Sickness and healing expenence is universal, but the context in which both are perceived and dealt with is particular. Culture and the individual constitute the universal context. The social structures, values, beliefs, the symbol system of a culture and the tendency of the individual to act upon his existence within cultural parameters, inform the particular context. The relationship that exists between culture and the individual is best described as dialectic. The concept of dialect is the theoretical tool to analytically show how this relationship works out in real life. At the base of this relationship operates conflict. Sickness, or permanent ill health since early childhood as shown in an in-depth case study, triggers conflict on at least two levels: the personal-psychological and the socio­ cultural level. To effectively deal with sickness and the inner conflicts caused by it, is to channel the motivation to resolve them by way of employing a symbolic idiom, a cultural symbol that attains personal meaning. G. Chewe P. of Bemba ethnicity, the main actor of this thesis, demonstrates how his life experience of sickness made various symbols become operational, how he filled them with personal meaning, and that there was no hiatus between the public and private domain. Healing requires more than medical aid. Cultural symbols that become personal symbols are often tied into religious experience of some kind. Individuals who successfully employ personal symbols eventually achieve healing because the symbolic idiom helps them to resolve intrapsychic conflict. Missiology cannot escape from two realities: culture and the individual. If anything, missiology must be interested in culture and the individual. Missiology, in the role of aide-de-camps of the Christian Mission, shows the history of how individuals connect to God, and how God transforms them in their cultural environment. To be able to achieve both goals, the issues of context and conflict must be addressed. This thesis seeks to account for the dialectic between culture and the individual, how context and conflict shaped the person and the Christian G. Chewe P. of Bemba ethnicity, and how he acted upon this context to resolve his travail. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th (Missiology)

This empirical study analyses whether and how the Imbusa initiation rite is used to construct ‘subordinate femininities’ among married Bemba women of Zambia. Imbusa initiation rite is very significant for Bemba and Zambian women despite the many changes that have significantly altered their religio-cultural practices. It is something that makes every parent proud of their daughter because it is more or less a public declaration that they have raised their daughter with good morals as understood by Bemba people. This study has used two frameworks, first, African women theologies because African women theologies draw their sources from rites, rituals, songs, proverbs, riddles and so on. Secondly, I used status construction within social psychological theory because those with authority in groups define the outcomes and expectations of their group. For instance, banacimbusa among the Bemba people determine what should comprise the teachings in Imbusa and how an initiated woman has to behave in marriage. Utilizing mixed methods, the aim was to understand women’s views about ways in which the Imbusa rite contribute to the identity of Bemba and other Zambian women in marriage. I have proposed a framework for a life-giving marriage; first the need for banacimbusa who are gender sensitive in their teachings; second, African feminist Imbusa pedagogy, teachings that equip women for dialogue in marriage. And third, a holistic approach to sexuality in marriage. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The thesis demonstrates that the first Methodists missionaries to their arrival in Mulungwishi, unlikely did not penetrate the culture of the Bemba people and merely rejected everything that they could not understand because it was considered as heathen. As result, the missionaries’ contempt of the Bemba’s worldview and their fundamental values led to the proselytism and the syncretism. The study figures out the tension between the Gospel presented by the United Methodist Church and the Bemba Culture. Evidently, God (Supreme Being, Creator) had been known and worshipped before the expansion of the first missionaries in Mulungwishi and in the Democratic Republic of Congo at large. Much has been said and done on the contextualization venture through different models and assumptions. Arguably, this missiological study agrees with the eminent scholars’ stream that defends the pre-eminence of the word of God toward all cultures. This led the study to evaluate the missional tools and strategies used by the United Methodist Church missionaries to touch the culture of the people in depth and empower the Christian mission in Mulungwishi. Least has been done for the community development facing the unstable economic, social, and political context of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Church still have a long way to go on the social mandate. The solution is to be originated in the theology of reconstruction (Kalemba 2008; Mugambi 1999, 2003; Maluleke 2002; Kä Mana 1999, 2002, etc.) which works out that it is possible to rebuild the Congolese society explicitly to its best image by teaching the gospel that touches the roots of the evils and lead the people to the proper change of mentality. Then, the thesis underlines the necessity of contextualisation of gospel and missional theology for good accomplishment of Christian mission everywhere. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / Ph. D. (Theology)