Muzungu.
It means “white person” in the local language here in Livingstone, Zambia. I’ve heard this shouted at me from little kids as we walked by on the street. It’s been said at the Orphanage when we first arrived, along with big grins and huge waves of hellos. I’ve heard it from a group of older ladies who smiled and said, “Hello Muzungus!” It seems everywhere we go here in Zambia we stick out! But, this word “Muzungu” is not offensive, it’s not meant to be an insult, it’s a fact. I am white. (Currently I’m a pinkish brown, thanks to my Irish and Native American heritage, but you get the gist) There are not a great deal of white people here in Zambia. So much so, that now when we as a team spot a white person on the street, we’ve joined in, in saying, “Look! Muzungus!”
The other day as some of my team and I were walking back from the market, I saw an older woman walking past us with a bucket of fresh corn on her head. It is customary to greet an older woman as “Mama” or “Auntie” so in the best accent I could do, I smiled and said, “Muli Bwangee Mama!” She looked at me and with a HUGE grin and goes, “Ohh BUEENO BWANGEE….” but then she kept talking. There was a problem, I had used all the words I knew. I was panicking. So as she spoke, I nodded my head, smiled and said “Si!” and then asked if she spoke English. I hadn’t even realized that I had responded to this beautiful African woman in spanish!!! My team around me just started giggling! As we walked away, my team reminded me just how Muzungu I was! We all got a really good laugh out of that one.
Yet as I think of the word Muzungu, I realize, it’s an easy was to tell that we are not from around here. I also think about the story in Acts 4, where the Sanhedrin questions Peter and John. Verse 13 in particular
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
I stand out in Zambia because I’m white. I’m a Muzungu, that’s a fact. But do I stand out because I love Jesus, and because He lives inside of me? Do I let His love speak, when words aren’t enough? Or when I do speak, or love or live, do people take notice and recognize that I too, have “been with Jesus” ? I have heard it said that you’re name isn’t what people call you as much as what you answer to.
Your friend the Muzungu Jesus lover! 🙂
