The Tembaro of Ethiopia are a Cushitic/Semitic people living in southern Ethiopia as subsistence farmers and herders for whom coffee is a cash crop. The have had three eras of culture history: pre-Islam, Islam (Hadiya Sultanate), and post-Islam. Pre-Islam was characterized by traditional African religion with veneration of spirits and ancestors and belief in a distant high God. With Islam, most became Muslims, their lives regulated by its Five Pillars and the Koran and the Hidiya sultans. The post-Islam era is characterized by Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and absorption into Ethiopia, Islam and African Traditional Religion becoming minority faiths. During this last period, Ethiopia was governed by an emperor since the thirteenth century. During the twentieth century there was Italian occupation, and a Marxist republic following the monarch's overthrow in the twentieth century. Since the end of Marxist rule in the 1970s, Ethiopia has been a federal republic, periodically punctuated by Islamic jihadism.
Today, Tembaro youth are moving to the city or leaving for the Middle East due to soil exhaustion, population growth, and lack of economic opportunity.
The Tembaro have a strong clan structure led by elders, who resolve conflicts. The people grow crops and herd livestock. There is division of labor: women tend house, small animals, and prepare food; men tend to large livestock, plowing, and participate in community leadership. Religious festivals also regulate their lives. Education is in Amharic, the national language. Medical care is limited.
The few African traditionalists have fertility rites and venerate spirits and ancestors. The few Muslims are governed by Islamic holy days and the Koran. The majority Christians are divided into Ethiopian Orthodox and evangelical and Pentecostal Protestants. They have the Bible and some other resources in their language. The Orthodox observe a liturgical year as do Catholics, unlike that of the Protestants. Their faith, however, lacks Christ-centered depth, discipleship, and Biblical literacy. Unfortunately for both Muslims and Christians, there is some synchronistic folk religion.
Due to population growth and soil exhaustion, the Tembaro need jobs, quality education, clean water, sanitation, health education, and improved maternal and children's medical care. They need Christian education and biblical literacy that is contextual.
Pray for agronomists to introduce better land care to reduce soil exhaustion and increase yield.
Pray for Christian outreach to Muslims and traditional religionists among the Tembaro.
To that end, pray for increased biblical literacy, discipleship, and deeper Christ-centered faith.
Pray the churches will reach out to Tembaro African Traditionalists and Tembaro Muslims.
Pray for improved sanitation, clean water, and health care, especially for mothers and children.
Scripture Prayers for the Tembaro in Ethiopia.
Jacques Bureau, Ethnohistory and Culture of Tambaro Nationality of Ethiopia. Centre francais des estudes ethiopienne, 1992. Other works deal with linguistics.
backward c beneath c in francais. acute accent over e in etudes & ethiopienne.
| Profile Source: Joshua Project |
