From a Missionary in Tanzania
This is the story of the eldest son of the village witch doctor. It’s the story of a boy born “Christian” in a house that had never once heard the Gospel. This is a story of God reaching into darkness and allowing a new story to begin. This isn’t my story, but I’m thankful to be in it. This is the story of Jose.
The Witch Doctor’s Helper
Jose was born near Mwanza Tanzania. His tribe is Sukuma, the largest in Tanzania. He is the oldest of his father’s seven children. Jose was born into a Christian family, but he had never heard the Gospel.
In Tanzania, you are either Muslim or Christian. If you have a Muslim name, then you are a Muslim. If your parents have Christian names, then you are a Christian.
When Jose was 7 years old, his father divorced his mom, became Muslim, and married a Muslim woman. Just like that, his whole world changed. His entire identity.
Jose continued to live with his mother and siblings for a time, but he became restless. Before long, he found himself in the care of his grandma, the mother of his father, who lived in a village. The stories that Jose told me about his life in the village were dark and scary, he does not look back at those days fondly.
His grandma was the village witch doctor.
Jose’s father continued to check on him and promised that he could leave the village. Jose went to school and did well, he learned how to read and write, and he also learned some English. But all in the village. For several years, Jose was the witch doctor’s helper.
Finding My Life
Eventually, he was able to leave the village and returned to Mwanza to live with his mother. Here, he met a man who told him about Jesus. Jose remembers this man having a positive influence in his life (I think that this was the first seed sown in his life of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus). He was able to continue school for two years.
Jose stayed with her until his dad moved to the city, Dar es Salaam. A year later, Jose moved with him, both to help his dad with the work and as the Tanzanians would say, “to find my life.”
During this time, Jose’s father became the witch doctor.
Jose, his father, his father’s new wife, his uncle and his step-mother’s 3 children squatted on a piece of land that a local college owned. They started farming an area about the size of a city block. They grew tomatoes, bananas, a kind of lettuce, and other produce. Jose was able to continue school for a year, but then funding ran out.
It was about this time that Jose met another Christian who had a big influence in his life. This Christian told Jose not to do the things that he was doing such as witchcraft, cutting himself and following his father’s footsteps. Jose did not ever take on the Muslim religion as his father had.
A New Missionary
When I met Jose, he was a neighborhood kid who showed up at the house we were renting. The family that had lived there before had returned to the US for a furlough and Jose and their son were friends, so he came over to visit the new family, us. I recruited him to help me learn the language. I hired him for about 6 months, during that time I was learning Swahili, Jose shared his story with me.
He never talked about the witchcraft and his dad being a Mganga or witch doctor. He never told me that he was training to take his dad’s place as the next one.
While we studied, we often studied the Bible and at the time I was trying to learn how to do evangelism and discipleship in a Swahili context. As we went through the Bible and the doctrine of grace, somewhere in there Jose understood the Gospel and accepted Christ.
Meeting the Witch Doctor
Jose moved on to help others in our organization learn Swahili. Jose’s father was not very happy with me or him. He was counting on Jose to step up and be the next witch doctor.
One day I visited Jose at their family farm and his dad had brought two other witch doctors down from Mwanza. I started asking more questions about Jose’s dad and his “business”, and Jose started sharing more about his family’s beliefs. His father was deceived by evil spirits who pretended to be good. He would make spells and potions to “help” people.
His father believed he was doing good.
I felt that the Lord wanted me to go and talk to Jose’s dad. I was scared and not at all wanting to, but I did. He met with me, and we spoke for a long time. I told him that the Bible clearly teaches that Christians are to have no part with evil spirits and that Jose was now a Child of God.
Admirably, his dad was concerned that Jose wouldn’t be taken care of, but I assured him that God could protect him and that Jose was God’s responsibility.
I asked Jose’s dad, “If you die today and stand before God, would He allow you into heaven?” He said that he was 100 percent sure he would be allowed into heaven.
I was a bit shocked at his response. Then, I told him that I too was sure that I would be allowed into heaven, but by a different way than what he said. When I asked if he wanted to hear what I trusted in he said, “sure.”
I started in Genesis and told him the first to last sacrifice story. At the end of the story he said, “if what you say is true many, many people are going to hell.” I told him yes and that he was one of them, unless he trusted in God’s Sacrifice, Jesus.
He continues his witch doctor practice, to this day.
A Steadfast Faith
Jose teaches on accountability during a recent disciple-making movement training.
Despite his father’s resistance, Jose continues to pursue Jesus. He will not follow his father’s footsteps. Jose has suffered from several spiritual attacks, but God has faithfully brought him through all the enemy’s junk.
We are studying God’s word every week or so together and he is leading Bible studies on his own. He is enrolled in a one-year training program that some fellow missionaries teach where he is learning how to start a business, manage money, lead Bible Studies, and he studies English and the Bible.
Jose is truly an example to me of serving.
He has now been baptized and I am so happy to call him my brother. Jose’s prayer is that his family will come to know the Lord. He wants to return to Mwanza to teach the older people about Christ. He says they are the ones who keep the younger generation in bondage to the old ways. Pray for him that the Lord Jesus will be glorified in his life.
Just the Beginning
Pray for Tanzania. Jose isn’t alone, many young believers are emerging and passionately and obediently following Christ. They are beginning their own groups and making new disciples. A movement is starting.
At Team Expansion, we call this a DMM, Disciple-Making Movement. We are earnestly praying for God to help us begin 24 new movements by 2024, around the world. We are defining one movement as 4 streams to the 4th generation. One (if not more) of those movements could happen in Tanzania.
Do you want to be a part of starting 24 DMMs by 2024? We need people to Go, pray, and give. We need churches to send. If you’d like to start a conversation with us, we’d love to hear from you.
