“The Gola, Gbandi, Vai, Mende, these are all the Liberian
tribes that are mostly Muslim. I don’t even say Mandingo because, Muslim,
Mandingo, it’s almost the same thing.”
This was the
summation of my Liberian friend, and it rings true throughout Liberia. When you
speak of a Gola or a Vai man, there’s a good chance they might be Muslim but if
he is Mandingo, he is Muslim.
There is a lot of
fear and segregation among the Mandingo peoples and their Loma and Kissi,
predominantly Christian, neighbors. While they meet together to trade at the
markets, they live in separate sections of the capital city of Voinjama in Lofa
County. Many Liberians of other ethnics do not even realize when they call
someone a “Mandingo” they are actually referring to three and potentially more
people groups. The original “Mandingo” people in Liberia are the Manya. They
migrated into the Lofa area from Guinea and quickly acquired land and business
status by marrying Loma women. After some time, they were given their own
fields and villages, until they occupied most of the Quardu Bondi region and
parts of the Voinjama region as well, both in upper Lofa County. Their cousins,
the Konyanka, migrated down to Liberia from Guinea at a later time and reside
mainly in Monrovia. The Konyanka do not have any of their own villages, they
are mainly traders in the capital cities. The Manya have an English influence
on their language due to the Americo-Liberian impact and the Konyanka, a French
influence, due to the French colonization period in Guinea. The tones in their
languages are reversed, so that a Manya though he can understand a Konyanka
person will instantly know which ethnic he is from. Also included in the
Mandingo term is a small minority of Maninka immigrants, also from Guinea and
mainly found in Monrovia.
I visited Voinjama,
the capital of Lofa County, and met with some Muslim background believers (MMB)
to find out more about the Manya Mandingo. In Voinjama, there are dozens of
churches, Lutheran, Catholic, Pentecostal, Baptist etc. however there is not
one church on the Mandingo side of town.
The MMB’s told me their stories of redemption, each had one
key aspect that led them out of their lives as Muslims into Christ’s light and
that was a believing friend. One young woman told her harrowing story of
running away from her home in Guinea because of an unwanted incumbent marriage.
When she arrived in Voinjama, a local believing Loma family took her in and was
kind to her and eventually led her to Christ. Another man spoke of a believing
neighbor who took the time to talk with him weekly about religion and gave him
cookies as a kid. When he was old enough, he made the decision to follow Christ
despite the negative response from his Muslim family. I was encouraged to hear
stories of redemption from these MMB’s and impressed with the faith of the
believers who crossed cultural barriers to speak truth to them. However, I was
discouraged to note the very few Manya believers in their number.
Recently, an SIM missionary couple moved to Voinjama and to
plant a Muslim background believer’s church with the help of a Manya believer
and evangelist. They are also working
together on Manya scripture portions and have a vision to reach the Manya and
see Manya speaking churches. I asked if they would take me out to visit one of
the Manya villages in Quardu Bondi, where I was told there were a group of
Manya believers meeting. When we arrived in the village, we were greeted with
smiles and treated to some gospel singing, some in English and some in Manya. As
we sat down and met with these Manya believers, we soon learned that of the 7
or 8 present with us that day, 0 of them were actually ethnically Manya people.
They all spoke the Manya language to each other and are living in a Manya village;
however, each came from a different ethnic background and had migrated into the
village via marriage or during the war for safety or for other reasons. It was
shocking to me to find this out, because this was the village where I thought I
would certainly find some Manya believers but in fact, the ones that I met with,
were all emigrants. Previously, I had talked with the MMB’s, the SIM
missionaries and the Manya evangelist and was distressed to hear only about 100
(or less, they could only think of 75 persons) of the 50,000 Manya living in
the Quardu Bondi and Voinjama region were believers. That is 0.2% of the Manya population in that
region. However, having met the “Manya” believers of the largest Manya
gathering of believers (15 persons) and found that at least the 8 of them were
actually of other ethnics, my heart became sad to consider that it’s possible
that even that 0.2% might be wishful thinking.
It is hard for a Manya person to become a follower of
Christ, even if they believe that Jesus is the right way, they are afraid of
losing their family and their communities favor and safety. If they become a
believer and their family and community turns them out, how will they support
themselves? What if their family or community becomes aggressive towards them? What
will happen to their body when they die, who will bury them? These are very
real problems among many predominately Muslim tribes, even the folk Islam tribes such as the Manya. These questions boil down
too, “If I become a follower of Jesus, who will be my friend and family?”
Is it possible that the reason, those Manya speaking
ethnically diverse believers were embolden to form a group is because they were
on the fringe of their society? The true ethnic Manya would know who are
originally, Kissi or Loma or Gbandi and may not feel threatened by these people
meeting together as believers. However if a true Manya became a believer it
might cause a bigger stir. I’m not saying that there are no true Manya
believers, I met some in Voinjama, I’m saying that it might be harder for a
Manya person to become a believer and remain in their community of origin.
According to my Manya evangelist friend, many Manya once they become believers,
essentially give up their culture and move to Monrovia.
Meanwhile back in Monrovia, where ½ of those who are
classified as Mandingo people in Liberia reside, we are still unsure of what
percentage of these persons might be believers. With 1/3 of Liberia’s
population living in Monrovia, there is such a mix of cultures and languages it
is hard to discover which ethnics are going to the churches that seem to be on
every corner. There is one thing certain though, there is not one Mandingo
church, there is no pastor preaching in their heart language. There is a
pervading belief among Liberians that “Mandingo” and “Muslim” are interchangeable
terms, that all Mandingo persons are Muslim, that those born Mandingo will
remain Muslim, and that they are the hardest people of Liberia to reach with
the Gospel.
Please Pray for the
Manya, the Konyanka and the Maninka of Liberia. Pray for those Mandingo
believers who are already following the Lord despite cultural boundaries and
sometimes persecution from family members. Pray that the Manya, Konyanka and
the Maninka will be able to soon worship God in their own heart language and
find encouragement in a group of fellow “Mandingo” believers. Pray that they
will be encouraged that they are not alone and that other Mandingo’s can also
become believers. Pray that there will be a strong movement among the Manya
Mandingo in the Quardu Bondi and Voinjama region, and that the region will
become covered with Manya believers praising God in their own heart language.
Please pray for those who have begun to work among the Manya and those soon to
join the work of bringing good news. Pray also for the city dwelling Mandingo,
especially the Konyanka and Maninka that God will reach into their communities
and begin services and congregations just for them, so that they too can come
to know and worship God in their own heart language. Pray that Liberian
believers of every ethnic will become bold and reach out with friendship and
Christ’s love to the Muslim peoples around them. Pray that Mandingo and other Liberians will see the truth, that no tribe or person is born a Muslim but that God created each person to serve and worship the true God.
