“Situated at the geographical heart of the African continent, Uganda has long been a cultural melting pot, as evidenced by the existence of 30-plus different indigenous languages belonging to five distinct linguistic groups, and an equally diverse cultural mosaic of music, art, and handicrafts.”(“People and Culture.” Welcome to The Pearl of Africa: official tourism guide from the Uganda Tourism Board”) From its wide variety of different cultures to its mosaic of arts and music, Uganda is still known as the “Pearl of Africa”. Despite the beauty of Uganda, the country faces many problems such as disease, crime, and recovering from inhumane dictatorship. Sadly, many of these problems come from spiritual darkness in the people. Missionary efforts to Uganda will succeed with a greater understanding of its religious history, an awareness of the current religious state, and an increased focus on evangelizing to the lost.
To begin, the country of Uganda has had many influences from different religions. Uganda’s main religion was the native religions established years ago. Even though many religions have influenced Uganda, “most practice traditional religions” (Ingham, Kenneth.”Religion.”) Unfortunately, after a few years, the establishment of Islam came to be. As a result, “Islam was the first of the exogenous religions to arrive…” (Ingham, Kenneth “Religion.”) because of this an estimate of one tenth of the people are Muslim. (Ingham, Kenneth “Religion.”) After the establishment of many different religions, came Christianity in the colonial period. Sadly, even though there are many missionaries that have gone to Uganda, “The majority of Ugandans identify themselves as Christians, but materialistic attitudes, polygamous practices and non...
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...s spiritually too by witnessing. Although Uganda does have bibles, “most of the Bibles are in English and mainly the New Testament, the difficulty about this is that only the people who have gone to school and learned English can read the Bible, this means the poor and disabled cannot read it because the poor cannot afford school and the disabled are not allowed.” (Guerra, Ashley)
Clearly, the country of Uganda is growing despite the many challenges it has faced over the years. From being a country of many spiritual trials to becoming a country where many missionary nurses would like to go Uganda has a come a long way. Although the people of Uganda are viewed as poor in the eyes of the world, they are spiritually rich in more ways than anyone can imagine. Now around most of Uganda is Christian and “Christianity is the largest religion.” (“Uganda.” Operation World)
Some common themes of 17th-19th century African social and political history span these three stories despite their distinct historical contexts and characteristics. In each society, warlords vied for control without being able to unify small disintegrating states, and political strife led to social mobility and fed the slave trade with war captives (Lovejoy, 68-70). The struggle between competing definitions of orthodoxy and orthopraxy became crucially important when religious causes were allied with political causes, especially seen in the cases of Beatriz and Uthman. Another common feature, best illustrated in Guimba’s story, is the tradition African belief that spiritual power, whatever its source, is good when used in the interests of the community, but bad when used for personal gain (Thornton, 43-44).
The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe details the account of an African tribal named Okonkwo as his life goes from great to horrible. While this book has many lessons that can be learned, I will be primarily focusing on the effect that Christianity had on the population of the African tribe. While Christianity is a religion of peace, its followers often do not follow this basic tenant. The first missionary, Mr. Brown, practiced compromise and tolerance. His replacement, Mr. Smith, was much more aggressive in his tactics. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe shows through the characterization of Mr. Smith a shameful and harmful look at the spread of Christianity during the British empirical period.
Africa, like many continents, have a variety of cultures and customs. These customs are unique and specific base on regions and religion. In this short document, “Africa: Will You Marry Me”, invites viewers to observe common practices and religions of Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, and Senegal. Through this forty-five-minute documentary, a family from each country is interviewed to portray the average customs in that particular part of Africa. The first interview was in Ethiopia with a young women named Rahel.
Raffaele, Paul. "Uganda: The Horror." Smithsonian (Vol. 35, No. 11). Feb. 2005: 90-99. SIRS Issues
For decades, Uganda’s economy has suffered through disappointing economic policies and instabilities. These setbacks have been put forth by a chronically unreliable government, leaving it as one of the world’s poorest countries. Uganda’s weak infrastructure and corrupt government are two of the primary constraints against a continuation of economic growth. Uganda has ongoing military involvement in the War on Congo, wrongly taking money from the already deprived country and into the war. Many villages in Uganda also have to waste their precious money and time in pursuit of hiding places. They are faced with a group known as, The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). LRA is infamous for their twenty years of massacre and slaughter in Uganda, causing an estimated 1.5 million internally displayed persons. Several people are questioning why the LRA is still terrorizing the country and criticizing the government’s commitment to putting an end this horrific group. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) ...
