Unreached People Group Somila Bantu
Global Studies Survey (GLST-500)
December 8, 2023
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Background Information..................................................................................................................2
Religion............................................................................................................................................5
Economics........................................................................................................................................6
Family..............................................................................................................................................7
Mission Survey Somila Bantu people..............................................................................................8
Christianity and Africa....................................................................................................................9
Islam and Africa............................................................................................................................10
Somali and Isam............................................................................................................................11
Somali Bantu Struggles.................................................................................................................12
Missions organizations work among them....................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................20
ii
1
Introduction
Regarding the work, Jesus has laid the foundation for man to be reconnected to the all-living
God. The Great Commission was put forth for his disciples to spread the good news on how man
can be delivered. Jesus states in Matthew, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (28:19).1 The mission is critical
to making disciples, for Jesus wanted to allow a man to know the Gospel of salvation under his
authority. Wagner states, “Three of the four action verbs in the Great Commission are
participles in the original Greek: “go,” “baptize” and “teach.” They are helping verbs. The one
imperative is “make disciples.” If the Great Commission is the key text for evangelism; its goal,
exegetically speaking, is to make disciples.”2
Throughout the Bible, God calls on everyday people to spread His word and declare that God
is salvation for man because he is the creator of all things. Mankind needs him for all things, just
as children need their parents, for they teach everything to their children in the hope of being
productive citizens in society well God also wants that for us, but to worship Him and depend on
things through Him. Long before Jesus walked the earth, the Old Testament pointed man to
follow God and required His people to be missionaries of His word. Some nations have
unreached people who are unaware of who Jesus is, possibly, due to resources; either way, the
church, and ministers need to have whatever resources to lead into that region to spread the
gospel and plant churches. Jesus states, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all
1 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New King James Version.
2 C. Peter Wagner, “On the Cutting Edge of Mission Strategy,” in Perspectives on the World Christian
Movement: A Reader, ed. Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, Fourth Edition. (Pasadena, CA: William
Carey Library, 2009), 576.
2
the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matt 24:14).3 The Apostle
Paul, who can be considered the father of Missionary work, understood the importance of church
planting, as within the New Testament, he established churches, wrote several epistles to
churches, and traveled throughout Asia Minor to spread the gospel.
According to the United Nations data, the world population has reached eight billion as of
November 2022. According to the Joshua Project, over three billion people, about forty-two
percent of the world's population, have yet to be reached. This paper will focus on the Somali
Bantu people, who have a world population of about one million. I will discuss the background
of these people from their history, culture, and religion. Then, I will assess the church's mission
efforts to reach these people. The unreached People of Somali Bantus are different from the
general Somali population, primarily descendants of the Niger-Congo region of Africa has been
reached; less than 1 percent has been Evangelical without a Christian church movement,
indicating that over one million follow the Islamic faith.
Background Information
In Africa, the Bantu-speaking peoples comprise a significant part of the population south of
the Sahara, with over 300 groups, each with its language. The leading group is Swahili,
whose language is spoken all over eastern Africa. The Somali Bantu, also known as Gosha
people, are a minority ethnic group within the Bantu people; because they were a transplant due
to slavey in Somalia, they can be divided into two groups: those native to Somalia and those
from Bantu-speaking tribes brought to Somalia as slaves. According to the Joshua Project, the
Somali Bantu group is located in four countries: Canada, Kenya, the United States, and Somalia.4
3 Ibid.
4 https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/20784
3
The majority of the population, which consists of over eight hundred thousand out of a total
million people, are primarily from the southwestern part of Somalia, mainly in the Jubba River
valley. This ethnic group is a descendant of the Bantu ethnic group, primarily from the Niger-
Congo area in Africa.
Although this group of people is located in Somalia, the Somali Bantus are different from the
general population of Somali people regarding their ethnicity and culture. Their race comprises
the Cushitic Somali clan living in the North-Eastern parts of Kenya. They exist along an
extensive area of land that runs from the east of Lake Turkana to the north part of Kenya and
through to the Indian Ocean. The Cushite people comprise the Somali, Rendille, Borana, and
Oromo tribes. The primary language of the Somali Bantu is Maay. However, within some
tribal areas, other languages are spoken, such as the Tanzanian language, Kizigua, or Swahili.
