Map of Senegal

The Wolof People

People Name: Wolof

Primary Language: Wolof

Primary Religion: Sufi Islam/ATR expressed in the Mouride and Tijani brotherhoods.

Location: Of the 3.1 million Wolof in the world, nearly 2.8 million live in the Senegambia region of West Africa. They are most densely concentrated from the Senegal River in the north to the river Gambia in the south. They form nearly 31% of the total population of Senegal, and 15% of the population of The Gambia.

Population (estimate)

Total Wolof . . . . . . . . . 3,100,000
In Senegal . . . . . . . . . .2,800,000
In The Gambia . . . . . . . . 161,000
In Mali . . . . . . . . . . . 43,000
In Cote d'Ivoire . . . . . . 36,000
In New York City . . . . . 15,000(?)
In France . . . . . . . . . . 10,000

Adult Literacy . . . . . . 20%
(Of this literacy rate, 12% is in French and 8% is in Arabic and other languages.)

The History

Wolof history probably dates to about the 12th or 13th century. Wolof forefathers migrated west to the coast from Mali following the defeat of the Empire of the Ghana in the 11th century. Portuguese traveler accounts from the 15th century indicate an organized Wolof presence in what is still their homelands. Europeans established a fort on Gorée Island off the coast of modern day Dakar, which served as one of the primary points of departure for slaving vessels bound for the Americas. Since European contact Wolof history has undergone numerous conquests and revolts as competing rulers challenged one another for kingship.

Religion

At least 98% of the Wolof people call themselves Muslim. This means they practice the "5 Pillars of Islam:"

* Confess that God is One and Mohammed is His prophet.
* Give a "tithe" from their income.
* Pray toward the city of Mecca five times each day.
* Give alms to the poor.
* Make the holy journey to Mecca at least once in one's lifetime.

The vast majority of Wolof are members of one of two Sufi brotherhoods.

Mouridism: The Mouride brotherhood is of Senegalese origin. It was founded in the later part of the 1800's by Amadou Bamba Mbacke. To many Mourides, he is the intermediary between themselves and God. He is also considered a national hero, and a liberation hero.

Touba

The mosque of Touba is the largest in Senegal and one of the largest in the world.



The most important event of Mouridism is the annual pilgrimage to the city of Touba, where Bamba is buried. The mosque of Touba is the largest in Senegal and one of the largest in the world.
On our way to Kaffrene, from Dakar we were caught in the middle of this pilgrimage, there were hundreds of thousands on their way to Touba and cars and trucks were overflowing with people.

Why we were there: #1 to Participate in the Wolof Consultation

The Wolof Consultation was started 15 years ago to bring together and facilitate cooperation between Long-term mission workers and National Believers who have the desire to see the Wolof People come to know and follow Jesus Christ.

We were there to discern the needs of the Wolof Church and Believers in order to effectively give report during our upcoming Wolof Connection (held this month in Seattle). The Wolof Connection was created to be a support and advocate for those who are working directly among the Wolof People; it consists of churches across the U.S. and around the world.



I met Seadu the first day at the conference and immediately connected with him. He was the same age as me, and we both enjoyed shooting hoops during the consultation breaks. He had come to be a disciple of Jesus after a five years of carefully studying the differences between the Koran and the Bible. His father was a teacher of the Koran. In the end what helped him make the decision to follow Christ was the evident difference in the few Christians he knew. He saw in them the "abudant life" that Jesus so often spoke about. After years of struggling through the consequences (persecution from his family and friends) he is now a key young leader among the Wolof Believers.

Mark Snelling--Antioch Network President and key Wolof Connection Leader(left)Malik (far right)-Key Wolof Leader

Prophetic word brought by Malik: A call to be the visible church, to move in unity, and to equip and release the Senegalese Believers to take the lead!

Why we were there #2: Long-term work/adoption of the Sorkogne Village

The team I was with and their church had adopted the Wolof People living in the village of Sorokogne. We were there to continue to build upon existing relatioships and strengthen existing ones. With the goal of seeing the Kingdom of God come to that village.

Purpose #3 Meeting Needs; money for Mosquito Nets, Solar-Powered MP3Players (with the Gospel in Wolof), and Farming Resources

Wolof Believer Overjoyed Listening to the Gospel in His Wolof Language

This was rewarding knowing that the Believers who cannot read would be able to listen to the Gospel in their own language, and be able to share the Gospel with others through this device.

Pictures of the Wolof People

The Talibes

The "tablet school" is where the lesser marabouts or clerics called "Ustaas" teach children to recite the Koran, verses of which are written on wooden planks. This is the first religious instruction of the child, at about 4 or 5 years of age.

Exploitation

We were told that these children would be forced to beg in the streets all day and bring whatever they had received to their Ustaas. They would work all day and get fed barely enough to survive.

Talibe boy

Talibe boy

It was evident to us that the children were not being treated good. Their clothes were all torn and it did not appear that they had access to or opportunities to practice basic hygeine.

