THE LIFE OF RICHARD WILLIAM MUELLER, JR.
(Continued)

Dad’s Autobiography – Chapter 20 – In Book, Page 43

Random Thoughts, Visiting In The Bush, Greetings, Names, Respect, Caring, Politeness, Gift Giving And Receiving, Changing Customs, Witchcraft, Bible Illustrations

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Visiting in the bush If we were about to enter a village, we would never enter that village without calling out, “Odi”. With that word, you were asking permission to enter the village. (A village was a cluster of huts where a man lived with his wife and his children. It was an area with huts for cooking, sleeping, and visiting. It did not have any places of business.) Then you would wait until you heard the word, “Odini”. That was the word which gave you permission to enter that village.

I remember distinctly one visit where we called out “Odi” – and received no response, even though we could see the people in that village scurrying about. Knowing the village protocol, we knew that they were not ready to receive guests. So we stayed where we were until we heard “Odini”. Then, and only then did we enter that village. I would like to think that by following these and other customs, we gained the confidence of the people whom we had been sent to serve. They saw in these actions of ours that we did not come to them as masters, but as those who respected and honored their customs.

Greetings

During our days in Zambia and Malawi, this was an elaborate process. A conversation could not begin without first asking about that person’s health. Then you would ask about the health of the family – which could go on for some time. While you were doing this, you would shake the hand of that person, accompanied by a little bow or curtsy. If you wanted to show special honor to that person, you would take your left hand and touch your right hand, lightly, just above your right elbow. And, if you wanted to show special joy in meeting that person, you would both release your grip on the hand, grab each other’s thumb, release that grip, shake again, and grab the thumb again. This, too, could go on for some time – all depending on the joy of the occasion.

Names

While we were in Zambia and Malawi, never did we call a person by his or her first name. It was always Mr. Phiri or Mrs. Phiri. In fact, if you really wanted to show respect to the wife and knew her well enough, you would call her ‘mother of’ – and then the name of the first-born child. Actually, that is a custom which we followed here in the United States as well. We never called one of our members by his or her first name. Sad to say, that custom has changed here in America – and in Africa as well.

Respect

In the villages, children were taught total respect for their elders. Children were more seen than heard. I remember seeing a child come to his father to ask something. That child knelt at the door of the hut waiting for his father to acknowledge his presence. That child must have knelt there for more than an hour before his father finally turned to him and asked him what he wanted.

Caring

One of the ways in which a husband showed that he cared for his wife and children was to walk ahead of them down a bush path. My mother-in-law never liked a picture that we had which showed a man walking ahead of his wife. She thought it showed disrespect – and it did – according to the custom which she and we taught. However, according to African custom, it was not a sign of disrespect. Rather, it was a protection for the wife and children. One never knew what kind of danger was ahead of them – a snake or other wild animal – even an enemy. The man went ahead in order to protect his family.

Politeness

Here in the United States, we may not consider it impolite any longer to walk in front of someone when passing from one side of a room to another. In Zambia and Malawi, however, it was considered impolite to do that. If there was a circle of friends gathered around a fire and you wished to move to another place, you did not walk behind the circle. You walked in front of everyone. By doing so, everyone knew where you were – and that you were not doing something evil behind their back.

Gift Giving And Receiving

It was easy to offend a person by not doing this in a proper fashion. When a gift was given, it was never to be given with the left hand – nor received with the left hand. It was to be received with the right hand – or with both hands. If it was received with both hands, you were telling the giver that it was deeply and sincerely appreciated. Most of the time, in the bush, we received whatever was given to us with both hands. African customs were practiced more in the bush than in the towns.

A SIDE NOTE

We have noticed how customs have changed here in the United States also. There was a time when a man opened a door – even car door – for a woman. There was a time when a man let a woman enter a building before him. There was a time when it was deemed polite for a man to walk on the outside of the sidewalk when walking with a woman. (Walking on the outside of the sidewalk was done to protect the woman from whatever was in the road.) There was a time when it was impolite for a man to wear a hat indoors – especially while eating. There was also a time when a man tipped his hat to a woman – and on and on and on. It makes me sad to see how impolite we have become.

Witchcraft

It was all around us and, at first, we saw none of it. We saw a tree in front of the door to a hut – and thought how nice it was to have a tree there. Little did we know that it had been a stick to ward off evil spirits – a stick that had grown to be a tree. We saw a well-made hut with its roof burned off and thought there had been a fire. There had been a fire — but on purpose. A person had died in that hut. It was now bewitched. No one else could live in it. We saw pointed sticks along the road – and took very little notice – until we learned that they had been put there to war off evil spirits. Then we began to realize that the chicken head on those sticks had been placed there as a sacrifice to the good spirits.

We were not the only ones who while seeing did not see. Sometimes the African did not see either. One of our African pastors conducted a funeral in a village not of his tribe. He sat down on a pile of clothes – and many who were there gasped. Unknowingly, he had sat down on something that had been placed there by the local witchdoctor. Yes, even that African pastor saw – but did not see.

BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS

For me, many of the illustrations which Jesus and the Apostles used in their ministry became alive because of the time we spent in Zambia and Malawi. We saw with our own eyes many of the things which they saw and used while speaking to the people of their day.

“Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” Mathew 24:41 Many, many times when we would enter a village, we would see this taking place before our very eyes. Two women would be standing over a large wooden mortar. Each would have a long wooden pole in their hands. With them, they would rhythmically raise and lower those extra large pestles and pound the maize in the mortar into flour. We could easily visualize one being taken and the other left.

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” 2 Corinthians 6:14 Hardly any of the African farmers whom we knew had tractors. Those whom we knew plowed their fields and pulled their wagons with oxen. Sometime they would do the work with one span of oxen. At other times they would use two, three, or more span of oxen. However, no matter how many spans of oxen they used, they would never yoke an old ox with a young ox – a trained ox with an untrained ox. If they did, the untrained ox would not pull in unison with the trained ox. They would pull against each other. The result would be that no work would be done. What the Apostle Paul meant became very meaningful to the African – and to us.

”All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world……..”Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.   Matthew 25:32, 33, 41

There are those who do not see eye to eye with me on this one. However, for me, I had a difficult time telling the difference between a sheep and a goat in Zambia. Perhaps it was because we passed by them too quickly and did not look at them too closely. Both the sheep and the goats were thin – and the sheep did not have the coat of wool that American sheep have. For me, it reminded me that it is God alone who sees the difference between believers and unbelievers. Many times, we cannot tell the difference. We look at the outside of a person. The Lord looks at the heart. He sees faith in Christ – or unbelief. He is the One who will be our Judge on Judgment Day. May we be among the sheep on His right.

“His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:12 If you are observant, you can see this in the United States also. As a harvester goes through a field, you will see the chaff flying out behind it and the grain falling into a hopper. In Zambia and Malawi, however, this separation is accomplished as it was at Jesus’ time. At the edge of a village – a cluster of huts belonging to one family – lies a pile of just harvested grain. With the wind at their backs, the harvesters take forked sticks and toss the grain into the air. The grain falls to the ground – and the chaff flies away.

However, there is a more usual way of separating the grain from the chaff. The just harvested grain is poured into a wide, shallow basket. The grain in the basket is tossed into the air. The grain falls back into the basket while the chaff is blown away by the wind. This is what Jesus saw – and we saw it, too. What a picture of what will happen on the Last Day. God grant that we are the grain – gathered to eternal life.

“Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” John 4:6,7 This is a common sight in Zambia and Malawi – women on their way to or from a dug well. Usually, they could be found performing this task either early in the morning or in the evening – during the cooler parts of the day. Again, the Bible came to life for us at these wells.