The Somali Bantu group is also part of the Arab and Italian minorities. Van Lehman states, “The
Somali Bantu predominantly speak minority languages, notably Maay, Zigua, and Swahili,
4
which the Maxaa-speaking Majority-clan Somalis rarely speak.”5
The Somali Bantu people were brought to Somalia by Arab slave traders around the 19th
century. The Bantus underwent centuries of cruelty as they became slave laborers in the
agricultural sector. Besteman states, “Tens of thousands of slaves from the east coast of Africa
up to Somalia, where they were put to work on Somali-owned plantations.”6 During the start of
the 20th Century, slavery was on the rise of being outlawed, so the Italian government, owning
over 100 plantations in the Jubba and Shebelle River Valleys, established labor laws forcing the
Bantu people to work the farms primarily owned by the Italian government. The Bantu people
were enduring such hardship that they tried efforts to associate themselves with the larger Somali
clan. Besteman states, “In Somalia, lineage and clan structure provided the basis for social and
political life. Bantu families often claimed membership in three of Somalia’s five major clans:
Darood, Rahanweyn, and Hawiye clans.”7 However, this effort did not work out until World War
II, when the British conquered Italian Somaliland. In 1980, the US established a relationship
with the controlling government in Somalia, which was under Siad Barre, who came to power in
1969, and the surrounding area, hoping to establish strategic bases around the Indian Ocean. The
aid the US government provided to the clans controlling that government also created issues for
the Bantu people because they were seen at the very bottom of the hierarchy in Somalia. Van
Lehman states:
“The Somali Bantu were widely excluded from government positions, political
representation, and public services, particularly education and health care. In the 1970s,
the Somali government began a land expropriation campaign of Somali Bantu ancestral
5 Van Lehman, Daniel J., and Estelle M. Mckee. "REMOVALS TO SOMALIA IN LIGHT OF THE
CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE: RECENT EVIDENCE FROM SOMALI BANTU DEPORTEES."
Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 33, no. 3 (2019): 357+. Gale OneFile: LegalTrac (accessed December 4,
2023). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A597635031/LT?u=vic_liberty&sid=summon&xid=aff9df6e.
6 Catherine Besteman [email protected] (2012) Translating Race across Time and Space: The Creation
of Somali Bantu Ethnicity, Identities, 19:3, 285-302,
7 Ibid,
5
lands. Title to this land was given to large state farms and absentee Majority-clan
supporters of the regime. Since the onset of the civil war in the early 1990s, competing
Majority-clan warlords have violently exploited Somali Bantu land and labor. As a result,
many Somali Bantu have fled. And within Somalia, there are currently 2.6 million
internally displaced people.”8
Due to the persecution the Somali Bantu people endured, some fled to other parts of the
world, such as the United States, coming as refugees. Although many Somalis found their way to
the United States, the estimated would be around 150,000; only 12000 are from the Somali
Most of the Bantu groups are located in Atlanta, GA, creating a community organization to
help and support other Somali Bantu people coming to the States. According to Frounfelker, “In
1999, the United States (US) recognized the Somali Bantu as a persecuted minority group and
moved to admit up to 12,000 Somali Bantu into the country.”9 Before the U.S. offered
immigration residency for refugees, some Bantu refugee families felt compelled to send
members back to Somalia to try and claim their former farms.
Religion
The majority of Somali Bantus are 99.4 Sunni Muslims, but some still hold animistic views,
Clarkson states, “They have been viewed as outsiders and marginalized by ethnic Somalis due to
their linguistic, cultural, and physical differences. To lessen the impact of discrimination, many
have become Muslim, but some still hold to animistic beliefs.” 10 which are things of natural
8 Daniel J. Van Lehman and Estelle M. Mckee. "REMOVALS TO SOMALIA IN LIGHT OF THE
CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE: RECENT EVIDENCE FROM SOMALI BANTU DEPORTEES."
Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 33, no. 3 (2019): 357+. Gale OneFile: LegalTrac (accessed December 4,
2023). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A597635031/LT?u=vic_liberty&sid=summon&xid=aff9df6e.
