to keep its tradition is to safe guard its identity, values and sense of belonging. However as we become Christians we are open to the spirit of universal inclusiveness advocated by Jesus whom we follow. This is a message that as pastors can preach to the wanajumuiya.

Pastors have a responsibility of bringing to the jumuiya the spirit and gift of the Vatican Council 11 that moves us to a church more oriented to the pastoral ministry of its members rather than the formulation of new dogmas.  This is the practical call to the wanajumuiya and pastors to first and foremost be concerned by the hopes, joys and anguish of their community rather than prioritizing individualistic and tribalistic tendencies.

To achieve this call of Vatican II, ministers and leaders in the church have to let go the authoritative administration and advocate for collaborative ministry where all members in the SCC take an active role in resolving the community issues and working for a greater unity and collaboration in achieving the set plans for the SCC.

This as well can be achieved if as ministers we approach ministry with openness to challenge the status quo and be ready as well to be challenged by the culture mentality of the people. Then we will be able to see ministry as not only to catechize people but rather to evangelize and transform their lives through respectful inculturation.

Our responsibility as pastors would be as well to call forth the diversity of giftedness that exists within the community in handling such ethnic issues because from our only pastoral point of view, we might not have all the answers. This means engaging the aggrieved party which has decided to move out of this SCC into dialogue so that the approach to address their concern of lack of belonging outside their own ethnic mates can come from them and the process of integration and understanding the gospel values can begin from there. 

Consultations before venturing into any activity like demarcating a SCC can be of importance because the members would be free to give their feelings and suggestions while challenging them to realize the greater value of belonging to the small family which has a greater Christian value above ethnic groups.

Then these SCCs have an integral spirituality that combines prayer and action as part of living their gospel values they put to use their skills and resources to help the youth, marginalized and underprivileged in community to come to attaining a fulfilled life through their free initiative to infuse a Christian spirit into the mentality, customs, laws and structures of the community in which they live.[4] Such spirit of integral spirituality can indeed help the Jumuiya to remain united by their spirituality and action.

Our life of witness as missionaries living a community of diversity as brothers and sisters where by disagreements are solved by mutual dialogue and sharing can indeed serve as a vivid example to the wanajumuiya to address their feelings, joys and pains in a mutual open sharing forum.

1.3 Conclusion

Small Christian Communities can have a radical positive change in the lives of people and the world at large if members cease to see themselves as mere individuals or a group of a certain common ancestry and instead fuse into a reduced but recognized community that owes its existence to the Risen Lord. The communities that are ready to bond, contemplate and live a life of witness together while searching for meaning and happiness in belonging to this rich but cultural-diverse community indeed manifest the mission of Jesus entrusted to all different races of people of the world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

HEALEY, J. G, Building the Church as a Family of God: Evaluation of Small Christian  

Communities in Eastern Africa, Eldoret: AMECEA GABA Publications-CUEA Press 2012.

O’HALLORAN, J., Signs of Hope: Small Christian Communities, New York: Orbis Books

 1991.

THE NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE: Pocket Edition, London: Darton, Longman Todd Ltd 1985.

Seminarian Didus Baguma, MAfr 

Missionaries of Africa

South B Formation House, Balozi

P. O. Box 26052

00504 Nairobi, Kenya

Cellphone: 254-739-157176

bagdidus@yahoo.com