Disappearing Village

This weekend Miriam hosted a meeting of area literacy teachers. In the process of gathering reports, one teacher asked if a village should be included in the list of literacy sites for 2008. If there was a class there, why shouldn't it be? The teacher replied, "Because the village no longer exists." It's not there anymore!?! What happened? A young college student died. The death was announced on the radio. In the middle of the night a group of young men, convinced that witchcraft caused the death, started burning the houses of the suspected sorcerers. When the frenzy of exorcism and mob justice ended, burnt out rubble marked the places where houses had been. The village was empty.

Young men burning houses where sorcery has been implicated in a death touched people we know twice in the last three months. Tata Nguti, a cooperating farmer in the Lusekele oil palm program, lost everything (house, furniture, clothes, cookware ...). The mob of young men accused him killing his son -- death possibly caused by a hemorrhagic fever. They either burned or uprooted part of his small plantation and torched part of the new palm nursery.

A month before that, Tata Emmanuel, the retired man who works in our house part time, had his house burnt down by Vanga youths after the death of his son. Neighbors protected him, but the flames reduced the family home to ashes and opened deep wounds in clan relations in Songo.

Why does this happen? The causes are very complex, but I might speculate on a few elements. First, people believe in sorcery. Where unusual or unexpected death is concerned, people often assume that someone caused it and begin looking for the smoking gun. The rules of evidence are fluid and suspicion can fall on even the most unlikely candidates. Second, young people neither trust state officials to administer justice nor respect the authority of the state. Mob "justice" can easily rush into the void, though everyone regrets it after the dust settles. Third, I think economic hardship has battered hopes of young people. Opportunities denied with no hope for change contribute to an almost unconscious angry resignation waiting for an excuse to explode. Explosions are inexcusable, but not incomprehensible.

What can Christians say? Christ offers freedom from the domination of all spiritual powers bent on evil. We don't have to react in a spirit of fear. Truth is important; but determining truth requires a clear head, keen eye and patience. We support order that assures security for all members of society. God intends for us to live in peace, without fear. Our civil authority should be just and worthy of our trust. Christ offers us hope, hope that our character can change, that the character of others can change. Where others seen only sickness, Christians expect healing. Where others abandon the work of building as futile, Christians see the finished product and the dignity in creating it through hard work and perseverance. Where Christ is Lord, hope abounds.

May Kingdom life capture these young men who for the moment can only react out of fear or anger or frustration or disillusionment or berserk abandonment. May the Church here find the words and witness that presents Good News in a compelling way.