9 Rochelle L. Frounfelker., Mehret T. Assefa, Emily Smith, Aweis Hussein, and Theresa S. Betancourt.
"“We would Never Forget Who we are”: Resettlement, Cultural Negotiation, and Family Relationships among
Somali Bantu Refugees." European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 26, no. 11 (11, 2017): 1387-400
10 Pamela A. Clarkson Freeman PhD MSW [email protected] , Debra S. Penney CNM MS
MPH , Joanna E. Bettmann PhD LCSW & Natalie Lecy CSW (2013) The Intersection of Health Beliefs and
Religion Among Somali Refugees: A Qualitative Study, Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social
Thought, 32:1, 1-13,
6
objects, including plants, animals, natural phenomena, and even non-living objects believed to
have souls or spirits. They are also inclined to be more liberal in their Muslim views, like women
may be allowed to serve in specific roles in society and not wear the hijab head covering; they do
follow halal dietary laws, such as the meat from animals must be slaughtered by another Muslim,
they are also prohibited from eating pork or drinking alcohol. There are tiny groups of Christians
within the Somali Bantu people; those who are Christians are shunned and heavily persecuted;
according to the Joshua Project, the Somali Bantu only equal to 0.08 percent of people that
adhere to being Christians.11
Economics
Regarding their economy, their standard of living is deficient, and most of their homes have
no running water or electricity. Their economic power was non-existent; as they were freed or
escaped persecution, they became farmers in the Juba valley, becoming the agricultural
backbone within Somalia as manual laborers. According to Smith, “The Somali Bantu faced
decades of slavery, persecution, and discrimination by the Somali majority and the Somali
government. When civil war broke out in 1991, Bantu villages were attacked, their food was
stolen, and countless Bantu villagers were killed. Most fleeing walked the border into Kenya to
find relative safety in the Dadaab refugee camps.”12
As a disregarded group, the Bantu had no political representation in politics or admission to
government services, no opportunities within the educational system, and nothing was available
for them professionally in the private sector. This segregation also led to no economic
development or resource provisions for the Bantu people; the government's priorities did not
11 https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/20784
12 Y.J. Smith, “Resettlement of Somali Bantu Refugees in an Era of Economic Globalization.” Journal of
refugee studies. 26, no. 3 (2013): 477–494.
7
align with their needs. Because their slavery lineage placed them in second-class status, when the
Bantus tried to escape from the war in Somalia to Kenya, discrimination also followed them
there.
Although they do know how to make a living, it has still been difficult for any of them to get
ahead, mainly because of their educational background and speaking the language where they
may reside, such as in the United States, as Smith states, “After living in the US for seven to
eight years, most still find it extremely difficult to survive economically, and many of the women
are unemployed and do not speak English.”13 To make a living, they grow crops for themselves
and commercial markets; crops grown include maize, millet, sorghum, sesame, beans, cotton,
rice, vegetables, and fruits. Crops grown for commercial export markets include bananas, citrus,
and vegetables.
Family
Somali Bantu family structure isSpatriarchal, with the oldest male bestowed the highest
admiration. Married couples tend to live with the husband's family until they are self-sufficient.
Despite their hardships, they remain versatile, adaptable, and hard-working people with a strong
sense of family and community values. Froundfelker interviewed a Bantu father, and he stated,
“One father summarized, “What I expect from my children is to be peaceful, more educated, and
help each other. We expect them to be a leader. When they grow up, I want them to help us as a
community.” Parents wanted children to respect the authority of parents, assist in taking care of
the household, and ultimately support other Somali Bantus.”14
Unlike women in most countries, when they are married, they generally take the husband's
13 Ibid.
14 Frounfelker, Rochelle L., Mehret T. Assefa, Emily Smith, Aweis Hussein, and Theresa S. Betancourt.
"“We would Never Forget Who we are”: Resettlement, Cultural Negotiation, and Family Relationships among
Somali Bantu Refugees." European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 26, no. 11 (11, 2017): 1387-400,
8
last name, but in the Somali Bantu culture, the women keep their father's name after marriage,
and the children take on the husband's name. The husband and wife have a defending role in the
family structure; in most cases, the father is the disciplinarian, while the mother takes on the
child advocate or confidante; she ensures the child stays happy. They believe it takes a village to
raise a child. The concept is that all members within their community are responsible for
supervision and disciplining and playing an essential part in their lives by being
emotionally there for them when needed.
