Maasai Development Project

The Maasai Development Project Blog will be used by members to post updates particularly while on trips to Kenya. Here you can view these posts and make comments.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Oct 30/31 & Nov 1 - Tues, Wed, Thur

It was time to settle down and get paper work caught up, make phones calls, visit the Central Kenya Conference Office and Eastern Central African Division office.

We were blessed Thursday with a heavy rain that has already begun to refresh the ground! What a blessing it was!

Jan's husband flew out Thursday night - I am really gonna miss him when it comes to breakfast time on Friday morning - he spoiled Jan and I with his excellent cooking skills!

Kim

Oct 29th Monday

Today we were in Kisii country! It is fertile land and the farms make the rolling hills look like a patchwork quilt that spreads as far as the eye can see. We spent the day renewing friendship from years gone by.

God is so good! His care and love for each of us is so very incrediable!!
Kim

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Oct 28, Sunday

Sunday morning we were back in Narok township and had our workers meeting at the SDA church right in town. We took sometime out from the regular meeting to have special prayer for Mrs Nanka and Mrs Shapashina who take in the girls from Siana Springs Primary during breaks and are taking care of baby Sammy. It would be great if you could add them to your prayer list too - they have a huge responsiblity, both of them have 5 small children of their own, plus baby Sammy, plus 16 girls during break!

Workers meeting went well - I was able to spend time getting to know each Lay Pastor/Teacher. After the meeting was over we headed out to an Awards Ceremony for our Lit. Teachers. For the SECOND year in a row MDP workers were given the trophy for the best Literacy Teaching Program from the government. Of the 130 Maasai that sat for the test in Narok Distric - 67 of them were from the MDP classes and all 67 of the passed the test! The government workers who came to present the award shared publically the importance of Evangelism and Literacy - how they must go hand in hand!

We are so proud of the MDP workers! From their we headed down to Kisii for the night.
Kim

Oct 27th Sabbath

Happy Sabbath! There is not place greater on earth to be on the Sabbath then in the Mara! After eating breakfast in camp we drove up to Siana Springs Primary School to join in the Sabbath School Class. We sat on little benches and chairs without backs. When the adult class was over the children joined us for the church service - and we were packed in like sardines! There were over 100 children worshiping with us! Pastor Moses gave the sermon and did an excellent job.

After church we headed over to the school because they were having a special day of prayer for the 8th grade students who are about to take their exams. Different groups did special musics, and talked. The SDA children came in and sang a beautiful song. (Jan's eyes filled with tears as she counted how many children had become Adventist's - when MDP first moved into the area there was none - and now there was close to 100!) What a blessing it was!

After lunch we stopped by to visit with Pastor James Nanka,and say goodbye to baby Sammy. On our way out of the town we checked out the 15 acres that has been donated to us to build a rescue center (hostel type building)for girls at risk. We are hoping to put a bakery and/or posho mill there too in order to generate an income!

If you would like to help fund the Rescue Center please let us know! There is a HUGE need for it! Pray about it and see what God lays on your heart!
Kim

Oct. 26th, Friday


We were up bright and early and headed down over the escarpment into the Great Rift Valley heading down to Narok District to spend the weekend with the lay pastors/teachers and take baby Sammy to his new home. The roads were extremely rough and as we climbed the other side of the escarpment we found that the night before it had rained and the road had turned into mud. A bus and a couple of trucks had gotten stuck thus totally blocking the road. For two hours we sat in the traffic jam, and finally they brought in a tracter and bulldozer and built us a new road! (Only in Kenya - SMILE)

We stopped briefly in the town of Narok, filled up at the Petrol station, grabbed a couple of samosa's to eat and headed on. This was gonna be a ALL day trip!!
By late afternoon we had reached our distination.

We stopped in at Pastor James Nanka's home and Pastor Moses' home. It was time to give baby Sammy over to his new care taker.....words cannot describe how my heart felt! I knew I was doing the right thing, but in just those few days my heart had bonded to his. I wanted to take him in my arms and bring him home to the US with me -but I knew I must give him up. He would be in a good home with a caring lady, and family that will teach him about the love of Jesus!

As I lay in my tent that night my eyes filled with tears and my heart ached - I believe God gave me a small glimpse of the love that He has for us. How his heart aches when we are away from Him, how He yearns to hold us close and keep us safe.

I will be praying for baby Sammy daily - and I know he will grow up someday to be a great Maasai Warrior for Jesus! Baby Sammy changed my life!

Oct 25, Thursday

We headed out for Kajiado to have workers meetings, left baby Sammy in the care of my house girl from when we lived her. When we arrived in Kajiado at the church the lay workers were just finishing up their prayer time. Jan shared with the workers about the importance of being able to trust each other, work together, and reminded them that this is God's work. Being a lay pastor or teacher is not about earning money - it is a calling, a desire, a yearning to be used by God.

I had the opportunity to spend time with each of the lay workers, taking pictures of them and getting to know them. Then Jan and Mr Kenani paid them and we ended the time together with a song and prayer.

On our way home we stopped by Maxwell to pick up baby Sammy - and headed home for supper, a warm shower and bed.
Kim

Oct 24, Wednesday

Today Jan met with Pastor Patrick M, who is the coordinator for the lay workers in the Kajiado District. It was my birthday so I headed over to Maxwell to spend sometime with my daugther and work on the computer while the truck was being fixed.
I had baby Sammy with me and he kept me plenty busy.
Kim

Oct. 23, Tuesday

Tuesday Jan worked in the office all day and I headed to the Rescue Center in Kajiado with my daughter Stephanie(she is a senior at Maxwell Adventist Academy here in Kenya). We were going to pick up baby Samwel Sarini who I had written about on Oct 18/19th. His mom was one of the students in 8th grade at the Rescue Center. While home on break she had gotten pregnant and given birth on Sept. 29th at a hospital near the school.

We had borrowed a car seat from one of the faculty at Maxwell Adv. Academy and had diapers, blankets, wipes, and a fresh bottle of formula for the ride home. When we got to the school the Head Mistress ushered us into the Matron's home and introduced us to baby Sammy's grandmother. She (the grandmother) was very quiet and did not appear to want to have much eye contact with us. She was also obviously pregnant herself too. The baby was wrapped very tightly in several blankets and when I gently unwrapped him he lay very still, not a movement. I thought he was dead and even the head mistress looked concerned, but after a little prodding he woke up and we breathed a sigh of relief. I cleaned him up and put a fresh diaper on him, and wrapped him in clean blankets. The mother was called in to talk to us and we wanted to check with her one more time if the plan we had come up with would work.
(We were taking him to a lay pastor's home in Narok District where the wife takes care of the girls during break that attend the Siana Springs Primary School - the plan was that she would take care of baby Sammy and during breaks at Kajiado, the mom would be taken down to stay with her son. Thus both would be in a safe environment and she would still be able to be a mom and bond with her son)

Everything was in order and we headed out. Both the grandmother and the mom seemed as though they were emotionless. There was hardly any expression of sorrow, I wondered if they even cared.

Because we would not be going to Siana Primary School until Friday - we had the privileged to keep baby Sammy in the home with us for three days.
He was the sweetest cutest thing ever!
Kim