Group of Talibes

Flocks of children roaming the streets begging, tin pots in hand, are supposed to be talibés or students of tablet schools. There is currently a lot of debate over this former koranic school system which some believe has been corrupted into child labour/exploitation practice.

Closing Thougths

In Senegal there is the struggle for the Believers to trust God for their daily bread. Tomorrow may bring an epidemic of malaria or yellow fever to take away their children. Or they may not have enough seed or fertilizer to plant their crops, or a poor rainy season will wipe out their harvest.

How do westerners who for the most part have the means to help when they ask, do so without creating a dependency upon man and not God?

But how could we say no to the requests when we are able to meet the needs? And if we do say no how can we expect them to respect our message of Christ?

Have we in the West introduced a Christianity that does not represent adequately the message of Jesus and His Kingdom? I heard repeatedly from the Senegalese Believers a perceived connection on their part between God’s favor equaling Material blessing. And why wouldn’t they when they see those of us from the West who presume to teach and show them the ways of Jesus possessing such abundance of wealth.

Closing Thoughts

Have we in the West who have brought the message of Jesus too often imposed more of our Christian culture than offering the person of Jesus?

Have we failed to give to the nations, an opportunity to express in their own flavor what discipleship to Jesus is? In Islamic countries like Senegal this is a huge issue. Culture and Islam is inseparable, so when a Senegalese comes to follow Christ and leaves his culture and customs to conform to a ‘Christian’ culture they cut themselves off from their own family and people and lose their platform and right to bear witness to what “Christ has done for them.”

In Senegal like all over the world the body of Christ is divided. One church family mistrusts another, while another church family competes with another for attendance which equals money which equates to keeping the ‘machine’ running; maintaining the status quo.

“When will we realize that it is dysfunctional of Christians to want to build anything (churches, ministries, etc.) other than to build the Kingdom of God?”

Closing Thougths

What does this stir up in us? Are we living out a superficial Christianity that we are exporting to the nations? Would Jesus words to the teachers of the law and Pharisees apply to us, “Woe to you,…you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and then you make that convert twice as much a child of hell as you are.”

Closing Thoughts

I read recently in a book by Brian McLaren some of these same challenging questions, he articulates much better than I do:

“What if Jesus of Nazareth was right—more right, and right in different ways, than we have ever realized? What if Jesus had a message that truly could change the world, but we’re prone to miss the point of it?

What if we have developed a religion that makes reverent and honoring statements about Jesus but doesn’t teach what Jesus taught in the manner he taught it? What if the religion generally associated with Jesus neither expects nor trains its adherents to actually live the way of Jesus?

What if the core message of Jesus has been unintentionally misunderstood or intentionally distorted? What if many have sincerely valued some aspects of Jesus’ message while missing or even suppressing other, more important dimensions?

What if many have carried on a religion that faithfully celebrates Jesus in ritual, and art, teaches about Jesus in sermons and books, sings about Jesus in songs and hymns, and theorizes about Jesus in seminaries and classrooms…but somewhere along the way missed rich and radical treasures hidden in the essential message of Jesus?

What if too many of today’s religious leaders—among whom I must be counted—are among the last to get the message of Jesus and the firs to reduce, oppose, distort, or suppress it, just as they did in Jesus’ day?”

Closing Thoughts

I thank God for the opportunity to serve the Wolof people, to be able to part of a team that provided basic needs, as well as the light and love of Christ within us that brings encouragement and hope to those who are weak in the faith and refreshment to the weary and burnt out. Even more I am thankful that God chose to reveal His heart-ache and passion for his Body, the Church, from this experience among Wolof people.

I want to honor those who have made many sacrifices and even their own lives to bring the gospel to the Wolof people. To say Thank You to those who are even now on the front line serving Christ among the Wolof. God Bless you and strengthen you!

Closing Thoughts

This has further confirmed my desire to press on to the goal of knowing Christ and learning to walk as a disciple of Christ. To learn from Him what Kingdom living is all about; the ‘abundant’ life He spoke of so often. As I learn from Jesus, my Teacher, I know I will become like Him. As I feel the call to see the local church, and every believer fulfill their purpose in Christ I see the connection to Jesus’ words to those of us who would follow Him to make disciples of every tribe, tongue and people, teaching them what Kingdom living is, and to point them to Jesus who can rescue us from the Kingdom of Darkness and through a journey of following Him, teach and transform us on the inside so that we naturally flow in His Kingdom.

We are at a critical moment; the signs are all around us that the church is weak and staggering. (statistically if you look at those who go to church and those who do not, there is little if any difference all across the board. From divorce, to issues, of purity, and integrity) Saying this we know Christ loves His church and is Faithful to care for His bride and we know that throughout history Jesus has used leaders and parts of His body to bring renewal and correction to His church in its impurity and weakness. And He will do it again!

If God has ordained His church to be the instrument to reach the Nations, we notice a problem. On one side of the Canyon is God’s church and on the other side is the Nations waiting to hear and see lived out the life changing Message of Jesus and the Kingdom. The bridge to fill the gap has to be able to bring renewal and health to the church so that it can fulfill its destiny to the Nations.
By God's grace we are on this journey!