Mission Survey Somila Bantu people
To approach people, you must understand who you are engaging with, precisely regarding
their religion, and get them to understand who Jesus is to mankind. The section focuses on
surveying the mission work of the Somali Bantu ethnic group, whose origins are in East Africa.
these people were in Somalia through the slave trade and found refuge in an area of Juba
River Valley is known as the Gosha. Once the origin of their religion is understood, it will be
possible to find things in common to where and how they can relate when it comes to doing
God's work by bringing in the good news to these groups of people.
Christianity and Africa
Christianity was established in southeast Africa around the 4th century within the kingdom of
Aksum by trade routes. Christianity was introduced “to the Aksumite kingdom within the context
of maritime connections with the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean, but the most famous
account of the origins of Christian religion in the Aksumite kingdom is from the early fifth-
century church-historian Rufinus of Aqui.”15 The way Christianity reached this area was a man
15 Heldaas, Eivind Seland. “Early Christianity in East Africa and Red Sea/Indian Ocean Commerce / Les
Débuts Du Christianisme En Afrique de l’est et Le Commerce de La Mer Rouge et de l’Océan Indien.” The African
Archaeological Review 31, no. 4 (2014): 637–47.
9
called Frumentius, who was on a voyage to India; on the way back home, he and his companions
stopped at a port to replenish water supplies. During their stop, they were captured and placed
into slavery, and because of his background speaking Greek, they were employed at the courts;
during his time there, Seland states, “During his captivity, Frumentius worked to improve the
conditions of Christians in the kingdom, securing rights of assembly, and facilitating the
construction of houses of worship.”16 Once released, he returned home to ask permission to
return to the area to help establish a church there; he received the blessing to return as the first
Bishop of the Ethiopian church. It could have been considered the first mission of Christianity to
come into that area, but after Islam faith took hold of the area, Ali states, “The earliest church
missionary society that arrived in East Africa between 1844 and 1846 was from Germany, led by
John Krapt and Johann Rebmann interacted with coastal communities. They established the
first and earliest mission school at Rabai in 1846, followed by Nairobi in 1902 and Friends
School Kaimosi in 1903.”17
Islam and Africa
Although the Christian mission was established there in the late 4th Century, the Isam faith
outside the Arabian Peninsula started to spread to East Africa around the ninth century by Arab
traders or travelers. According to Castryck:
“Islam in Africa usually falls apart in different areas of knowledge production. In broad
strokes, North African Islam is dealt with as part of the Islamic heartlands, and Islam in
West Africa has been treated as a core element of that area’s history for many centuries.
An East African research tradition considers Islam a coastal phenomenon until it recently
turned toward the Indian Ocean rather than the rest of East Africa.”18
16 Ibid
17 Ali Adan, Ali. "Historical Development of Muslim Education in East Africa: An Eye on Kenya." Journal
of Education in Muslim Societies 4, no. 1 (Fall, 2022): 128-39, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?
18 Geert Castryck, "Living Islam in Colonial Bujumbura – The Historical Translocality of Muslim Life
between East and Central Africa." History in Africa 46 (2019): 263-98. doi:10.1017/hia.2019.2.
10
Islam, a faith that started through Mohannad in the 7th century, made its way to different tribes
along the Arabian Peninsula, eventually making it way toward East Africa. However, it spread
throughout the area by force. Sukdaven states, “In these conquests, they encountered two
powerful empires, Persia and Rome, and defeated them, thus occupying their territories and
consequently, establishing Islam.”19 Although in the areas of Africa such as East and Southeast
Africa and the Horn of Africa, such forces were not present when this faith came into the
area; they were present with love and respect for all people. Sukdaven states, “Emigrations
were the main cause of the spread of Islam to the southern regions of Africa, especially in the
eastern and southeastern areas and the Horn of Africa. Arabs were familiar with these
regions and traveled there via the Red Sea, before Islam.”20
Somali and Isam
The faith of Islam came to Somalia in the ninth century, during the time Islam was growing in
the region. For every Somali, religion is a vital part of their lives, and in most cases, they are
more religious than any other Muslims in the region of Africa. The Islamic faith is the state's
official religion, providing a united character for all Somalis, regardless of their clan cultural
background. They traditionally practice a rigid form that has been influenced by Sufism, which is
stated by Mitha, “At the core, one can see that it is, in essence, the process of losing one’s self, of
submitting one’s self, completely to the forces of the Divine, of reconnecting to Him.”21 The
Somalis practice Islam from the Sunni perspective, just as Christians have been a sector branch
like Protestant or Catholic.
