Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Philosophical Fragments

Home
Evangelical
Out of Africa: Human Worth in the African Bush

Out of Africa: Human Worth in the African Bush

Last updated on: August 22, 2013 at 10:00 am by Guest Contributor

Out of Africa: Human Worth in the African Bush 2013-08-19T20:42:32-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Galen Dalrymple

One of the most distressing aspects of the part of Africa I have seen and heard about from my fellow interns has been the view in the African bush and culture about human worth. I don’t pretend to speak for all cultures or places in Africa, but I have heard facts and stories about treatment of other humans that make my skin crawl.

Africa has long been a war-torn continent and that continues even to this day. Some is the result of the clash of religion: Islam versus Christianity, tribal religions and Christianity, or rival superstitions run amuck. One thing that is common is the low value placed on human life. Perhaps that is partly due to what one fellow intern described as Africans “survival mentality” that labors just to keep soul and body together for one more day. Life in the rural parts of Africa (the bush) is a brutal struggle. The small village behind the tree line in back of the training center is impoverished. Our leader here told me that the average per person income there is about $1 US per month. Not per day…per month! There is so much disease and death that perhaps they have become desensitized to the value of human life; I don’t know.

The wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone have led to some of my intern companions telling me hair-raising stories. One brother from Liberia had to flee for his life to literally live day and night sleeping on the ground in the bush. For those who have never been here, that is a terrifying concept because the bush literally is crawling with biting, stinging insects, snakes and animals. He had to endure that for several months. He tells of seeing barricades constructed of human intestines that were strung between two posts and tied at each end. He tells stories of the rebels who would launch an operation against a village and before entering the village they would hold a meeting to decide what kind of operation they would conduct:

Operation No Hand – where a hand was chopped off of every person;

Operation No Foot

Operation No Eyes

Operation No Ears

Operation No Arms or No Legs

Operation No Love – where the lower jaw was chopped off of everyone in the village

One of the most horrifying aspects of this was that the most ruthless of the soldiers were mere children who had been given guns and machetes, who killed totally without remorse – even with glee.

The soldiers would find a pregnant woman and then engage in a debate among themselves, taking bets on whether she was carrying a boy or girl child in her womb. After the betting was finished, they would cut the woman open, remove the baby and see who won the bet. Other atrocities against women were mentioned that are just too horrible to describe.

The value placed on women is virtually nil, though they work hard from sun-up until after dark. In many cultures, women have no standing but are viewed as possessions. In parts of Ethiopia, the bride price (value) is ten cows. In Nigeria it is two cows, but in Kenya, it is only three goats. Women and young girls are often seen as mere possessions to be used by men. In some of the cultures, polygamy is very common. Elsewhere, marriage is virtually nonexistent as people simply live together with all the resulting cultural, physical and spiritual issues that result from that practice.

Due to the level of poverty in the bush, a girl may sell her body to any man willing to pay her the equivalent of a mere fifty cents. It is a large amount to the poor, more than she could make in any other way. While we know, as Christians, that this is wrong for so many reasons for both the man and the girl, we need to also be moved with compassion by the conditions that lead to such situations that a girl would be so desperate for something to eat that her intimacy is sold and her life put at risk for disease and death, for just fifty cents. It is easy to condemn such things from the comforts and confines of an America church, but much harder when one is in the bush face to face with that young girl.

In the village behind the training center, young girls are “married” to a man when the girl is as young as 10 years of age. While we were there, one young girl of just 15 who had two children, committed suicide by drinking poison. The pressures of being a wife and mother to two young girls at only 15 years of age were apparently too great to bear. I was told that because it was a suicide, they would not bury her, but took her lifeless body out into the savanna to be consumed by the insects, animals and elements.

How the heart of the Lord must weep for such situations! How desperate should our prayers be to overcome the effects of sin and the fall for these people, while still recognizing our own spiritual depravity as well!

These stories and the people affected by them are the reasons we are here. We have come to engage in God’s work to transform lives and help change the present and future generations and eternity itself for these cultures and peoples, by the grace and power of God. There is no quick answer, but God is never in a rush. He is patient and long-suffering, but we must not interpret that as complacency on His part. He is not complacent. We must not be, either.

Galen Dalrymple works for Medical Ambassadors International (medicalambassadors.org) as the Field Curriculum Coordinator and lives in Northern California with his wife, Laurel, and yellow lab, Lucy. His passions are his family, photography, travel, and doing what he can to alleviate suffering and injustice as a call from Jesus.

Galen ([email protected]) has to raise his own support. If you wish to help, you can donate at: http://www.medicalambassadors.org/donate.html. Find his name in the SUPPORT MISSIONARIES section, click it and you can donate. If you wish to make a recurring donation, contact [email protected] or call her at 209-543-7500 ext. 219. All donations are tax deductible. Thank you!

Previous Post

August 15, 2013

Out of Africa: Who Is Advanced and Who Is Backward?

Next Post

August 29, 2013 Out of Africa: Roll Call of the Great

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abortion adoption Africa Aging AIDS America Worship American history Americolatry An Open Letter to a College Freshman animals Apologetics art Atheism Authors Barack Obama Bible Biblical Scholarship Billy Graham Blogging Bono Book Review Books That Change Lives Breakfast Links Bulletin Board Business Children Christian Approach to Politics Christian Media Christian Right Derangement Syndrome Christianity and Homosexuality Christians in Government Christmas Chuck Colson CLS v Martinez Comic Creation Creativity and the Arts Cross Examinations Cross Investigations Daily Fragment Daily Trinity Death debt Deep Thoughts on Fatherhood depression economy education Election 2012 entertainment Environment Epistemology Erik Campano Euthanasia Evangelicalism Evangelicals and Gays Everyday Transcendence evil evolution Facebook Jesus faith Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics faith and reason family Feminism foreign affairs Franklin Graham Future of Evangelicalism Galen D. gay marriage George W. Bush Guest Posts Guns Gymnastics Harold Camping Heaven Hell Holidays Hollywood Homosexuality iam2.org Illegal Immigration immigration Immigration Reform Injustice Inspiration Interviews Islam Jeremy Lin Jesus jesus christ John Mark Reynolds Johnnie Moore Judgment Day Just War Theory Killing Osama Link of the Day Lists of the Week Mark Goldblatt Marriage Military Missions Mitt Romney Modern Western Thought Monastic wisdom Mormonism Morning Hash Morning Report Motherhood Movies Obamacare Old Testament Orphan Care Palin Parenting Pastoral Resources Patheos Peace Between Religions PEPFAR Persecution Peter Wehner Peter Wehner Philosophy Political Quotes of the Day politics Politics and Economics Pornography Prejudice Prisoner Rape Question of the Week Race Radical Faith Rapture Ravi Zacharias Rick Santorum Russia Salvation Sarah Palin Scandals Science Science and Faith Separation of Church and State Series sex sex slavery social justice Social Justice Ministry Spiritual Disciplines sports Steven Tyler Suffering Suicide Sunday Funnies T. Dalrymple Tea Party Technology terrorism The Christian Media Files The Daily Trinity The Electorate The Ethics of Rhetoric The Future of Seminary Education The Middle East The Obama Presidency theological Theological Renewal Theology Uncategorized Understanding Evangelicalism Vocation war War and Peace With Distinction Word to the Wise Writers

Select a Month October 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 December 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz