Contextual Witnessing Among Luo Muslims in Western Kenya
Keywords:
Christian, witnessing, Great Commission, culture, contextual, theological and missiological approaches.Abstract
Islam is a religion that has dominated many parts of Africa. The attempt to convert the Muslims through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has been marred by many challenges including the tendency to generalize Islam and by extension applying general or old conversion strategies. However, conversion from one faith to another should be understood from a localized or a contextual perspective. Through qualitative and library research, the discussions centre on three key areas that are fundamental in developing strategies appropriate to Muslim witnessing with special reference to Luo Muslims in Western Kenya. First, a historical background of the coming of Christianity and Islam to Kenya and their perspectives to the African cultures have been provided. Second, a focus on how Islam has interacted with local cultural death practices among the Luo Muslims in Western part of Kenya has been carried out. Lastly, the understanding of who Jesus is, which is pivotal in Christian salvation, has been appropriated. Missiological and theological approaches have been devised as necessary bridges in conversion experience among the Muslims together with the training in Muslim evangelism. In conclusion, rather than looking at Islam from a general perspective, this study of Islam and the Muslim people takes the local context into consideration, with a particular cultural area of emphasis in this paper being death and burial practices among the Luo Muslims. It is through the in-depth understanding of cultural issues that the church can develop strategies relevant for Muslim evangelism.
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