المالحة

TheMidob of Sudan TheMidob,also known as the Tiddi,are primarily concentratedin the Meidob Hills ofwesternSudan.A large number ofMidob also live in the townof Malha.Nearby, on theoutskirts of the MeidobHills, live the Berti farmersand the Beri and Arabshepherds.Mutual hostilityexists among all of thesegroups.TheMidob are afirecely independent peopleand have the reputation ofbeing untrustworthy animalthieves.As a result,Midobterritory is isolated fromneighboring peoples.TheMidob language, alsocalledMidob, can be tracedto the language of theNubians, a people fromEastern Sudan. With regardto their traditions and theirculture, theMidob also arelinked to various Nubiangroups such as the Mahasand the Dongolawi.Theseare completely Muslimpeoples.Traces ofIslamhave existed inMidobhistory from as early as theseventeenth century; buttheMidob only fullyconverted to Islam in thenineteenth century.What Are Their Lives Like?TheMidob are semi-nomadicshepherds who rely on theacquisition of livestock fortheir livelihood.Theymainly herd sheep andgoats, but also keep somedonkeys, camels, and cattle.Young adult men andadolescents tend to thesheep and camels.Theseanimals are herdedseparately from the otherlivestock because they mustbe moved continuouslyfrom pasture to pasture.Women tend to the goats,cattle, and donkeys, whichare kept in the settlementswithin easy reach of watersupplies.TheMidob also arefarmers, growing enoughsorghum, millet, andvegetables to supplementtheir diet of goat meat andmilk.The Sudan area hasexperienced drought overthe last ten years.Consequently, more andmore youngMidob men havemigrated temporarily toLibyan cities in search ofwork.Also, in connectionwith the sales of theircamels, theMidob haveregular contacts with Libyanand Egyptian markets.These market contacts haveexposed the isolatedMidobto current economic andpolitical affairs, not onlylocally, but also nationally.A number ofMidob,therefore, have becomesuccessful businessmen, re-investing their wealth inherd expansion.Midob villages are locatedat the foot of the hills.Each family lives in asettlement which consistsof a small number ofseparate huts.These hutsare dome-shaped and areconstructed of poles,branches, and grass.Eachadult woman has her ownhut and lives with herchildren; her husband alsolives there when he is notoff herding the livestock.Ineach village is a headmanwho handles villagedisputes and directs villageaffairs.Many villages alsohave a mosque where themen meet daily for prayer.Midob men usually havemore than one wife.Polygyny exists to fulfillthe Islamic rule that oneshould produce manychildren.Also, a largefamily provides the helpneeded at home during thehusband's absence when heis caring for the livestock.After marriage, a couplewill move to live witheither the husband's orwife's family, depending onthe needs of the family.Residence therefore isdetermined not by descent,but by kinship needs.What Are Their Beliefs?TheMidob are a completelyMuslim people, devout intheir practice of Islam.Themen observe all of themain Muslim festivals.Thewomen, however, have hadless contact with outsideinfluences; consequently,they still carry out sometraditional pre-Islamicpractices such as fertilityrites and divination (contactwith the spirit world).What Are Their Needs?TheMidob are 100% Muslimwith not even one Christianin their population ofnearly 45,000.The vastmajority of them havenever had an opportunityto hear the Gospel.Thereare currently no Christianresources available to themand no missions agency isworking with them.Theyare a spiritually isolatedpeople who desperatelydeserve a chance to knowof a Savior.Evangelism,Christian resources, andmuch prayer are needed tohelp bring Jesus Christ intotheir lives.Prayer PointsAsk the Lord of the harvestto send forth laborers totheMidob.Pray for Bibles, the Jesusfilm, and other evangelicalmaterials to be translatedinto their language.Pray that God will revealHimself to theMidob throughdreams and visions.