You never know what its identity is until you’re in the middle of it. It sucks you in like quicksand, pulls at your most nasty thoughts and tells you it’s ok that you don’t care about anything…everybody has those feelings.
It traps you in limbo feeling hopeless, unmotivated, discouraged, apathetic, and lethargic….preferring darkness to anything bright. You crave negativity and flock to those who will complain along with you. Anything that was once important to you has now lost it’s ranking and fallen to the back burner.
This is Spiritual Oppression.
Upon arriving in Kokotsha (Cocoa-tsa), we immediately encountered many discouraging factors that shed light on why the Botswani people were the way they were. At first we didn’t understand why people didn’t have the motivation to find a job, finish school or even go to school, grow crops to sustain life, care for their kids, or even move from their chair during the day. It seemed absurd to me. But as we settled into our desert home for the month, realization slowly sunk into our team.
Living life is hard here.
People work hard to survive a day in this desert land – it’s uncomfortable and exhausting. But the real issue is that not many of them know Jesus as their personal Savior.
So satan has made his home among the living here….planting apathy in their hearts; feeding them lies that they will never be better than what they are right now. His foot is pretty far in the door of Kokotsha and they don’t know how to be any different. The blanket of spiritual oppression has tucked them in rather securely and they think this is the only way to live now…a debilitating cocoon that calls to them every second; tugging at their weakest thoughts.
So discouragement and lack of motivation have become their constant companions – a view on life that will get them nowhere except where satan wants them. A trap that will snare anyone that doesn’t know how to fight with TRUTH.
Kokotsha literally means “knock-knock (koko) and take (tsha).” And that’s exactly how these people think. They expect to be given something tangible just by knocking at your door. They assume the work it takes to knock on your door will be enough to get something in return.
And many times, it’s true.
People give without realizing how harmful it is for the receiver. The receiver knows nothing different and goes from house to house for handouts – food, water, clothes, money, tools, anything tangible. Never having to work for the things they have except for the knock on the door. And now the receiver is stuck in a lifestyle of mooching….depending on others to provide for him/her everyday instead of learning how to provide for himself/herself. Even if there was an opportunity to learn, the lack of motivation that has taken root within this person becomes wide awake and screams, “NO! Receiving is better; easier. You wouldn’t be able to learn well enough anyways. Someone else will fit that job better.” So they continue in the lifestyle they know and are comfortable with.
When we settled into our home for the month, we had the pleasure of experiencing the “knock-knock and take” mentality the very next day. The people learned that we had arrived and we were white, American girls. In their minds, that equals money and like we had some magical power to fix all their problems.
The first encounter was the hardest – saying “no” to people who you know need help is very hard. But the help they keep looking for will never fix the real problem: Satan vs. Jesus. So instead of giving tangibly to feed the problem, we counteracted it by building personal relationships with the ‘knock-knock and take’ tradition.
At first they didn’t like that we would just sit and talk with them – they wanted physical items. But the more we said no to that and kept pushing the relationship aspect of our time with them, they began to crave something different – LOVE. I think it’s been a long time since many Kokotsha people have experienced the love of Christ through others. This new experience drew them in and shifted their desires for tangible help to spiritual and relational help.
If I’ve learned anything on this race it’s that people were born to love and be loved. God created us to reflect him in human form…and that means we are to exude love in everything.
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” – 1 Peter 4:8
Through this relationship-building we’ve been doing here, God has placed a new mindset within Kokotsha – HOPE. Hope for a real future with Him in the picture. Desolation and apathy have gradually subsided and hope has risen. The scales have dropped from their eyes and satan’s grasp on them has been shaken. Christ is working here – an army is rising to break even the strongest of chains.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares The Lord, “plans to PROSPER you and not to harm you, plans to give you a HOPE and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11
