Namibia (MNN) — In the Northwestern corner of Namibia lies the village of Opuwo. Its name means “end of the road” in Dhimba, the language spoken by residents of Opuwo. But for the Himba people who first heard the Gospel there, Opuwo was not the end of the road. It was the beginning.
Michael Cardy with MegaVoice tells the story of a local pastor in that region who first felt the Lord calling him to reach the Himba people in 2017.
At the time, Scripture in Dhimba was scarce.
Bible Society of Namibia, Wycliffe, and Samaritan’s Purse formed a collaboration to begin translating the Bible into the Himba people’s heart language. Working with a well-known storyteller, The effort eventually produced 35 Bible stories and Gospel songs, which were downloaded onto MegaVoice audio units. Michael Cardy says he’ll never forget the first time the pastor played Scripture for the local children.
“As he turned it on and they heard the Gospel story in their heart language – the creation story from Genesis – the children were just absolutely dumbfounded. They were so excited they got up and started dancing,” he says.
The children placed a ring of stones around a tree and began regularly meeting there to hear Scripture. As the Bible stories started to impact children’s lives, parents started asking questions. Next, they joined the gathering.
“Around that circle, eventually five villages would gather,” Cardy says.
But as monsoon season approached, the community looked for a more suitable meeting place than their singular tree. Samaritan’s Purse responded by helping build a stone church, a sort of “source and sending place” for this newfound treasure of Scripture.
Now, the pastor says he has no idea how many churches have grown out of the effort. Why the spread? Cardy says it is a natural outgrowth of the Himba’s nomadic culture. The cattle herders send out children and cows every spring to follow the way of growing grass.
“As the season changes, thus goes the herd and the children,” Cardy says.
With the introduction of solar-powered audio units: as the herd and children go, thus goes the Word of God.
“Eventually, there were stories about villages no longer meeting around a campfire at night to talk about ancestral worship and the like,” Cardy recalls. “Instead they would play a story and say, ‘What is it we just heard? What does it mean, and how can we apply it to our life?’”
Himba woman. Courtesy of Unsplash.
As the audio units travel, the Word of God remains behind. Cardy says this effect is thanks to the oral nature of the Himba culture, which cements Scripture in minds even before it permeates hearts.
“As a village listens to a MegaVoice unit, they memorize everything that they hear and say, ‘We no longer need that,’ so they’ll pass it on to another village.”
The progress of Scripture distribution among the Himba, while encouraging, is hardly the end of the church’s work. Local discipleship efforts for lay pastors are ongoing.
“It’s important for pastors not to go wide without going deep,” says Cardy.
From a regional ethno-cultural standpoint, he says the Himba people are respected but difficult for the rest of society to engage. The audio players are a strategic way to reach this group of approximately 50,000 people.
Pray that the Himba people would come to Christ, and that God would protect their hearts and mind as they grow in their newfound faith.
“When his word goes forth, it does not return empty,” Cardy says.
So please pray that the light of God’s Word would brightly pierce the darkness in Namibia and beyond.
Pray also for MegaVoice as it continues audio player distribution efforts. You may consider a financial gift toward this Kingdom-building work.
“Somewhere out in the Kalahari Desert, you can actually stop by a village and hear the Gospel in the Himba language,” Cardy smiles.
But for those of us who may never find ourselves under the Kalahari sun, the music of Scripture sounding from Opuwo is available right here.
Featured image courtesy of Unsplash
Dhimba music courtesy of Global Recordings Network
