Father David Nyinga, a Comboni missionary from the Democratic Republic of Congo, shares his life and faith with the Nomatsigenga people in the central jungle of Peru. He talks about the ongoing process of inculturation and the joy of celebrating faith in the local language.
The day I presided over a Mass for the first time in Nomatsigenga, the indigenous language of the Peruvian Amazon jungle, Ruby, the director of the Nopoki University hostel where I was studying, said to me with emotion and admiration: “Father, thank you so much! May you always be blessed. I thank you for the Mass. Seeing the eyes of the children when you speak to them in their language is a source of encouragement and enrichment, and even more so when you speak about God”.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, my country, we have our own liturgical rite: the Word of God is translated into the different local languages, and the Mass is celebrated in those languages. For me, this was normal, as it was normal for parties to be accompanied by dancing. I had to come to Peru to realise that behind all this, there was a great effort of inculturation.
At the Sedes Sapientiae Catholic University of Nopoki, I began to wake up, to be amazed and to realise the difficult work of inculturating the faith in a given culture. The university is located in the Peruvian province of Atalaya, in the department of Ucayali.
My superiors asked me to attend this institution of higher education to learn Nomatsigenga, the language of the Arawak family spoken by the indigenous people of the communities that I accompany and that belong to the territory of the parish of Pangoa, where the Comboni Missionaries work.
It was there that I discovered the life and culture of seven different peoples who, in addition to Spanish, speak their own languages. Near the residence, there was a small wooden chapel where people prayed and sang to God in their languages, including Nomatsigenga.
The chapel is about a five-minute walk from the residence. It is there that every week we pray and sing to God in a different language. I feel like I am present at Pentecost! This encouraged me a lot. I was able to develop a clear and stimulating idea. What if I tried to learn the language and prayers of our Christian faith better? What if I asked the bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of San Ramón, Archbishop Gerardo Zardin, to translate the Mass into Nomatsigenga? No sooner said than done.
We have begun the process of inculturation, a journey that continues. As in my country, Jesus also became a native of the indigenous culture of the Nomatsigenga. Jesus is now native to the central jungle of Peru. Now, when I visit the small communities of the jungle, we profess our faith and pray the Our Father and the Hail Mary in Nomatsigenga.
We adore, praise and bless the bread and wine in their language and I better understand Ruby’s joy that day at Nopoki University. I think that the seeds of the Word, sown in these communities from the beginning, as in all cultures, are slowly germinating in these people. I am very happy to be an integral part of this process of inculturation.
We, the members of the Comboni community, are engaged in a missionary pastoral that seeks to incarnate itself to accompany and walk with the indigenous communities of Nomatsigengas, responding with joy and courage to the mandate of Jesus who sends us to bear witness to him throughout the world.
