
Bible
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. – Hebrews 11:35-40
All about Moussa Gana (1920-1975)
In 1972 The first and only president of Chad, Francois Tombalbaye, changed his name to N’garta. He was following the example of Mobutu Sese Seko of what was now called Zaire in a program called authentcite. In his quest to Africanize Chad, he renamed Fort-Lamy N’Djamena and began to force the civil service to undergo yondo, initiation rites customary among a minority of his own ethnic group, the Sara people.
Moussa Gana was a vocal Christian opponent of Tombalbaye’s policies. On April 1 of 1975, local law enforcement authorities arrested him. Gana told his guards, “For more than forty years since I have been in this land, I have never offended you. My work was to announce the Good News of God so that you would abandon your sinful ways and receive God’s salvation. But you refused to listen and now you want to kill me. ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.’” He then put himself in the hole the soldiers had dug for his grave and asked one of his cousins to give him a blanket. The soldiers threw Gana a Bible and buried him alive, declaring that his God had been buried with him. Yondo initiates danced on Gana’s grave to celebrate their victory. Witnesses claimed Gana could be heard for three days groaning under the dirt shoveled on him.
When he was young, Moussa Gana went to Nigeria, where there were many more opportunities than in his homeland in the most southern region of Chad, where French colonials forced the locals to cultivate cotton. In Nigeria, Gana became a Protestant Christian. Between 1930 and 1935 he came back to Chad and settled in in birthplace, Madana.
He is considered to be the first missionary to the area. His mission was completely African and not sponsored by any foreigners. The more successful he was, the more local chiefs and spiritual authorities criticized Gana for introducing a foreign religion that threatened to destroy their own beliefs, The people were already threatened by the aggressive imposition of Islam coming form the north. This demarcation line between Islam and Christianity is still an active source of conflict today.
At that time, the village believed the nearby Pende (which they named Lao or “dangerous”) River was inhabited by a spirit and anyone who fished or bathed in it would die. Moussa Gana and his fellow believers decided to organize a fishing ceremony in the Lao. The whole village considered this act to be a provocation. But the organizers believed the Bible taught that humans were given authority over Creation (Genesis 1v.28). When the day came, very early in the morning, the church gathered on the river’s edge and sang a war song like the children of Israel during the conquest of the city of Jericho: Ji ted ro Lao ge ri Jesu Kristi (we conquer Lao in the name of Jesus Christ). As they went back and forth several times along the riverbank, many hippos came out of the water and fled.
Moussa then ordered the Christians to start fishing and they did so for three days. During this time, the village waited in vain for Lao to cast a curse on the Christians. On the fourth day, the whole village also started fishing. This great event led many people to follow Jesus. Many other villages in the Madana region became Christians. It was the beginning of decades of fruitful church building.
The Tombalbaye changed his political party to become the National Movement for Cultural and Social Revolution (MNRCS). Everything was to return to its African roots. Western culture was to be renounced and traditional dances and practices were to be revived, the yondo was central to this. The goal was to transform the mentality of Chadians so they could take responsibility for their destiny and achieve harmonious development. It was a furtherance of Tombalbaye’s brutal reign.
At a conference held in Doyaba (in his homeland, Sarh), President Tombalbaye accused Christians of being the lackeys of white missionaries: “Every Christian is required to go to initiation, because an uninitiated man is imperfect. However, I will see the opponents, if they will be capable of carrying the cross of Jesus Christ.” In December of 1973 an order suspended all activities of the Mid-Mission Church in Chad. All Christians were to be initiated, by force, if necessary. Those who refused to submit were mistreated or buried alive. Moussa Gana was one of the latter.
Ten days later, a coup d’état broke out and President N’garta Tombalbaye was killed.
More
Mennonites learning from present-day Christians in Chad [link]
Evangelicals from the 20th Century in Chad [link]
The source for this entry is mainly from The Dictionary of African Biography.
What do we do with this?
It is surprising that the story of Moussa Gana survives. There is very little history documented of the people just south of the Sahel, in some of the poorest regions of the world. Standing up to authoritarian regimes continues to strain the everyday lives of Christians all over the world. Moussa is an inspiration for us.
This map above, from the Lausanne Committee, demonstrates the demarcation line Moussa Gana was already experiencing in the 1930’s. The desert has been moving south. Power hungry movements have moved into the chaos and seized power from weak , impoverished governments. Southern Chad, home of Moussa, found its precious water sources despoiled by Western mining interests. Pray for the church, there; they are under constant pressure to hide out and are generally disorganized.