The Power of Greetings in African Christianity

• Main Author: Humphrey Mwangi Waweru
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Athens Institute for Education and Research 2020-10-01
• Series: Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts
• Online Access: https://www.athensjournals.gr/humanities/2020-7-4-4-Waweru.pdf

This is an original study of greetings among Christians in an African setting. Greetings have played a major role in the spread of Christianity in Africa and not much study has been done on this simple gesture of interaction. Greeting is not unique to the Africans it is a common phenomena. A common way of greeting within the Greek culture is ‘Hello’, Γεια (Ya), hence Γεια σου (Ya su) is the way of greeting one person, on the other hand Γεια σας (Ya sas) is commonly used, when greeting more than one person. In Africa one uses greetings as a way of self introduction to a new person or even to an acquaintance. In both the Bible and modern Africa greetings have played a major role in the daily life of the people. It is a fundamental element among African Christians to greet one another in the name of God. ‘Praise God’ or ‘Bwana asifiwe’ (Kiswahili). Such are the most common words in greetings among African Christians. If one does not greet fellow Christians through these words something is terribly wrong and one is taken to be an enemy of God, people and the cross of Christ. African Christianity has used greetings as a way of expressing one’s faith. In almost every Church you visit you will discover a common style of greeting. In some Pentecostal churches one will say ‘God is good’ (Ngai ni mwega) and the congregation will reply ‘all the time’ (hingo ciothe). Then one who is greeting will repeat ‘And all the time’ (hingo ciothe), congregation will reply ‘God is good’ (Ngai ni mwega). In the Catholic Church, one will say ‘let us praise the Lord’ (tumukumie yesu kristo) and the one being greeted will reply ‘let us paise him all the time (tumukumie hindi ciothe) and so on. The Bible legitimates greetings as a way of mission either to already founded churches or churches to be. Recent studies have shown that greetings do not necessarily lead to mission, however, but to an ever greater encounter between two human beings. In particular, the relationship that develops between people who embrace greetings result into a fellowship of everyday life. This essay argues that the future of church mission will necessitate a reorientation from crusades in market places to living as mission oriented people at face level of individual relationships of house churches. The dialogue taking place on the plain of greetings and socialization is explored both ib Bible and African culture, along with a critical survey of various greetings and missioned stances towards it. At the end practical theological reflections are offered towards developing a style of life for mission centered on greetings.