Well yesterday after an early morning walk I got to spend a while talking to a Kenyan named Darryl who teaches children. He was interested in some of the skits McKenna and I have done for the children.
After that we were invited to lunch by the wife of the director of Diguna. She made some delicious pizza, then we met for chai with the staff for a little while.
Then I had to get prepared to lead the Wednesday night study. They’d asked me to teach on worship leading and my message was well received.
Today we are sitting quietly under a tree waiting for the Masai women to join us. To my left are the crude little mud houses they live in, empty cow pens and in front of me is a little aluminum church building with a wooden cross on top. From inside of it I can hear a teacher’s voice and the voices of children and realize it’s being utilized as a school right now.
After 20 minutes or so, Masai women begin to gather under the tree to make beaded items which they sell to feed their children. Many of their husbands are drunkards and don’t help them out. They look so beautiful in their bright red/yellow/orange and green outfits all layered and decked out with beads on their necks and wrists. The older women have their ears stretched into a big hole on which they have decorated with beaded earrings.
A very old Masai mama with warm eyes shows me how to bead until Elizabeth says it’s time to sing. I can’t believe how hard it would be to support your family by making beaded things, but the old woman was amazingly fast at it.
So here we are, sitting under a tree in Africa, singing Swahili songs about Jesus. There’s about 15 women and some babies. The women are so beautiful and dignified looking with their short short hair, and when they smile at me their faces are lit with sunshine. I do wish we could communicate without an interpreter, but this is how it is. I wanted so badly to grab my camera when the Masai ladies began to sing with their famous Masai body movements using their neck and shoulders, but I just couldn’t bear the thought of turning this special time into a tourist moment.
After the singing Elizabeth asks me to speak. I tell them how I’d been reading in my Bible the other day about the time when a woman who had suffered for 12 years with bleeding and who’d spent all her money on doctors and still wasn’t healed had heard that Jesus was coming to her village. She was considered “unclean” by her people and wasn’t supposed to touch anyone.
But she wanted Jesus. So she snuck into the crowd and as He passed by, reached out and touched the hem of his garment. To her horror, Jesus stopped and said, “Who touched Me?”
The woman was frightened. She’d broken the law by going into a crowd, and had touched a holy man. Would He be angry? Would He order the people to stone her?
After she confessed what had happened, Jesus spoke kindly to her. “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace,” He told her.
I told them that since they have trusted in Jesus as their Savior, He also calls them, “Daughter,” and that since I also trust Jesus we are all sisters and will one day live together in His house forever. Through interpretation one lady said, “This has deeply touched my heart.”
Another lady said, “This is the third time in 3 days that someone has given this verse to me. My faith is being greatly built.”
Their only prayer request is that we remember them in our country in prayer. Please do pray for these wonderful ladies. I will never forget my Masai sisters who live such a hard life and yet who smile. They are so poor and yet are so rich toward God. We will meet again.
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