Hodgson has been working in Tanzania for 20 years, since 1985. She first worked in the Catholic Diocese of Arusha in the Arusha Diocese Development Office and later taught at Oldonyo Sambu Junior Seminary. She worked with Maasai in a religious context and so was led to her research. She wrote her book “The Church of Women” after noticing the gendered differences in evangelization. In her book Hodgson first addresses the history of Maasai religious practices. Women were imperative to most religious ritual and even nonritual practices. Their God was often referred to with female pronouns, though a certain level of gender fluidness was apparent. She then chronicles the history of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, or Spiritans, in Tanzania. She interviews three American missionaries who worked with the Maasai in three different time periods. With the interviews Hodgson comprises the history of the approaches taken to evangelize the Maasai. She uses the next two chapters to compare men and women’s responses to the missionaries, following three communities. She ends the book with an exploration of this new Maasai Catholicism, a mix of Maasai and Catholic ritual and spiritual practices the Maasai have
Nnolim, Charles E. "The Missionaries." Approaches To the African People: Essays in Analysis. London: Saros International, 1992.
In sub-Saharan Africa, thousands of languages, cultures, and geographical regions helped influence our African society. The ways in which we produce our artwork, spiritual ideals, and ritual performances are organic and raw. From the tropical regions of Congo and Ghana, to the arid regions of Mali; I pass through the global gateway into a domain where the Western world lost its roots and artistic imagination and grandeur. Africa appeals most to me for its ability to create a realm where the living, dead, and artistic ideals come into a single unit of tranquil philosophy.
When I was young I thought that Religion in Sierra Leone was just Islam and Christianity. But now as I did some reaches and found out that I was wrong. There are also other believes going on in Sierra Leone. I would focus on only the basic religions which are popular in Sierra Leone; they are Christianity, Islam, and indigenous believers. (Indigenous: It’s a term used to describe local custom and belief, usually ancestor worship or animism. Beliefs that weren 't introduced by a foreign culture, specifically none of the major religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, or Buddhism). Sierra Leoneans has a 60 percent Muslim, 10 percent Christian, and 30 percent "indigenous believers." These
Even though the European worlds have tried to claim Christianity as their religion, the teachings of Christianity are of universal application. Musa A.B Gaiya noted that, “There is strength in the Christian present in Africa they first dates from the apostolic period. It first entered Egypt and quickly spread to other [part of North Africa, namely Ethiopia, Nubia, and Maghreb area. These means Christianity was indigenized since Africa were themselves instrumental in the spread of the gospel” this has made Christianity not to be considered as a foreign religion. “Historically Christianity was thriving in Africa long before it reach American and British where most of the protestant missionaries come from. We can therefore call Christianity an Africa religion” . We may there...
The overriding challenge Uganda faces today is the curse of poverty. Poverty, ‘the lack of something”(“Poverty.”), something can be materials, knowledge, or anything one justifies as necessary to living. Associated with poverty is the question of what causes poverty and how to stop poverty? The poverty rate in Uganda has declined from the year 2002 from the year 2009, which shows the percent of residents living in poverty has decreasing. Yet, the year is 2014 and the poverty rate could have drastically changed over the course of five years. One could assume the poverty rate would continue to decrease, which would be astounding and beneficial, but does poverty ever decrease enough to an acceptable level or even nonexistence? Poverty is a complex issue that continues to puzzle people from all across the globe. Poverty could possible be a question that is never truly answered.
Like a fairy tale at the top of a railroad, Uganda is a land of pristine beauty and astonishing ecosystems. From tall volcanic peeks in the East and Western borders, to the wetlands of the Albert Nile River, and the densely growth of rainforests of the North; Uganda has a rich soil that combined with its geographical location of central Africa has the ability to have coffee that has become both a mainstay of the agricultural economy and a favorite of connoisseurs around the world. The languages of English and Swahili, combined with mixtures of cultural dialects that exist throughout the nation, the religions of traditional African belief structures and Christianity are the main two of the region. I have chosen this country due to its economic solidarity and independence from outside requirements being self-sufficient for goods for one of the longest periods of African history.
It may seem a little bit strange, but my favorite place in town in none other than this beautiful Evangelic Church. However, it wasn’t always so.
Kaduna: Baraka Press, 2004. Magesa, Laurenti. A. African Religion: The Moral Tradition of Abundant Life. Nairobi: Pauline Pub., Africa, 1998. Mbiti, John S. Introduction to African Religion.