Abstract
The Kasena in northern Ghana first encountered Christian missionaries in 1906
and so began to hear about We chona (God's way). For 50 years, the Roman Catholic
Church functioned alone among the Kasena. Over this time most Kasena perceived
We chona to be the "white man's religion" and largely irrelevant. Of those who
became Christians many appeared to live a dichotomous life. They attended church
on Sundays, requesting prayer and Mass be said for their crises and problems, but also
sought to resolve issues through divination and traditional means which the church had
condemned. From the 1950s, Kasena began to change their perception and acceptance
of We chorja. This period is also marked by the entry of new churches into the
Kasena homeland, exposure to new aspects of the Christian message and increased
Kasena migration to the south of Ghana.
migration to the south of Ghana.
This study attempts to understand from the Kasena their reasons for accepting
We chona and to discover in what ways they perceive it as relevant to their world and
in the context of their family and daily life.
The study initially identifies the historic, environmental and socio-political
context of the Kasena. It explores Kasena organisation of social and family life, and
the way they seek to live in their environment, to resolve some of their problems and
clarify issues, with a view to gaining insight into their ideas and beliefs about life and
the transcendental realm. There follows a study of Kasena stories of conversion, the
establishment of churches through archival and literary sources and 185 unstructured,
open-ended interviews with men and women in different churches and communities.
The most significant problems and issues Kasena face, as well as questions they ask
each other, are identified through archival material, personal observation, discussion,
interviews and from information provided by eighteen church leaders from six
denominations who recorded problems and questions addressed to them personally or
which were raised in the context of church meetings. Christian reactions to resolve
or manage a selected number of these problems, issues and questions are examined
through 195 intensive open-ended interviews. The results of the interviews and
analysis of selected stories, songs, proverbs, prayers, sermons, and "testimonies"
provide an insight into the emerging Kasena Christian thought and theology.
The process may enable us to develop a framework to explore the early stages
of Christian development in other places and periods of time as diverse as the Bobo
of Burkina Faso and the Franks, Angles and Saxons of Europe.
