Tracing God's Walking Stick in Maa: A Study of Maasai Society, Culture and Religion, a Missionary's Approach

Voshaar, Jan (1979) Tracing God's Walking Stick in Maa: A Study of Maasai Society, Culture and Religion, a Missionary's Approach. PhD thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen.

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Abstract

I was in Maasai country from November 1977 until November 1978 in both Kenya and Tanzania , to learn something of the Maasai way of life. Before this I had been with the Maasai in Kenya as a missionary from 1962 to 1974. After my missiological studies in Nijmegen in June 1977, I formulated a number of questions concerning my proposed stay with the Maasai. I quote from that paper: "... What is the interpretation, the inspiration, and the aspiration of Maasai life? Which are the vital issues concerning this life, as the Maasai know them and as others know them , today and tomorrow? Which are the interests of the church and how do these compare with Maasai and national interests ...? The main accent will be on the deeper religious and cultural values, moods and motivations, that lie at the basis and are the heart of the Maasai manner of life ... "I realised at the time that the search for answers or even the reformulation of questions would be a process. Little did I know how intense this process was to become. It was a process of learning to listen, of learning to observe and of trying to understand. It was a rich experience, in which the Maasai taught me much about life and in which I also came to re-evaluate and re - appreciate my own past in a Western and Christian culture. My method of study in Maasai, or rather the process of learning I went through, was as follows. The greater part of the first four months I spent in a Maasai village ( Emairete ) near Monduli. During this period I took part in discussions with Maasai and Arusha people, at the same time participating in their daily life as much as possible. Slowly a picture of the Maasai world-view evolved. It was a thrilling experience. I then spent four months in various areas in Maasai Tanzania, especially in the Loliondo area, to speak with Maasai elders, younger people and educated ones in those areas and to discuss my findings with the missionaries in the various missions. During this period the earlier picture of the Maasai world-view became clearer. Though the initial focus of my study, described above, remained the same , I came to a reformulation of the questions. Having found that reality is one, i.e. that individual people, objects, the divine and all aspects of life partake of one total reality and are, not made into objects unless within that one total reality, I asked three questions: 1. What is reality like? What is the "colour" of this total reality? How is it perceived? This question is a search for the meaning of all that is. 2. The quest for meaning showed itself to be at the same time a question as to what reality is like in actu. Reality proves to be alive and effective, fruitful and potent. The question became what is this efficaciousness of reality like in the universe? in the divine? and in man? 3. A third question presented itself as follows: how does man realise himself within the totality of reality? How does he live and celebrate the meaning and efficaciousness of reality? During the last four months of my stay in Maasai I concentrated on this last question. I went to Kenya and stayed for a short time in Olorokoti loo Siria to compare my earlier findings of Tanzania with statements from people of the Ilwuasinkishu. Then I stayed in a Maasai home stead in Loita almost continuously for two months and was fortunate to be present at a number of ceremonies during which I came to appreciate the third question after a manner. Meanwhile I tried to read accounts and papers about the Maasai as much as possible. In this I was greatly helped by the Maasai library of Colby Hatfield of Arusha and especially by the almost complete library of Fr. Frans Mol of Narok.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Tracing God's Walking Stick, Maa, Maasai society,culture, religion, missionary's approach
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BV Practical Theology
Divisions: Africana
Depositing User: Mr Christopher Mapunda
Date Deposited: 10 Jul 2015 09:57
Last Modified: 20 Mar 2018 13:58
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/276

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