Nomadic Conference April 1-4 2012

Nomadic Conference       April 1-4 2012

Recently I had the privilege to attend a conference at Lake Babagoya in northern Ethiopia. I say ‘privilege’  because Dr. Malcolm Hunter was the conference leader and spending several days with this guy truly is a privilege. Dr. Hunter has devoted his life to the nomadic peoples of the world- the lost and forgotten ones of this planet. ‘Settled people’ or those who live in villages or towns, are the first and sometimes only people who receive the gospel message. The same goes for financial aid- whether from foreign governments or their own. But nobody goes after the poorest of the poor-those who travel with their animals in search of grazing land-the nomadic pastoralists. 

I admit, I never gave them a second thought before coming to ethiopia-I don’t even think I knew they really existed anymore. But they do- and there are millions of them- in Africa, Mongolia, Pakistan, and many other places in the world.

And they are all people just like us- with families and a social organization, with dreams and ambitions and a sense of humor--in short, they are people, too!

So here are some things I learned about this important and mainly forgotten people group:

Nomads have no land security. They do not have a paper title to any land. Therefore, they are constantly being challenged as to where they graze. If a rival tribe attacks them they will try and flee to escape having their animals taken from them. So they are always on the move- with no permanent dwelling places. Nomads do not make their wealth from planting  crops.Their wealth is ‘on the hoof’ - derived from their animals, only. 

There are 3 types of nomads:

• nomadic pastoralists- they herd their animals, follow the rainfall
• hunter-gatherers- live in forests, eat berries,honey and wildlife
• service nomads- move around offering their skill as blacksmiths,tanners, ferriers, etc..

Nomads are resourceful and flexible- they will do whatever is necessary to survive. When the rains are sparse, some of the nomads will go live in towns so as not to strain their meager water source that they have for the animals and people. Then, when the rains return or increase, they will go back to their people and be reunited with families.

So there is a continual ‘urban ebb and flow’ to areas. ‘Range management’ is another term I learned. The wise old men of the tribe make the decision as to how long this particular source of water will last. When must they begin to move the herd to another source of water? This is a matter of experience gained over generations--they know what time of year a particular spring of water will surface and where. Malcolm told a poignant story of a year that was particularly dry. He happened to be at the Weyto river (in the southern omo region of ethiopia) one day, when many herds of desperately thirsty cattle and men started arriving. They had traveled for days with no water- desperate to reach the Weyto and quench their thirst. But the river was dry!  Malcolm said he will never forget the looks of despair on the mens faces when he saw their hope disappear. Death was now certain for all their cattle-all their wealth- even some of the people as well. I had never given rain much thought when I lived in the US. Rain was always more of an inconvenience to my plans than anything else. But that was before I moved to Ethiopia. Now I know that for many people, their very survival depends on rain. Funny how a change in my location can have such a change in my outlook on things. Now when the rain comes, I say along with my ethiopian friends, “Thank you Jesus!”.

Hospitality is a major part of their lifestyle. Anyone wandering through is welcomed into their homes for food and rest. If a mans’ herd is decimated by disaster or disease, the other nomads will each give from their own herds to re-stock him. Nomads share and care for each other- this is their own particular brand of social security as well. They know they will be taken care of by the tribe.

Malcolm made the comment that Jesus was a nomad!  I never really thought about it like that- but Jesus was always on the move. He never had a home to settle down into. He went from place to place talking to people. Jesus was all about relationships. He took the time to live and eat and tell stories among the people where He was. He developed friendships with them. We should learn from His example. Jesus didn’t say “come to my church- we have a really big building” or “Come to my Bible study group- we have coffee and donuts too!”   He said, simply, “Follow Me”. Another way to look at it is that when Jesus said follow me, that implies that He is always on the move ahead of us. He is leading- we are following- at least thats the way it SHOULD be! (sometimes, well....actually many times, WE tend to lead......!) But wherever we go, or whatever we are involved in-Jesus has already been there ahead of us. Nothing that happens to us is out of His knowledge or care. We should take great comfort in that truth--and get up and get moving!

We also discussed ways that we can be sensitive to the different way that nomads will begin to build their church. As one nomad told Malcolm-” we nomads will not be interested in your church unless we can take it on the back of our camels”.  So it is senseless to build a permanent stone type of building for these people. They must be allowed to develop their church based on relationships rather than real estate. So a humble and sensitive heart is what is necessary for future nomadic missionaries. They must let the nomads themselves define their church and gently walk alongside them and help.

A word about these pictures from Babagoya. The early missionaries built this place. It was their own little shangri-la--an escape from the harshness of the lands in which they ministered. In those days, travel was prohibitive and they could not afford to take a ship back to England or Australia or wherever they came from for furlough. And yet they needed some rest from their labors.....we all do from time to time. So they built this place on the shores of Lake Babagoya. Planting many trees and flowers, building little cabins and pathways...bit by bit they transformed it into the lush little hideaway it now is.

Thank you to all those early pioneers who had the foresight to do that! I was able to rest and reap the benefit of their labors.