One Year Here!

TIP
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So, we have been in Namibia a year. We have learnt a lot and met many interesting people.
One of the biggest encouragements is the desire so many have for being taught the Bible. As that is why we came here, it is very exciting. I suspect there is not the same level of openness. The downside is that when it comes to the nitty gritty, people don’t seem able to make the commitment to learn! There are obviously logistic issues, like transport. More about that further down.

David has laid a foundation of contacts among many of the denominations and people groups. He has travelled widely and is even now preparing for a trip into Angola to sus out what is happening in Theological Distance Education there, and what can be learned from it. Angola is taking longer than Owamboland to recover from their respective wars. There is cholera there from the water. Roads have more potholes than tar in places. For all the isolation of Owamboland, we are very well off in terms of general shops, running water, reliable electricity and good main roads.
I have just finished reading ‘Escape from Kabul’ (about the imprisonment of the Shelter Now team by the Taliban). How blessed we are to be in a country where church attendance is not a crime, and imprisonment not a punishment for owning a Bible.
Many churches here, however, suffer from an aging leadership and a dearth of enthusiastic, qualified young people to take over the pastoral reins. That is why the Distance Education programme is such a blessing in this subsistence-farming community.
CHURCH
Some people ask what our church in Ondangwa is like. It is a sound structure (steel frame and brick) which offers respite from the blazing sun. Unfortunately, white ants are eating at wooden door frames. There is a small ante-room, about 4x3m which is where we cram in for Sunday school. When we have 40+ children it can get pretty hot in there! The service is in Oshiwambo and follows the prayer book (in Oshikwanyama). Bible readings are in either Oshikwanyama or Oshindonga, depending on the mother-tongue to the person reading (this can be disconcerting for us). Unaccompanied singing of translated hymns comprises the music. The offering is an open basket on a table at the front and people stream forward in a line to drop their offerings in (usually only a few cents). The congregation is quite small. There are a number of elderly folk. There is a sporadic attendance of a few teenagers (no youth work).
The majority of people here no not have their own transport so get to church crowded in the back of a ute/bakkie or by paying a local taxi. The transport problem means it is hard to get people together after church or on another day for a workshop, Bible study, etc.
I personally find it hard that many churches we attend have NO toilet facilities. On one hand, you want to drink a lot because it is hot, but on the other hand …!
When the pioneer missionaries came, the Lutherans evangelised the Ndonga people and translated the Bible into Ndonga, the Anglicans worked among the Kwanyama and translated a Bible for them, and the Roman Catholics settled among the Uukwambi. Hence, one’s denomination here is strongly influenced by one’s birth.

LANGUAGE
Language continues to be a problem, partly because there are so many dialects, and partly because it is hard to find an educated Oshikwanyama with time to help us. Everyone is willing to chat to us, but they all have their own way of speaking and, without a solid secondary education, it is often impossible for them to explain to us WHY something is said in such-and-such a way.
Probably, as the people groups blend more and more into each other’s tribal territories, a true common language, Oshiwambo, will emerge. Already, even among Kwanyama speakers, we are told that such-and-such a word in Ndonga/Kwambi/Umbalantu/etc is now the accepted common word. People already refer to Oshiwambo. It used to mean predominantly Ndonga but when we speak to people, they are delighted and say; ‘Ha! You speak Oshiwambo!’. It is very humbling. As an English speaker, when tends to expect to be understood by everyone, implying other people must learn our language. Namibians are always so happy to find a Shilumbu (white man) want to speak their language.
Another complication: when David goes out of Owamboland to other parts in the Northern region, they do not speak Oshiwambo! In Rundu they speak Kavango (a distant relative of oshiwambo), Kwangali, Lozi, and in Capriv, they speak Caprivi. Around Tsumeb, south of the Etosha and in Kaokoland (Opuwo) they speak Herero and Afrikaans. The San (west) have their own language, too!
When the Germans and Portuguese divided the land, the border they created between what is now Angola and Namibia cut across the land of the Kwanyama people, leaving half the tribe in each country. So Kwanyama is also spoken in Angola.
NETS currently offers its Distance courses in English, Afrikaans, Herero, and “Oshiwambo”.
We chose to focus on Oshikwamyama, as it is the language of the majority of Anglicans and the church in Ondangwa, where I teach Sunday school. David is also training 3 of the young men from the congregation who are (basically) Kwanyama speakers.
However, whilst people hold onto their cultural identity, it does make for a fascinating world here. The different languages, dress code, and customs help to give Namibia her identity.