To delve into and bring deeper understanding on the matter of circumcision and initiation in adolescent development, or to consider the issue of contextualizing the gospel and Christian faith in missions.

OVERVIEW

BACKGROUND

The included selection from The Lonely African (Turnbull, C. [6th ed.]. Simon and Schuster.) allows stimulating discussion about the loss of initiation and traditional ways using a conversation between the author of and a wise chief from Northeastern Zaire near Kisangani. The questions that follow the passage from the book will provoke discussion and profitable insight.

THE READING (from The Lonely African)

The old and disillusioned chief, Matungi, says:

I tried to explain that initiation was necessary for us, for only by initiation can we fit ourselves to join the ancestors when we die. The uninitiated have no right to respect in this life or after, and without initiation man would become an animal, living only for himself alone, with no consideration for his family or his tribe.
Every three years I called out the dancers and we held initiations in all the villages around us, for even though I am chief only of this village, I am the initiation leader of many villages.
The white man began to try to prevent our holding our initiation ceremonies, celebrating the manhood of our youth. They said that if we wanted to educate the boys we should send them to a mission school where they would learn to recite from a book. They said that our initiation schools were savage, and a waste of time. For all those months the boys and their fathers were secluded they could not work in the fields, and so fell behind in their work demanded of them by law. And...even the women fell off in their work because they were busy drinking and dancing.
The boy was collected in a car and taken away, far to the other side of Matadi, to a mission hospital. There he was circumcised, and the white man said it was as good as our circumcision, so we should treat him like a man. But now Ibrahimo can never become a man-he has had his manhood taken away from him by the white man, and he has had his soul taken away from him. Perhaps when he dies he will go to the white man's world, but that can not be a good thing; and as long as he lives here he will belong nowhere.
The white man talks of law where we talk of the way of our ancestors...In the initiation schools, we teach our boys about the ancestors that gave them birth, and they are born again by the ancestors, as men. We teach them how they must behave as men in order to live in a way pleasing to the ancestors, so that when they died they will live in peace. And that is why they find it easy to live the way they should-no man wants to die to be left alone, unwanted in either world, as Ibrahimo will die. (pp. 75-82)

LEADER PREPARATION

• The leader of this discussion should have some (preferably first-hand) knowledge of traditional initiations and circumcision. He or she should be aware of the controversies that have existed among missionaries and Africans, and have some understanding of the principles of missiology and cross-cultural communication. (One may want to read Colin Turnbull's The Lonely African for fuller background. Mongo Beti's The Poor Christ of Bomba is a novel about the similar response of people to Catholic Christianity in the old Belgian Congo. Writers like John S. Mbiti, Byang H. Kato, Vincent J. Donovan and Marvin Meyers will help readers work through these issues from a Christian perspective.)
• This session should be planned in terms of the members of this group; what the group has been doing in past weeks or sessions; and the resources available through books, journals, magazines, audiovisual materials, and persons.

GROUP BUILDING

Singing and Scriptures (from Joshua 5: 2-9, Deut. 10:16; Deut. 30:6, Col. 2:11, 1 Cor. 9:22, or Acts 10) might be used to open this session.

GROUP PRESENTATION

To arouse interest in the topic, creatively introduce one or two readers to read the selection to the group. While maintaining the focus of the topic, allow the readers to present the reading in an interesting way.

GROUP DISCUSSION

• Are the issues raised here of concern to youth and Christians today? What should a youth pastor know about circumcision? Why is it important for pastors and youth leaders to have opinions and insights about such matters?
• Why did the missionaries object to circumcision? Why did the government object to these initiation ceremonies? How did missionaries and government agree during colonialism?
• Have the issues of colonialism faded? In what form do the issues raised by old Matungi remain?
• What were some of the things lost by those deprived of traditional initiation? (Note: "...an animal living for himself alone...")
• How should youth, church leaders, and missionaries today (African or Western) approach circumcision and initiation as they seek to contextualize the Gospel into diverse cultures?
• Should you find yourself counseling two young people from the same tribal background-one traditionally circumcised and the other not-who felt uncomfortable about this difference between them, how would you advise and work with them?

WRAP-UP

Depending upon your group and the nature of the discussion, you will want to bring some sense of conclusion to this matter. What do you think about it? How do you handle differences of opinion? What more do you need to study about this? What consideration do you want from your church regarding these matters?

EVALUATION

Make sure that you ask the members and other leaders of this group about the response to this session and how, they think, it should be followed up. From this, plan your next sessions and how you might again deal with this subject.

Dean Borgman cCYS