You were made in the image of the great Creator. He loves you and has a purpose for you.
This has been a consistent theme here in Ewaso Ngiro the last couple days. Three of our team have stayed behind in Nairobi to work with teachers from Madoya School. We are praying for them to have unity and a great time of sharing ideas and vision for school children, not just in Kenya but America as well. We, the other half of the team, headed down to Talek and Ewaso Ngiro with John Keshe. John is founder of Masai Community Education Support Program that, through sponsorships, helps girls complete their secondary education (high school). We had the great pleasure of visiting two of these girls at their school, Oloomirani Girls High School. They gave interviews for promotional materials that CPCC will be putting together to raise awareness and sponsorships for other girls in their situations.
What situations? Maasai are beginning to see the advantage of an education, especially for girls, but several things still stand in the way. First, the people are very poor and cannot afford the cost of tuition. These schools are boarding schools most often, and while by US standards $500 per year isn’t much, it becomes impossible for these families.
Also, the Maasai people have a tradition of early marriage for girls, some as early as 8 or 9 years old, but often around the age of 12. A bride price, measured in cows, can go a long way to sustaining a family.
Theresia (in green) wants to be a journalist. Cellinah (in red) wants to be a lawyer. They are two girls being sponsored by this program. They would both like to go back to their villages to support and care for their families. That was the first reason they both gave for desiring a better education.
We also had the honor today of speaking to a group of women leaders at the Full Gospel Church of Kenya on being a woman of prayer, being a Godly helpmate to their husbands, and reaching their community with the love of Christ.
While this seems to be a laundry list of what we have been busy with, it has truly been so much more. The depth of hospitality, community, kindness, and honor shown to each and every person who travels through or stops here is beyond measure. At our meeting at the girls’ school, the principal had tea, cookies, and bread ready when we arrived and served us herself with such graciousness. The staff at the CMF compound where we are staying is always one step ahead of us in anticipating what we might need. The women at the church fed us and honored us with both words and traditional Maasai shawls.
They are soft-spoken people, gentle in word and deed. While they may live in great financial poverty, they are richly blessed with spiritual and social wealth. We have many ways to support the Maasai Christians here who are doing amazing work, but we also have much to learn from their beautiful culture. When I think about the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – I see clearly the heart of the Kenyan and Maasai people. And I am humbled by how far I have to go.
WRITER: Zan Lyons
Zan is on staff at Connection Pointe and serves as Program Manager on the Community Impact Team. This trip to Kenya is Zan’s first international mission trip.
