Welcome to the first (of five!) family prayer guides for world religions! Use this as a tool to help engage your kids in global intercession. Utilize components that work well for your family and don't worry about the rest! This shouldn't feel stressful, but an adventure into family prayer for the world!
This month we'll focus on tribal animism. The majority of tribal animists live on the continent of Africa, but they can also be found in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines), East Asia (China), and South America (Brazil). According to Joshua Project, there are 90 million tribal people worldwide–that's the size of everyone who lives in California, Texas, and Florida combined!
Sometimes animism can become combined with other religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. The mixing of beliefs would be like adding sprinkles to chocolate chip cookie dough. Once the cookie is baked, you can see the sprinkles, but they have become a part of the cookie. While some animists may also have beliefs from another world religion, one can see elements of animism sprinkled in how they live.
Family Devotion: Blessing the Nations
“I will bless those who bless you. I will place a curse on those who harm you. And all the people on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3 ICB).
Have you ever wondered how important God is? Is God important enough for your friends at school to know Him? Is He important enough for kids in Hawaii to know him? How about tribal kids living on the other side of the globe?
In Genesis 12, God answers this question about how important He is. God asks Abraham— who was then called Abram—to leave everything and everyone he knows to follow Him. But get this: Abraham didn’t know much about God! He may have even worshipped the same false gods his friends worshipped. But the promise God gives Abraham—to make his family huge and bless others through them—convinces him to go.
Abraham will learn more about this God who called him to go far away. But God revealed something about His greatness in how He spoke to Abraham. God said “all the families of the earth will be blessed” because of Abraham’s family. God didn’t handpick Abraham because he was a faithful follower of God. But God had a plan. Did you catch it? Go back and re-read Genesis 12:3 to see if you can spot it. God wants people from all across the world to be blessed. God had decided Abraham would be the starting point of His blessing!
Before Abraham, the flood wiped out a disobedient world (Gen. 6-9). People thought they could become greater than their Creator (Gen. 11). Our world needed a God who could fix the broken world we had caused. Our hearts focused on what we wanted instead of what was right. When we do what we want instead of what is right, the whole world isn’t how God wanted it to be. God invited Abraham to become a follower of Him. He promised to bless not only Abraham, but everyone who joins Abraham in seeking God. This was the beginning of God’s plan to bless the nations.
Have you ever wondered how important God is? Is God important enough for your friends at school to know Him? Is He important enough for kids in Hawaii to know him? How about tribal kids living on the other side of the globe?
In Genesis 12, God answers this question about how important He is. God asks Abraham— who was then called Abram—to leave everything and everyone he knows to follow Him. But get this: Abraham didn’t know much about God! He may have even worshipped the same false gods his friends worshipped. But the promise God gives Abraham—to make his family huge and bless others through them—convinces him to go.
Abraham will learn more about this God who called him to go far away. But God revealed something about His greatness in how He spoke to Abraham. God said “all the families of the earth will be blessed” because of Abraham’s family. God didn’t handpick Abraham because he was a faithful follower of God. But God had a plan. Did you catch it? Go back and re-read Genesis 12:3 to see if you can spot it. God wants people from all across the world to be blessed. God had decided Abraham would be the starting point of His blessing!
Before Abraham, the flood wiped out a disobedient world (Gen. 6-9). People thought they could become greater than their Creator (Gen. 11). Our world needed a God who could fix the broken world we had caused. Our hearts focused on what we wanted instead of what was right. When we do what we want instead of what is right, the whole world isn’t how God wanted it to be. God invited Abraham to become a follower of Him. He promised to bless not only Abraham, but everyone who joins Abraham in seeking God. This was the beginning of God’s plan to bless the nations.
Tribal Animism Video
As a family, watch this short video (under 4 minutes!) produced by Pioneers (missions agency) for kids to gain insight about tribal animism.
Prayer Prompts
Carve out a few minutes–on the drive to school, during breakfast, before bed–and lift up tribal animists using the following prayer prompts (and add to this list with your own prayers!):
1) Pray for tribal animists to recognize that Jesus is more powerful than evil spirits.
2) Pray for the Bible to be translated into tribal languages so they can learn about Jesus.
3) Pray for Christians who are geographically close to take the gospel to a nearby tribal people.
Activities
Below are some activities to see how religious beliefs intersect with culture.
1) Swing by the Weave website to meet Watching Eyes from the Yanomamo people who live in South American rainforests, receive instructions about setting up a tent in your backyard (or living room!) to experience what it would be like to live in one-room hut like Watching Eyes, get a recipe for oven baked plantains, and learn two ways to pray for the Yanomamo.
2) Design your own Kente cloth, a traditional fabric worn by many throughout Ghana, using paper. (Thanks to Wycliffe Kids for this fun activity!)
3) Make your own Maasai paper necklace and choose colors based upon what they mean in the Maasai culture! (Thanks again to Wycliffe Kids for this craft!)
4) Visit your local library and check out books from a country where animism is practiced. Use this as a springboard to praise God for the diversity He's created around the world and pray for people who don't know Jesus yet. Consider using Wycliffe Kids Travel To Another Country printable worksheet to guide your research!
5) Play Pilolo, a popular game kids in Ghana enjoy! Kids compete to be the first to find a hidden object. You can easily adapt this for your family size. Visit Compassion Explorer's website for the simple instructions (it's the third one listed, so scroll down until you see it!)
Additional Resources
To keep digging deeper, here are resources to grow our understanding of different cultures where animism is practiced. We want to openly talk with our kids about what others believe. For an overview of how to guide conservations about other religions with your kids, check out this Risen Motherhood article. As we increase our understanding, we can better pray for others.
Meet Bakari: A digital lesson about a tribal boy and how his tribal beliefs differ from Christianity. (elementary kids)
In Fear of the Spear: This Imagination Station book gives kids a glimpse into a South American tribe touched by the gospel. This book touches on the deaths of missionaries to this tribe, but doesn't dwell on it. Debriefing how the tribal people are referred to at different points may be helpful to cultivate respect for those who are different from us.
As you go about this month, keep praying for tribal animists! Be sure to come back next month to learn about Islam.