Ancestral Worship Among the Ila People Of Zambia: Towards A Theological-Contextual Approach of the Three Angels’ Message

Brian K. Sinyangwe, PhD Candidate

Abstract

 Culture is an essential lens through which a worldview is shaped. As such, worldview forms a foundational, sometimes involuntary, perspective through which the belief structure is concretized. Any intentional transformational endeavor must be grounded in an understanding of the fundamentals that shape the people it seeks to evangelize. This paper evaluates the centrality and extent of ancestral worship among the Ba-Ila people of Zambia and establishes the context in which Adventism’s core mission can find its place. It assesses the relevance of the three Angels’ messages and their implications for broader African cultural and religious diversity. It illustrates the fundamental contrasts and similarities between the worship attitudes espoused in the three Angels’ messages and those of ancestral worship among the Ba-Ila people. It develops a discipleship model of biblical mission for transforming worship attitudes among the Ba-Ila people of Zambia.