19 Maniraj Sukdaven and Ensieh Bagheri. "Spreading of Islam without any Violence in Central, East and
West Africa as a Case Study." Hervormde Teologiese Studies 74, no. 3 (2018),
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?
20 Ibid
21 Karim Mitha. "Sufism and Healing." Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health 21, no. 3 (2019): 194-205.
11
In spite of the challenges Somalia and neighboring nations faced, there has been outreach
hard work. When the Somali government collapsed in 1991, clan wars broke out and lasted for
decades, which caused terrorist groups to take over the country. Due to the war broke out,
thousands of refugees have fled to other countries, such as Kenya. Kenya, a county just south of
Somalia, has taken in half a million refugees at the Dadaab refugee camp. According to Orwenjo,
“Since the outbreak of civil war in Somalia and the subsequent disintegration and demise of the
Somali state, since its inception, the camp has been a home to refugees fleeing from war and
famine, not only from Somalia but also from Uganda, Ethiopia, The Democratic Republic of
Congo.”22 When missionary work comes into play, this would be a place to do missionary work
because the country of Kenyan has taken in the faith of being a Christian Kenyan and, in turn,
has Christian leaders.
Somali Bantu Struggles
The Somali Bantu people originate from southern parts of East Africa, consisting of
countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Republic of Congo.
People in this area share a common background, such as the language (Swahili) and history; their
religious practices include Christianity, Islam, and traditional beliefs. During the second half of
the 19th century, when missionary work was taking place, the Bantu people were also taken as
slaves. Ali states, “The earliest church missionary society that arrived in East Africa
between 1844 and 1846 were from Germany, led by John Krapt and Johann Rebmann, who
interacted with coastal communities. They established the first and earliest mission school at
Rabai in 1846, followed by Nairobi in 1902 and Friends School Kaimosi in 1903.”23
22 Daniel Ochieng Orwenjo, Tunde Asiru Hameed, Gilbert Francis Odhiambo, and Juma Jared. "“They
have Overstayed their Welcome”: The Discursive Construction of Collective Identities in Kenya’s Quest to Close
the Dadaab Refugee Camp." Global Social Welfare 8, no. 4 (12, 2021): 351-66,
23 Ibid
12
The Somali Bantus briefly followed their native ritual ancestor's religion from the southeast
Africa. At the same time, they were kidnapped into slavery, but once they learned that Muslims
were prohibited from owning other Muslim slaves, some Bantu people were set free once they
converted to the Islamic faith. Over time, many other Bantu people converted to Islam.
Some Somali Bantu who reside inside the Dadaab refugee camps converted to Christianity.
Van Lehman said, “By 1996, however, a small number had converted to Christianity in the Ifo
refugee camp, which was also home to several hundred Christian Ethiopians. The Christian
Bantu stated that they did not want to belong to a religion (Islam) that could allow atrocities to be
perpetrated against them.”24
Missions organizations work among them
According to the Joshua Project, a good portion of Somila Bantu people live in Eastern Africa
Christian (82%), and it is possible to reach them when converting to Christianity. Having a
missionary organization to work among them would influence their understanding of and
acceptance of the Gospel. In Kenya, Christianity is the leading and influential religion. The
Somali Bantu people in this atmosphere would dominate their lives by experiencing the Christian
values and attitudes relating to family and marriage.
Allowing missionary organizations to work among them could provide the necessary
resources to reach these people. Because most of the Bantu are located within the Dadaab
refugee camp in northeastern Kenya and the Kakuma Refugee Camp in the northwest, it would
also allow Kenyan Church leaders to minister to those refugees and those coming across the
border. This would also allow the mission to discipline future leaders who may return to Somalia
24 Van Lehman, Daniel J., and Estelle M. Mckee. "REMOVALS TO SOMALIA IN LIGHT OF THE
CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE: RECENT EVIDENCE FROM SOMALI BANTU DEPORTEES."
Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 33, no. 3 (2019): 357+. Gale OneFile: LegalTrac (accessed December 4,
2023).
13
to plant churches among their people because there are still over 800,000 in the country. The
goal would be to educate a small group and allow that group to spread the gospel among its
people.
One thing must be considered to reach people: what do they want, and how can they be
helped? Most people in the world want a better life, which means a way t. to provide for the
family, be healthy, and have the opportunity to be successful through education and other means.
When Frounfelker interviewed a Bantu person, it was stated, “. All of this is caused by
education. I am not saying we are ignorant, but we do not know anything compared to the
world.”25
Furthermore, these things are lovely, but there must be a way to allow the gospel to affect
their lives. It would be sustainable to participate in all things they will strive to do; they must
understand that God is the only way to prosper.
The strategy that should be promoted to the Bantu people will be to educate them, and an
excellent place to start will be within the refugee camps. This will be a critical point that would
teach basic reading ability skills. Other key elements to teach the Bantu people would be math,
science, and language which would help them understand the translation between English and
Kiswahili; this would come with an understanding of teaching the gospel from a Christian
religious education perspective. Frounfelker was informed by one parent stating, “A parent
explained, we want the children to show us something that we never expected. We want them to
get a higher education, a better job.” These expectations were clear to Somali Bantu youth in the
groups, and they understood them within the context of their parents’ experiences in Somalia and
25 Rochelle L, Frounfelker, Mehret T. Assefa, Emily Smith, Aweis Hussein, and Theresa S. Betancourt.
"“We would Never Forget Who we are”: Resettlement, Cultural Negotiation, and Family Relationships among
Somali Bantu Refugees." European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 26, no. 11 (11, 2017): 1387-400,
14
during the war.”26 Education matters because it influences what children believe, who they
become, and knowing how to make good decisions for their future. I think if we are to bring
people to the gospel, they must be educated so that they will be able to understand the concept of
who God is and be able to translate the meaning of the scriptures. Education is discounted in
most African countries, and the topic is ignored vigorously so as not to offend those searching
for a better life.
If organizations that do mission work focus on education first, those they teach will better
understand the gospel. The Bible may not speak a lot about education, but God has always
commanded those to understand so that they will know. The Bible has many other ways to
discuss education, such as knowledge, teaching, learning, instructing, and thinking. The book of
Deuteronomy states, “Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the
things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.
Furthermore, teach them to your children and your grandchildren.”27(4:9). Another scripture in
the Old Testament states in Deuteronomy, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and
shall talk of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down, and
when you rise.” (Deut. 6:7). Even the Apostle Paul talks about the gift of understanding and
learning when he states, “And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ.” We, as Christians, are to educate everyone so that we will not be
ignorant about understanding who we are but who God is to us.
For the mission to work when it comes to educating the people we are trying to reach, we
must understand their culture and how we can connect to develop trust. This would come into the
26 Ibid.
27 Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New King James Version.
15
concept of cross-culture. Winter states, “Cross-cultural witnesses in the Third World need to
have great respect for the in-built mechanisms of social change in general and for the “correct
procedures of innovation in each particular culture.”28 When we fully understand the people we
are trying to reach, we can create a desire and passion for God for every nation on earth,
but first, we all must connect.
There is an issue I have come to understand about the Somila Bantu people, and that is they
are concerned about the integrity of their culture. One thing about these people is that they are
not afraid of adopting new things; they are just concerned about remaining who they are. Deramo
states, “The Somali Bantu adapted to their new society with the support of volunteers from faith-
based and not-for-profit organizations that connected them with health, social service, and
educational resources.”29 The mission is to bring the gospel to them, but the most significant
challenge is adapting to cultural change. Culture affects everything we do and think; a
missionary is sent out to work with people. those who go into other cultures must learn to adopt
if we will successfully bring in the gospel. Deramo states, “While volunteers sought integration,
the Somali Bantu strived for cultural sustainability, defined here as the intentional process of
negotiating difference and change through expressions of rejection and resistance to norms,
behaviors, and attitudes that threaten cultural integrity.”30
Coming back to the issue of the development of an education system inside the refugee
camps, as people begin to learn within a school setting, they will need to have a learning place
when it comes to religious education that can have an impact on religious beliefs, and it would be
28 Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, eds., Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A
Reader, Fourth Edition. (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2009), 528.
