DOROBO
"Over seventy Dorobo sat huddled tightly together under blankets, eyes focused on the screen that flapped in the wind against the pickup. Sarababi, an old Dorobo man, eyes shining, whispered to the missionary, ""Maneno ya Mungu ni safi sana!"" meaning ""these words of God are really good"". The audience was watching the ""Jesus"" film on top of Oldonyo Opurru on 15 May 1994
After over a year of teaching Old Testament stories and laying a foundation for the Gospel, the missionaries felt the time was right to present the story of Jesus. And what better way than with the ""Jesus"" film with the narrative in the Masai language, the mother tongue of this group of Dorobo. Two weeks later, seven people made the decision to follow Christ and three more have since believed.
Traditionally the Dorobo people were hunters and gatherers. The Dorobo who live near the Kipsigis or Kalenjin call themselves the Okiek. If their neighbours are Maasai they call themselves the Dorobo. They live in the Mau Forest and the area east to Tinderet, Northeast to Cherangani and south to Narok. They predate other Bantu tribes in the area. A Masai creation story says that when God created the Masai He found the Dorobo already there. Beehives are very important to the Dorobo for brewing pombe, their local beer, and not realizing the value of their land, they traded much of it to the Kikuyus for beehives. Alcoholism is a major social problem.
Ndorobo, a Swahili word meaning ""poor people without cattle"", sums up the way the unsuspecting Dorobo have often been treated. Being individualistic with poor self-esteem, they feel that they can't get ahead financially. There are few job opportunities available to them. Adopting the language of trading partners is one of their attempts to better their lot. Even their views of God reflect this. They believe He is a distant God who must be reached through a Masai or Kamba seer.
They are from the Maa people and pre-existed before other tribes in Kenya. The Kikuyu call them the pioneers. Today they are doing small scale farming. Beyond Narok they speak their own Dorobo language, but only for blessings and similar pronouncements. They try to pass themselves off as Masai. Some are fundis, skilled circumcisers. Both male and female circumcision is practised."
- Country: Kenya
- Percent Christian: 82.1%
- Percent Evangelical: 34%
- Population (Year): 30.8 million (1995)
- Major Religion: Christianity
- Openness to Missionaries: Open"
1. HAVE THEY HEARD THE GOSPEL?
Ratio of pastors/evangelists to population: 1 pastor or evangelist for every 9 666 persons
(total pastors and evangelists-3)
Ratio of missionaries to population: 1 missionary for every 14 500 persons
(total missionaries-2)
Who is Jesus Christ to them?
< 0.25% Believe Jesus is the Son of God and are nominally Christians
< 0.25% Believe in the Son of God and have accepted Him as their Saviour
?% Believe Jesus is a Prophet, Teacher, Good Man, but not God's Son
?% Believe in local, traditional religion rather than in Jesus
?% Have never heard his name
2. HAVE THEY RESPONDED TO THE GOSPEL?
A few have, about 65-70 are Christians. There are three evangelists, one who is Kikuyu, one Maasai, and one Dorobo, working under the Africa Inland Church. There are some other churches in the area, but they are multicultural churches not primarily serving the Dorobo people.
3. DO THEY HAVE A CHURCH?
Ratio of churches to population: 1 church for every 12,000 persons
(total churches-2)
Total number of communities (cities, towns, villages): 1 church for every 6 communities
(communities without a church-10)
In addition, there are the multicultural churches mentioned above that some Dorobo participate in.
4. DO THEY HAVE THE WORD OF GOD TRANSLATED INTO THEIR MOTHER TONGUE?
No.
5. ANY HINDRANCES TO USE OF THE SCRIPTURE?
Literacy Rate: ?%
The literacy rate is poor, but most understand the language and scripture used by their neighbours.
6. WHAT OTHER FORMS OF GOSPEL PRESENTATIONS ARE AVAILABLE?
Recordings: No
Literature: No
Films: No
Radio: x
Video: No
Audio-Visual: No
7. ARE THEY RECEPTIVE TO CHANGE AND TO CHRISTIANITY?
They are not particularly receptive to change.
8. IS OUTSIDE (CROSS-CULTURAL) ASSISTANCE REQUIRED FROM MISSIONARIES?
With so few Dorobo Christians, outsiders are needed to explain the gospel, start churches and build up the Christians until the Dorobo church is strong enough to evangelize and disciple their own people."
