After a rough-nights sleep rolling from rock to rock & listening to goats, dogs and roosters in the wee hours of the morning, I was up. And I couldn't believe Owen had slept through it all!
We were up and at 'em around 7 and emerged from our tents to a handfull of anxious onlookers- mostly children. We had chai and chapati (a mix between a crepe and a tortilla, served plain and warm) for breakfast, compliments of the Maasai then broke camp and got ready for the outreach.
As we were finishing up our packing they brought us out something very special that only honored guests get served. Goat liver. Roasted. And in order to be respectful we all had to eat it. Every. Last. Piece. So we had goat liver for breakfast. Owen didn't have any, but Bill had 4 pieces, and I had 1. It wasn't horrible. But it wasn't good either.
First we introduced ourselves to the crowd. Peter translated our English into Swahili, then Issac (the pastor of the Maasai tribe) translated the Swahili into Kimaasai. It was quite the process :) Next was the skit. I was designated photographer/videographer and it was really neat to see it all played out. I had previously been in the skit, so I never got to see the entire thing as an onlooker. The skit told the story of Jesus' accusation and death on the cross, then concluded with a "But-that's-not-the-end-of-the-story!" ending of his resurrection and ascension. They watched very eagerly and attentively.
after the corporate prayer!
That woman was so eager and hungry for God- it was really neat to see her passion as we welcomed & prayed her into the Kingdom. A couple other moms came forward and asked for prayer for their children to be able to continue school. Very few Maasai children (from this tribe at least) attend school because of the expense involved. Even public schools have tuition fees in Africa, and since the Maasai are very poor, most children do not attend school. Some, however, receive scholarships or sponsorships from people overseas and are able to attend.
After Bill & I prayed for those people, we went over to the other side to join in on the healing prayers. And this is what I saw:
There's a special story behind this little boy. He was. A. Dorable. With a capital A. About 4 years old.
I asked what they were praying for this boy to be healed of and was told he was completely mute. Had never said a word, though he could hear and understand just fine. So Mary and Marilyn began praying, as did several of the rest of the team. We prayed and prayed and prayed. And we prayed in the Spirit and we layed hands on him, and then we stopped. And it was quiet. And Mary said, "Say ahhhhhhh" to the little boy. So he opened his mouth. And nothing came out. So she layed hands on his jaw, and said it again, "Say ahhhhhh" "ah" "ah" "ah". And he kept trying, you could tell he really was trying, but nothing would come out. So we all prayed some more and kept praying and then stopped again. Mary repeated herself: " Say: ahhhhh" she said. And he opened his mouth. And nothing came out. So she repeated herself. And he opened his mouth. And the tiniest little voice you ever did hear, produced a sound that made the angels in heaven rejoice: he said "ah".
Next we prayed for a little 7 year old girl that had crippled legs and couldn't walk. After we prayed and prayed and prayed and layed hands on her she gained a lot more mobility and her ankles straightened so she could stand on her feet flat, rather than on the sides of her feet like she was before. It was such an awesome and miraculous time of prayer that morning. Indescribable.
After prayer time we split the kids up into groups and taught them how to play duck-duck-goose, except they don't know what geese or ducks are so we called it "Booze, booze, babaru" which means, goat, goat, male goat. They LOVED that game! They had so much fun!
But 5 gallons was just too much for all of us to eat, especially in the heat of the afternoon. So we asked if it would be alright to share with the kids and Isaac said that would be fine. In the Maasai culture the men eat first, and the women and children only eat if there is enough, so it was very culturally rude for us to decline any food at all, but because we made such a good effort and ate so much, we were able to hand some out to the kids... who were very grateful!
After lunch Isaac wanted us to see his new church building.
We left around 4pm to drive to the next tribe - Pastor Longeedo's village. He is not a Maasai himself, but he is Tanzanian. He and his wife felt called to go and live among the Maasai and minister to them, so they built a hut just outside the Maasai village, and are in the process of building a church as well. It was only a few miles away from Isaac's village, but Longeedo's home was set back away from this village a little, and it was surrounded with fields. It was much quieter and more private.
After we set up camp we cooked our own dinner. Since we were a little farther away from the Maasai, we'd brought a cooler to cook our own meals at this camp. We had brat-style sausages and baked potatoes over the campfire and Mary's homemade coleslaw. It was delish!
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