Chapter Five: Religious Co-existence and Adaptation
5.4. Continuity of Pre-Christian Conceptions of God in Christian Hymns and Prayers
5.4.2. The Analysis of Prayers
A popular Cameroonian chorus states that 'prayer is the key, Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer.' We have noted that prayer has been translated 'Tsa'ti Nyikob' - greeting Nyikob. We have also noted that the expression 'tsa 'ti Nyikob denotes an inner communion between the individual and Nyikob. That is why there is the common expression a ku ndin Nyikob a. [only my Nyikob knows]. This figurative way of speaking [which is typical of the Bali] is what Keller and Vielhauer interpreted as each person having his god. What we have translated as prayer at the keti Nyikob or at the Tu Fom is mafung ke ma tan ngam bui a ba ba bo [to call or to converse with our fathers].57 Tsa 'ti Nyikob therefore as prayer is a new understanding. Thus the common expression of Met us pray' or 'pray always' is not Ba tsa 'ti Nyikob or Tsa 'ti Nyikob nkanka [as would have been the normal expression if their understanding were limited to the new understanding of the coinage] but bi ye bafung Ba and ti'fung Nyikob nkanka [let us call on Nyikob and call Nyikob always].
With this explanation we can now look at the key concepts in prayer. We must note here that the PCC is a highly organised liturgical Church with everything done in a uniformed manner. There are six Volumes of the Book of Divine Services with prayers for all occasions. Although it has been suggested at meetings that ex-tempore prayers be said during Services, people are still stuck to the written prayers. For this reason the prayers we shall consider in this section will not be taken from any of such prayers. We will depend on extemporaneous prayers since they are contextual.
The word pastor is interchangeable with Elder, Christian etc.
Interview with Ba Tita Nyagang,20/12/2003 and Ba Fonmbe, 18/02/2004, Ba Tanyi Ntsu, 19/12/2003.
We recorded fifteen prayers during different occasions but we shall only present two of the prayers which contain the concepts that feature constantly in prayer.
During a practice session of the Hallelujah Choir of Ntaiton58 Ma Nah opened with this prayer:
Bon ba Yawe mfon nindeng bo nsi,
Bui ni mfa dzika mbo u mbi 'ufa yo tsu 'mvi le mbo bui a.
To la ka ntsamvi ni ngyemti yui'
Mbi' a wu mbe ndu ba ku' mbe ta bon ntsi se.
Fa Ian mi boa tun mbo bi ntsu' ndio bo a ngon ntsu 'mvi me. Amen.
Good father Yahweh, Fon of heaven and earth.
We give you thanks because you have given us this day.
Come now o 'surpassed of the world and help us
Because you are the husband of widows and father of orphans Bless us and give us strength today and always. Amen.
During a Zonal Session meeting at Gungong on 29 may 2004, Mr Nji prayed:
Ndzika ma 'mvi ni tun yi ufa mbo bui ndia.
Bui ni ngugu luen tu nkanka mbi mfon bafonfon me' a.
Ndzo u lo ndo 'yui not mui ma gha le a andzo u to lo' yui kwe mu a.
send yui ni ngon bad yui me.
Ni luen mun u Tita Yseu. Amen.
'Thrower of the world', thank you for the strength you gave us today.
We exalt your name at all times because you are Fon above all Fon As you brought us here so too you will take us back.
Strengthen us in all our deliberations;
In the name of prince Jesus. Amen.
The key concepts that feature in prayer that we do herewith analyse are, Bon Ba Yawe Mfon Nindeng bo nsi [Good Father Yahweh, Fon of heaven and earth], ndu ba ku' [husband of widows], Ta bon ntsi [Father of orphans], Taabon [Father of children], ngan ma 'yui [The one who owns us], and Tita Yesu [Prince Jesus].
We have already noted that Nyikob is Ba. In prayer he is not only Ba but also Bon Ba-good father. He is Fon. All these we have already discussed above. Yahweh has easily found a place in the minds of the Christians so that when they were asked about God's name before the planting of Christianity some Christians responded that he was called Yawe. The
58 This was on 17/04/2004.
new and striking concepts that we find here is Nyikob as the husband of widows, father of orphans and father of children. The widow and the orphan are less fortunate people in the Bali community. The widow is subject to harsh treatment and inhuman acts. Sometimes the late husband's brothers take everything. If a widow is maltreated her children suffer with her as well. Nyikob as husband of widows and father of orphans shows that he is considered to be a compassionate, loving defender of the defenceless. As father of children according to Fomuso Buma-Foncham Nyikob performs to humanity the filial obligations that parents perform to their children.59 Ngan ma'yui [the one who owns us], this tallies with Ma'mvi which we have already analysed under hymns. Nyikob as ngan ma' yui means the one on whom humanity relies. That is why he is also known as ke'ntsu ndab [key]. / be nke' mun tifuen be, I befuen mun ti nghaa be [if he opens no body can lock, if he locks nobody can open].
Lastly Jesus Christ is considered as Tita. Tita is the title of a prince but sometimes some people are appointed to special duties with the title of Tita. Although Jesus is Fon, he is Prince as well.
Conclusion.
We opened this chapter with a survey of how traditional religion in general finds continuity in Christian practice. We used responses gathered from field interviews to indicate what the Christians actually do when they face crises in their lives. Then we showed that the borrowings are mutual as we saw how traditional religion has been permeated with Christian influence. In the last section we presented some songs and prayers in order to analyse the concepts inherent within them. What we have discovered is that pre-Christian concepts of Nyikob provide knowledge of Christians' understanding of the Trinity.
59 Fomuso Buma-Foncham Henri, Sacrifices Among the Bali Nyonga, p. 15.