Minority Report
You __Muzungui__________, You must pay double because you are white!
It's ok to cheat a Muzungu.
Muzungu can mean white person, European person, rich person that I don't like,
half white/ half black, or someone who is buzy like a bee running here and there but never getting anything done, a colonial white master or a white priest. There are so many meanings and ways that this term is used. In Fort Portal it is the catch all word for foreigners.
It can be said by children smiling and laughing or by a thief who wants to rob you blind.
"Muzungu give me money" is one of the first English sentences learned by most.
Muzungu
"That's just what you call those kind of people." I have been told.
"Those kind of people?"
I fit into a category that includes British colonial masters, the great white Fathers, Russians, Jews, Bulgarian gun runners, and all UN troops.
I don't like the catch all terms. Even if it is not said with a snear it means you are different.
Have you ever had a hundred people laugh at you at the same time because your skin color is different then theirs?
Have you been cheated just because you are different?
Being a minority can be hard.
I have a whole new appreciation for those who are different in any way from the majority culture.
When I was in the states I remember hearing one man make fun of a man who was from the Great country of China.
"You are in America...speak English!" he half laugh half yelled at this old gentle grandfather.
Be kind to those who are different.
As a church don't send them over there somewhere to worship but go out of your way to make them want to be with you.
Love them into the body of Christ because that is what Christ would do.
But the lanuage is different...
in the Fort Portal church we sing in Lingala, French, Swahili, Runyankoli, Rutoro and English and that is with 30 adults.
It is rich. Church is where we go to encourage others as we worship the Lord.
One of the challenges I see in many churches is the fact that we are all the same.
We all speak the same language, have similiar economics, etc...
We all view God the same.
If we don't agree our history has shown that we divide into groups that do.
When we gather only with those who are like us we miss out on so much.
The Body of Christ is diverse. It is made of people with different world views from all kinds of tribes, tongues and nations.
When you see someone from a different race, economic background or lanuage just think he may already be a brother in Christ or he could be.
Church with people from all backgrounds...that would be heaven to me.
Where is your citizenship?
Be kind to those who "are different."
posted by Jeff Cash @ 9:34 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Jeff, Thank you for a great post. It is what we are going through right now as we consider whether we maintain the orthodoxy or reach out to the disenfranchised. I don't know why it is such a hard choice. What did Jesus do? duh! But we seem to be going over and over about what to do with "those people." Again, your post was outstanding. Love you. Lynn
Speaking of "muzungu", that's what Joel and I have started calling all of the other foreigners here in Taipei. The local version of "muzungu" is "waiguoren" or literally outside-country-person. Or, another local favorite is "dabizi" or "dabizi waiguoren" which means literally "big nose" or "big nose foreigner". But because we did internships in Africa, other foreigners are "muzungu" to us. (=
I know that wasn't the point of your post, but I thought I'd share it anyway.
I think it good for all people of God to seek to put themselves, if only briefly, in the shoes of others. It only helps us to understand just how much Jesus loves us "all". Thanks for the post Jeff.
Here in Japan, the polite word is Gaikokujin. In the common tongue it's shortened to Gaijin (pronounced Guy-jean). Basically it means outsider or external person. Although, the character for 'Gai' could also be pronounced 'hazu.' Hazu can mean several things, such as:slip off, be or get out of place, be disconnected, and (my favorite) miss (as in 'miss the target). This is the word they use when an arrow/ ball/ etc... misses it's target.
I wonder how many times we Gaijin or Muzungu, miss target and yet by the Grace of God, He still works in us and through us. Thanks Jeff.
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