Animism Class: If you look at this word you might say one of two things; 1. What is that word, and gloss over it. Or 2. You have heard this word in regards to spirit worship. As we began to dive into this class and this term, we learned quickly that neither is the case. To give animism a definition and to work from it could be said that “animism is the practice in which one believes in personal spiritual beings and impersonal spiritual forces that affect you personally each day of your life which you must learn how to manipulate to protect and better yourself.” This definition is merely scratching the tip of the iceberg, trying to explain an organic belief system that adapts to its surrounding and are found within human beings who live out these beliefs and make up systems to explain why they believe “what” they believe. This system will be talked about a bit more in the next class “Folk Islam”. In that class we will learn how these two classes connect.
Animism will look differently for each people group, but in that difference you can expect some similarities. Animism as a belief system is a “holistic” system, meaning that stories they use to explain creation or how people came to be are each a complete story in and of themselves and do not have to connect to one another. Their systems are complete by themselves and do not need to connect like we connect things here with our Western Linear thought process. The systems work within themselves. Animism is “particularistic”; meaning that by its definition the system is unique for the individualistic people where the people usually call themselves as “the real people” and are tied to the land. This is important to understand because we will strive to be “a part” of the people group we will be going to, and more importantly will teach them God’s Word which is a universal and personal message for all. One of the greatest challenges when teaching God’s Truth to animistic people is making them see that this message is for them! We have heard many stories that these animistic people say, “oh that’s nice, that’s your creation story… and how you view what sin is and what God looks like, but that’s not what we believe”. We must teach relevantly so that when we teach about God they understand that God is thee only God and much more. If we do not, we will only breed syncretism and create people who view Christianity for white people or that Christianity is nice to have for insurance when they die, but it does not apply to them while they live their daily lives. They will still do various acts to appease the “evil spirits” and procure a blessing so that they can hunt and provide for their family, and then go to church on Sunday to appease yet another spirit. This is the battle we will be getting into. Please pray that we become better communicators of truth and better learners of life so we can speak relevantly to the people God is leading us to minister amongst.
Stoking The Fires 