Africa 24 Media Photography

Africa is widely known for its many cultures and traditions. Diversity is a word that augurs well within the African continent and has been frequently used to describe the difference in its people, religion, tradition, music, beliefs among others. In religion in particular, the freedom of worship enshrined in many constitutions by African governments has led to the sprouting of many Churches. In Kenya for example, there are more than 4000 registered churches.

However, many of these churches (besides the mainstream Catholic, Anglican, Methodist and Pentecost) coalesce Christian beliefs with varying degrees of traditional ones like libation and presence of ancestral spirits. Though religion in Kenya is much more different than it was before European colonization, many tribes in the country still have and practice their own set of beliefs in the church. Although the spread of Christianity has largely eliminated many of the beliefs, some tribes like the Turkana, Samburu, and even the fairly-civilized like the Luhya, Kikuyu and Luo communities still incorporate their traditional ways in prayers. Just like the names used to refer to God vary from “Were” to “Ngai” to “Nyasaye”, every tribe has its own myth about the presence of God and how He should be worshipped. Every Sabbath day, most of these traditional believers like the Kenya African Sapcrynnsk Church of Soi, based in Kawangware shanties in Nairobi, Kenya, dressed in conspicuous and colourful robes and waving flags sideways, march to the streets in chorus, with shakers, hitting jingles, singing and praising God at the top of their voices, dancing, and hitting drums as a way of connecting with God. But with the changing world, the survival of this church and many other traditional churches hang in the balance. Members of these traditional churches are defecting en masse to the Pentecostal churches, something that can be attributed to the more civilized way of praying. Pentecostal churches are now easily winning the young, thanks to the fact that sermons are delivered through charismatic preaching, dancing and singing are more appealing and new instruments for worship and technological knowhow in the church is embraced. However, even as the inferno of Pentecostal evangelism continue to raze down the power of traditional churches, some of the more ardent traditional believers continue to hold on to their beliefs. But for how long will these traditional churches last?.

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