FENZA presents documents with the aim of stimulating discussions in the Zambian church
on religious and cultural issues of concern
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Papers given on "The Man is the Head of the Household?" - where do culture, religion and modern life
meet? (25 August 2010)
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Papers given on "African Christology: which relevance for Zambia?" (17-May-2010):
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Papers given on "The changing face of Christianity in Zambia (20-February-2010): see below.
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The changing face of Christianity in Zambia: the new churches in Bauleni Compound.
Author: Bernhard Udelhoven. Date: April 2010. (PDF, 129 KB).
Traces the coming of new (Pentecostal) churches/denominations in Bauleni compound from
1970 to 2010, and the issues that were involved in founding new churches. The article looks at
the local facets of the Pentecostal explosion, that led to the establishment of 53 different
Pentecostal churches in Bauleni, 17 of which were Bauleni-born. .
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Is it a Healing contest? The Devil must be on the run!
Author: Dr. Patrick Mumbi. Date: January 2010. (PDF, 64 KB).
Ethnographic notes for a start of a research on Bauleni traditional healers.
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Satanism in Zambia
Authors: Bernhard Udelhoven & the Fingers of Thomas. Dates: 2007-2009. (PDF files)
In a number of articles the 'Fingers of Thomas' look at Zambian Satanism and the
accompanying rumours from different angles: in the contexts of Zambia's history with the occult,
of the explosion of Pentecostalism, and of experiences of globalisation and modern life in
Zambia. They offer also reflections for a pastoral approach to Satanism for priests, sisters and
pastors dealing with afflicted people and families.
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The Impact of Global Islam on local Islam in Zambia
Author: Dr. Felix Phiri. Date: 2009. HTML-file
Dr. Phiri published the main findings of his research in his book Muslim Associations and the
Resurgence of Islam in Zambia (published by FENZA and Lembani trust.) This article looks at
the relationship between local and global Islam in Zambia, stressing the diversity of local forms
of Islam. It also gives an overview over the history of various Muslim associations in Zambia.
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Christianity in the Luangwa Valley
Author: Bernhard Udelhoven. Date: 2006. 144 pages. PDF (876 KB).
Various Christian churches have a presence in the Luangwa Valley for more than 100 years.
Life in the valley has a dynamic of its own, to which the Christian churches were ill-adapted. The
various churches experienced great difficulties with their approaches of evangelisation that were
derived from experiences on the surrounding plateaus. The Catholic Diocese of Chipata
commissioned a research into the specific social and religious conditions in the valley, in view
of rethinking its approach of evangelisation. The research took 15 months and was sponsored
jointly by the Diocese of Chipata and MISSIO (Germany). To make the downloading (144 pages)
easier, maps & pictures have been removed from the report.
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Churches in Bauleni Compound
Author: FENZA. updated from time to time.
Bauleni is a small compound in Lusaka, with maybe 20,000 inhabitants. A research has started
into the different churches present in the compound. This document lists 83 churches, with their
date of arrival, average size and some remarks on the churches history.
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SAMPLES FROM THE FENZA ARCHIVES
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Bishop Dupont succeeds Mwamba
Bishop Dupont versus McKinnon
Author: Joseph Dupont. Date: 1898, 1902. HTML files (83KB and 52 KB)
Bishop Dupont ('Moto-Moto') has been a legendary figure in the history of the Catholic church in
Zambia. The above articles (translated into English) give back his own accounts of him
'succeeding' chief Mwamba (1898) to avoid bloodshed, and of his conflicts with some
administrators of the colonising British South Africa Company. A number of works of and about
Bishop Dupont are available in the archives, and some French works have been translated into
English to make them more accessible for the Zambian public.
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Chilubula Diary 1899-1904
Author: the superior of Chilubula Mission (anonymous). HTML file (243 KB)
Chilubula Mission became one of the most influential Catholic mission stations in Zambia. This
article contains an English translation of the first five years of the Mission Diary. The full Diary in
English as well as in the original is available in the archives. So are the diaries of most mission
stations that were opened by the White Fathers (Missionaries of Africa) in Northern and Eastern
Zambia.
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Fr. E. Labrecque Bemba Customs (extract)
Author: E. Labrecque. Date: 1931. HTML file (141 KB)
From their beginning, missionaries have been collecting cultural and historical data of the
peoples they worked with. Father Labrecque gave a number of systematic accounts of the
cultures and histories of the BaBemba and of Luapula peoples. The archives contain his
numerous writings, both in English and French. They also contain the popular Bemba readers
Fya Bukaya. Here an extract of one of his works on the Ba Bemba.
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Fr. Foulon tells his story (extract)
Author: Father Foulon. Date: unknown, between 1899 and 1906. PDF-file (1.6 MB)
Father Foulon came to Zambia at the end of the 19th Century. His notebooks can be assessed
in the archives. They contain detailed drawings of what he saw and encountered among the Ba
Bemba.
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Vermeullen Chewa Dictionary
Author: Father Vermeullen. Date: unknown. PDF-file (217 KB).
The archives contain various dictionaries and detailed grammars for the Bemba, Mambwe,
Nsenga, Chewa, and Tumbuka languages. Here a simple Chewa-English dictionary that is still
of use today for those wishing to learn the language.
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Oger1995 on_Witchcraft.doc
Oger2002-witchcraft_and_inculturation.doc
Author: Louis Oger. Date: 1995, 2002. Word-Doc-files (505 KB, 43 KB)
When Father Louis Oger was in charge of the Chibemba language course in Ilondola, he
collected many of the archive materials that are today available in FENZA. Also his own works on
customs and language are available in the archives. Witchcraft beliefs and practices as well as
the workings of diviners and healers (ng'anga) posed a challenge to missionaries all
throughout Zambia's history with Western missionaries. In these articles (written towards the
end of his life), Louis Oger laid out his own approach.
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Testimony_of_a_fake_nganga.doc
Author: George Mwandu. Date 2000. Word-Doc-file (29 KB)
George Mwandu was once a member of the team of a famous nganga detecting charms and
finding out witches in many villages in Serenje area. Here his account of his way of working,
including the fabrication of fake charms.
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Occasional articles
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click here for occasional articles and the FENZA.docs.
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