I
am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness
in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the
sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites,
and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the
law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from
their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed
forever. Amen. Rom 9:1-5.
This passage has intrigued me for a
number of reasons:
1) Paul, the Apostle
to the Gentiles is so keen and interested in His own blood kindred
2) That Paul
is himself willing to be ‘accursed and cut off from Christ’ for the sake of his
brothers
3) Paul takes strong
vows to show how true this is – “…I am
speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness
in the Holy Spirit…”
The reasons why this is
particularly true of Paul with regard to the Israelites as an ethnic entity is
because of the reasons he gave those eight things that are peculiar to them – to
them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the
giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them
belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the
Christ, who is God over all.

The only time the Lord God
identified a nation to bestow His grace, it was rejected nationally by the
Israelites. They rejected the Law and the Christ who is the Saviour although He
came from among them. Therefore, the Lord displayed the richness of His grace
by unconditionally electing people from every nation, every tribe, every
language. It is this multi-ethnic, international and multi-lingual community
that will forever be assembled in heaven to offer unceasing worship to Him. The
ingathering of peoples in missions is what is happening now. We all have a responsibility
to pray that the Lord in His mercy may send men from local churches to proclaim
the good news of His saving power by the means of His Son, who is the
propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world where the Lord is
believed.
This understanding motivates my
desire to see genuine Christian religion among the people of Meru. Although I
minister outside the geographic Meru, yet I desire to see more and more people
from this community brought to the saving knowledge of our Saviour, even Christ.
I pray for them, for among them is my mother, my brothers and sisters and all
other relatives the Lord has providentially given me. I desire to see them
forgiven of their sins and brought to the lordship of Christ. I desire to see
more and more Bible-saturated churches in the major towns in Meru, but also in
every village so that Christ may be worshiped as God, and His gracious
fragrance spread to the lives of these people.
Background:
Meru people believe that they
migrated from the Congo Basin towards the east coast of East Africa and then
approached and settled to the east of Mount Kenya. The name Meru refers to both
the people and the geographic location. Merus are primarily agrarian, raising a
few domestic animals. The Meru tribe is a fairly homogeneous group composed of
nine sub-tribes, each of which speaks its own dialect of the Kimeru language.
The oral tradition has it that they
were once enslaved by the Nguu Ntune
"red clothed people". They eventually escaped and, in their exodus,
came across a large body of water called Mbwaa,
which they crossed by magical means (reminiscent of the crossing of the Red Sea
by the Jews from the Egyptian bondage). They later followed a route that took
them to the coast of the Indian Ocean. They stayed there for some time,
however, due to poor climatic conditions and threats from the Arabs, they were
forced to travel further north west through the Tana river basin, until they
finally reached the Mount Kenya area where they reside today.
They are to the East of Mount
Kenya, what used to be Eastern Province. The Ameru people comprise nine
sub-tribes (these are also the different dialects of the Kimeru language): the
Igoji, Imenti, Tigania, Mitine, Igembe, Mwimbi, Muthambi, Chuka and
Tharaka. The Meru community spreads out
into two counties - Meru and Tharaka-Nithi Counties with 11 constituencies.

They highly regarded the two huge
high grounds - Kirimara (Mt. Kenya) and so would pray facing to the west
towards this mountain where they believed their god, Ngai wa Kirimara lived
whom they called Mweneinya (the almighty). From him they believed rains and all
good things came. They also believed a lesser god lived in Nyambene ridges
(Ngai wa Nyambene) and would also face these high grounds. During the severe
climatic conditions such as drought and consequent famine, they would offer
animal sacrifices (unblemished lambs or goats) to appease the gods. They
strongly believed in the ancestral spirits and would pour libation on the
ground to please them before taking their meals as a way of appreciating the
provision.
Other interesting religious
activity was the believe in curses (and blessings) incurred through ancestors
or parents or through the famous Council of Elders called Njuri Nceke. This
council was primarily there to punish the evil doers and mete justice. It
functioned like the parliament and would make laws that governed various
matters such land, marriage, succession, etc.
Prayer needs
That the Lord may be pleased to:
1) send a
genuine spiritual awakening through Biblical means of grace,
2) raise many
faithful preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
3) more
healthy churches to be planted,
4) eradication
of such traditions and rituals that are anti-Christian (Njuri, Giachiaro, all
forms of idolatry, animal sacrifices to appease the gods etc.),
5) church
leaders to concentrate on church work rather than politics,
6) Christians
to live godly lives that adorn the gospel of Christ.
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