Macina (by Thom)
I spent most of my first day on the road during my recent ministry trip to shoot video of Malians serving as missionaries in their own country. It was early evening when we arrived in Djenné. After spending the morning working and touring the city we headed off for the next destination. That was Macina. We got there very late – around 10pm – and so much all our work was done the next morning. My work here was much more difficult because the missionary didn’t speak much French and I don’t speak Bambara. Most of what I learned here was from overhearing other conversations in French. In fact, I barely had the opportunity to say 3 sentences in my day there. Still, I was able to learn enough about the area to know better the challenges facing the missionary and what life in Macina is like.
Macina is very different from Djenné in terms of culture, history, and life. There are some strong similarities, though. Both areas were founded by the Bozo tribe. Since the Bozo are fishermen (Bo-So in Bambara means “Straw House” referring to the huts the Bozo build next to the river for their fishing camps) it’s easy to understand both cities were founded alongside a river. Djenné is an island in the Bani River and Macina is next to the Niger River. Since more than 99.9% of the Bozo are Muslim this people group is considered “unreached”. Pastor Isaac and his wife are Malian missionaries in Macina. They started the work there about 7 years ago and have found things very difficult. They have not had any converts to date but there is a small community of Christians. These are mostly believers who have moved to Macina from other parts of Mali for their jobs. One of the major difficulties in ministering to the Bozo is their mixture of Muslim and Animism. They worship idols and objects at the same time they profess their belief in Islam. They have a totem of a bull where the body represents the Niger River and the horns represent their fishing canoes. For whatever reason, it’s the mixture of the two faiths that seems to have proven the strongest obstacle in receiving Christ as a Savior. If you’re praying for the people of Mali, I’d suggest you pray that the Bozo can see past their idols and faith in sorcery. I’d also suggest you pray that the missionaries serving in these areas don’t get burned out but retain the joy that they came with.
I've now shared a little about Djenné and Macina. I also made shorter stops in San, Bla, and two other villages. I'll share those experiances with you later this week.
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