29 Michele Deramo. "Transformations through Diasporic Consciousness of the Somali Bantu in the United
States." Journal of Somali Studies 5, no. 1 (Jun, 2018): 9-30,
30 Ibid.
16
a place where they can learn to worship. This would be where disciples are made so they would
have the opportunity to understand and deliver the scripture in a way that they can understand
when it comes to their lives and how it would apply to their culture and living standards. Winter
states, “And they will exhibit the same tendency to generalize and project their cultural
understandings into the message of the “Bible Culture.”31
Severing's time in the military has brought plenty of experience when it comes to working
with people from other countries. During my time in Iraq, there was a saying that we must get
people working with us to change the hearts and minds of the people, letting them know we
were there to support them. To accomplish this task, we had to listen to their issues and figure
out how we could help resolve them. Listening with an open ear helped us understand how
concerned we were, and anything in our power to do it was done without hesitation. When it
comes to missionary work, the organization must be willing to listen to their concerns and how
they can help the process instead of doing it for them. This can be said when it comes to building
a foundation about the gospel and the missionary work that comes with it. Smalley states, “We
quickly evaluate and decide what course the new church or a new Christian
individual should follow. However, we are neither competent nor qualified to make such
decisions, having little or no real knowledge of the cultural background of the people or
individual.”32
The mission for missionaries is that when one goes into a new culture, they must learn to
adapt to their new way of living. Being able to be flexible is not always the case for a
missionary; one must become a child again by taking in a slow process to learn about the new
31 Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, eds., Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A
Reader, Fourth Edition. (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2009), 428.
32 Smalley A. William. “Cultural Implications of an Indigenous Church,” in Perspectives on the World
Christian Movement: A Reader, ed. Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, Fourth Edition. (Pasadena, CA:
William Carey Library, 2009), 500.
17
culture, and to behave, one must understand what one beliefs are and how one can come to such
a conclusion. Frounfelker states, “Culture informs the goals of resilience; in addition, values,
beliefs and practices determine the range of opportunities available to communities to access
more proximal determinants of resilience, such as concrete resources and social supports.”33
One thing I have learned from serving overseas as a soldier is that everything we so was
prejudged, not understanding their standard of living, so as missionaries want to reach people
like the Somali Bantu people, an open mind has to be within a person; if not, then it would be
hard to adapt to the people as well; they will not want anything to do with anyone coming into
where they live and try to bring in the gospel.
Looking at what Jesus and Paul accomplished during their missionary work, they know how
to adapt to the people's culture and deliver their message to their understanding of life. Suppose
we reflect on how Jesus spoke to ordinary people when he delivered in his parables; all things
were based on understanding their everyday lives. As for Paul, he delivered the gospel by
considering the knowledge and culture he was a part of. He stayed in place for a time living with
them, but as he became a part of their culture, he also was able to make the gospel a part of their
daily lives; he learned how to integrate and brought a new perspective to their way of living
according to God.
Conclusion
Reaching the Somali Bantu may not be so tricky, given that some of their people have
converted to Christianity while living in the refugee camp. However, we must keep in mind the
perspective that they must not give trust right away, given the hardship they have been through
from the time taken into slavery and living among another group of people who look at them as
33 Rochelle L, Frounfelker, Shanze Tahir, Abdi Abdirahman, and Theresa S Betancourt. “Stronger
Together: Community Resilience and Somali Bantu Refugees.” Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology. 26,
no. 1 (2020): 22–31.
18
less than others. The mission is that we must build these people up, and the way to accomplish
this will be through a better way of life, which can be through education, housing, and the
gospel. Beatson states, “Because of their oppression in Somalia, many Somali Bantu have little
or no education. They value education and are hardworking people.” 34 A well-organized
organization that is willing to give as much support as possible by providing the infrastructure
that will meet their need and providing the type of people that will need them to gain spiritual
support when it comes to delivering the gospel to them and, hopefully, a conversion that will
develop disciples among their people.
34 Jean E. Beatson, "Supporting Refugee Somali Bantu Mothers with Children with Disabilities." Pediatric
Nursing 39, no. 3 (May, 2013): 142-5,
19
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