2.5 Ntumbuluko - the Christian practitioner's perspective
2.5.2 Igreja Metodista Unida em Mocambique
2.5.2.2 The profile of Mrs. Nel Sinai Massango and her definition and description of ntumbuluko
Mrs. Massango was born in Homoine and is now resident in Cambine. She is 82 years old. In 1941 she enrolled at the United Methodist Mission Hospital Nursing Training School at Chicuque, which is now a Rural Hospital, whilst the nurse's training school is still functional. She graduated as a nurse in 1943. She is the wife of the late Rev. Mukhambi, a very well-known senior Methodist pastor and a 'long- serving President of the Christian Council of Mozambique. Mrs. Massango has served for many years as President and Monitor of the Women's Society of the United Methodist denomination in Mozambique at national level. Her late husband, Rev.
Mukhambi, worked closely with Rev. Matsombe and during the natural calamities of the 1980s they travelled together to the US, on behalf of the Protestant churches of Mozambique, to explain the war situation and to ask for emergency assistance.
According to Mrs. [?] Massango:
A ntumbuluko ixilu xi kombisaka a wu munhu la hina laha misaveni kota swi vangwa. Loko Nungungulu a hi mahile, ku sukela ka Adamu a vekile a swilo swa ntumbuluko a ka Adamu na Eva kala ku flka ka hina. A ntumbuluko ku ve na wu tomi ga ma tsamela ya tiko laha misaveni.
(Massango 2001, interview)
Translation:
Ntumbuluko is something that symbolizes and demonstrates our humanness on earth, as created beings. When God made us from Adam, he established or put up things or principles of ntumbuluko to Adam and Eve all the way through to us. Ntumbuluko is to have life in harmony with the cosmos or nature on earth or in the world.
Massango defined ntumbuluko as:
1) the demonstration or mark of our humanness as created beings 2) the [divine] principle and
3) the cosmic harmony.
Unlike any other informants of this category, she stated categorically that ntumbuluko comes from God and was first given to Adam and Eve when God created them and
that it was handed down from Adam to the Tsongas. Judging from her age, she must have known Bishop Scobel, who studied at Cambine, went abroad for theological training, translated the Bible to Xitswa and who wrote a Vatswa genealogy up to Adam.
When I asked about the interaction between Christian faith and ntumbuluko, she told me two stories. One of her nieces, a daughter of her younger sister, had' been murdered because she had spirits. The other story had happened two weeks prior to our interview. Another niece of hers was brutally murdered. Her niece's brother died. The sons of the deceased came and accused their aunt of having killed their father magically and murdered her. These incidents took place in her family and in her church. She concluded these stories by telling her own story of her long illness, which had ended just a month before the interview. She said that Christian leaders or pastors from her church came and insisted that she was bewitched and that she should allow them to find a medium to cure her. She said that they told her that she must help God and that prayer is secondary, the first thing is ntumbuluko. She concluded the story by lamenting that once one was an old woman, when the neighbour's children have fever, they suspect you of bewitching their children. She also indicated that the practice of giving girls as payment, the nyakwave spirit wives girls, is still alive, although people try to civilize it.
Giving a general critique of the kind of Christianity that she sees today in her church, she had this to say:
Hi leswaku a masiku lawa, a ku kholwa ka hina ka hehuka - a hilaha hasi, a hi lc hehla, hi le ndengelengeni hotche makholwa. Va tsongwani nguvo va ngenaka ku kholweni va tiya. Ha vumela a ku hi makholwa; a hi Makriste, ho va makholwa.
Loyi a nga Mukriste a nga tsekatsekiswi hi tchumu. Makunu, hina hi rangelaka, ka xin'wani xi khati hi ni nandzu. Hikuva a hi yi hi moya lowuya wa ku kholwa ka khale. Ha kiyelwa hi ku kholwa. Loko munhu a kiyelelwa hi ku kholwa ka matirela ya wu Kxiste, a nga wu kumi tamu wo hundzulusa vanhu va vuya a swi neneni. A va rangeli va byela vanhu a ku 'hambi vafundisi va patsela.
(Massango 2001, interview)
Translation:
These days, our faith is light, we are not down, we are not up, we are "in-between"
kind of Christians. There are very few who enter into faith and become firm. I think we are religious and yet not Christians. A Christian is not tossed/shaken by anything.
We leaders are guilty of this. We do not lead with faith like in the old days. We lack faith. If anyone lacks faith in the Christian ministry s/he is powerless and cannot convert people. Our leaders tell our people: 'Never mind, even the pastors do mix faith and tradition'. Our message in the congregation is empty, it does not cause conversion. Our deeds, of us the leaders, do not manifest or express Christian faith.
(Massango 2001, interview)
Once again, we find the same kind of outcry that was expressed by the other Methodists. If one listens carefully to the kind of remarks that are made, one could conclude that the relationship between ntumbuluko and Christian faith is a very serious problem, not only among ordinary Christians, but even amongst the clergy of the Methodist church. Massongo clearly puts blame on the leadership and she has concrete examples of those who approached her when she was ill. Nhamombe also indicated that there are pastors and evangelists living in sin, whilst the church does nothing about it. This is the same kind of situation that ended up with Mangwele leaving the IUB denomination, when the issue involved his own daughter and he had to confront the leadership. Matsombe has also indicated that the problem is in the leaders, that they drag people along with them, and he called for teaching which targets the leaders first. Even Filimone and Dule made a criticism against the leadership as a reason for the poor interaction and/or relationship between ntumbuluko and Christian faith.
As regards the possible solution to the problem of relationship between ntumbuluko and the gospel, so far we have two informants who have made some suggestions.
Nhanombe noted the fact that the Methodist church has let the "class" tradition fall apart and that it needs to be revived as a discipleship strategy. He also recommended, at the academic level, that research be done and that the findings be published in Portuguese, Tsonga and English so that our people can see this situation and start working hard to change it. He said that we are being deluded by large numbers of people or a "people's movement" in our churches, whilst the low conversion and commitment levels are alarming. "The boat is sinking, it is not moving' he said. This is similar to what Matsombe said. He indicated that there were seminars that the denomination used to run in former times, and that one needed to research and develop a guide on ntumbuluko versus the gospel issues which could be used for discipleship and leadership training, reviving this tradition. But this is a process that Filimone calculated would require at least one to two years to achieve.
We still have two other informants, from a different Christian tradition, whose contribution we need to hear.