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A case study designed to help hone critical thinking and ethical decision-making in cross-cultural situations
I don't know how to answer your question, Moses," the young missionary began. "I am certain of one thing, though. There are times when we must choose between our traditional cultures and being faithful to Christ."
"That's right, Alan," Moses replied, "but you must realize that Christianity has destroyed much of our culture, causing us to lose our sense of destiny. Now that we have accepted European ways and have seen them fail, we are left with nothing. We must regain what we left behind."The two friends were relaxing under a tree near a beach-front house along the West African coastline. Moses, a forty-five-year-old Ghanian, had a good reputation as a language instructor in the capital city. Alan was a young missionary who had studied with Moses for the past year. The two had become friends. Moses also worked for an insurance company in order to support his wife and three children. Years earlier he had married a second wife, who remained in her village. After a few years Moses had become convinced that this second marriage transgressed his Christian commitment. So, he found a way to release the second wife from her vows.
Moses had suggested that Alan accompany him and his family to his home village to observe the traditional festival honoring the ancestral spirits. Moses thought it would give the new missionary a deeper understanding of local culture. Alan agreed to go. Then, a problem arose when Moses' wife, Grace, refused to attend. A committed Christian, Grace insisted that participating in the libation to the ancestors and lesser deities would be sin.
Alan debated within himself for several days before he finally agreed to go. He had studied some anthropology and knew that he would not attach the same meaning to the festival that the people would. Moreover, this festival likely would give him some good photo opportunities.
The day of the festival arrived, and Moses brought his children along. It was an hour's drive to Akwataman where they immediately went to greet the chief. After introductory formalities, the chief sat back on his carved wooden stool and inquired as to the purpose of their visit. Alan said he had come to observe the festival of the ancestors and to learn about the culture. Looking very pleased, the chief began to talk about his cultural heritage:"Akwataman is named after Nii Akwata, my ancestor, who founded this village. Before my ancestors settled here, Nii Akwata was a war captain whose people lived over there under the mountains.
"A drought came that was so severe the people needed to move. My ancestor Nii started looking for water holes. It was a hard time for the village, but Nii found this river which still had water in it. He moved the village here. Because of that and his successes as a war captain, they named the village after him. It is in honor of him and the subsequent residents of our village that we celebrate this festival today."After a long conversation, the elders began preparing the ancestral feast. They brought a gin bottle used to pour out a libation to the spirits of the ancestors and a large pottery bowl used for the meal. They mixed handfuls of yellow corn dough with palm nut and fish. The chief then began to dance to the beat of the village drummers, swaying and announcing that the festival had begun. The villagers gathered behind him as he poured gin on the ground and called out for the spirits to join the procession.
At this point Alan became a little uneasy, wondering how closely he should be involved. But he was distracted by opportunities to photograph the chief's pouring of the gin on the ground and decided to follow along.
The chief grabbed a handful of sourdough, dipped it into the soup, and threw it against a wall, calling to the ancestral spirits in that building to come out. He splattered the yellow mixture freely on the outsides of houses and also tossed handfuls into rooms where he recalled people had died. Then he ran off down the trail to the next set of houses. Moses and Alan followed the villagers as they danced from house to house, singing, drumming, and dancing along behind the chief, who proudly splattered the mixture on each home. One of the villagers who spoke English explained to Alan that this was a harvest meal, and that the throwing of the food showed they could scoff at hunger because their crops were abundant.
After the chief had offered food at all of the houses in the village to show the unity of the community in the shared meal, he led the parade back to his own house, where he once again began to dance and sway under the sacred tree.
Suddenly, as if provoked by someone, the chief stopped and fixed his eyes on Daniel, Moses' oldest son, who was sitting with disinterest on a nearby porch. "You brood of vipers!" the chief said, "Why do you live in the cities and never return to your home to honor the ancestors? You attend mission schools and start saying you are a Christian. You think you are too good for your own culture. What a wicked generation!" Daniel looked noticeably hurt by the chief's outburst.
Later, after the dancing had stopped, the young missionary asked the chief if he was against Christianity. The chief responded:"The pagans are better in telling the truth than the Christians, because the Christians don't have the fear of God. Their God doesn't take action quickly enough to judge them when they lie. Our local gods are quick to show us their power, so when we swear by them we are careful to tell the truth.
"You know that some of us in this village were trained in Christian schools, and I no longer use the magic of my ancestors. I have never put black powder under my skin. I have never buried a live goat or cat in the house to gain spiritual power. In the old days, even humans were buried in the house of the chief. But I have seen Christians reject their old ways and refuse to honor their ancestors.
"All that you have seen us do we do in order to keep our tradition. If we lose our tradition, we have lost everything. The rituals you have seen are not paganism. They are our tradition, or what you call our culture."As they sat talking, the chief asked Alan if he would join him in a toast to the ancestors as a testimony to those they were honoring today. Alan's stomach churned with tension as he thought about whether he should drink the toast. He glanced at Moses seated nearby. His mind was churning with lots of questions:
The glass was passed from hand to hand toward Alan. He began to sweat. What should he do?
- Will the Christians in this culture be offended or will they be encouraged if they know I have joined in the toast?
- If I refuse, will that anger the chief and other villagers and close the door to further evangelism?
- What about young Daniel? What course of action will be the best for him?
- Have I created problems in Moses' relationship with his wife by even coming in the first place?
This case study is a revised version of one originally written by Greg Roth which appeared in Case Studies in Missions, Baker Book House, 1987. This case study may be reproduced only upon payment of a 35-cent royalty per copy to Baker Book House, P.O. Box 6787, Grand Rapids, MI 49516 USA
Links to readings on ancestors in Africa: University of Kent
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Howard Culbertson, Southern Nazarene University, 6729 NW 39th, Bethany, OK 73008 | Phone: 405-491-6693 - Fax: 405-491-6658
Copyright © 2000, 2001 - Last Updated: November 6, 2007 | URL: http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/ancestor.htm
