A visit to our Maasai friends and another term quickly drawing to a close.

We are within two weeks of the school term being over and since the teacher training program is on the same time schedule that means final exams for the teacher students is only a week away. We have a single girl named Ashley from Dallas who is here on a short term basis and has certification as a CPA. She has been very valuable in helping the students to improve their math skills; it is generally conceded that this is an area of weakness. The roof struts are now up on the new building which will house the teachers training program. This is by far the largest building on the village. If some of you are wondering where the money comes to do all this expansion, it comes in from interested donors who learn about our care and training programs mostly by word of mouth. Some gifts are small and others in the millions. So far as we know there is no solicitation. People who come to headquarters for training also see what the needs are and share the information with their friends.

Our resident children (orphans) with their mothers are gradually expanding their garden space since the produce is easily marketed either back to the village kitchen or in the local markets. The children are going through contributing decisions about what to do with the money that their work generates. This is new for us also since the village has only been in existence 8 years. We have a cohort of children now who are entering teenage years and presenting with the usual problems. Our sidewalk construction is nearly complete after working on the latest phase for two years. This means the children will be able to move from building to building in the rainy season without too much mud tracking. Our maintenance facility now has a roof on it so we can stack lumber on top of the large sea/land containers under the roof for drying. This will later be used for book shelves, cabinets and tables. We are just about to start serious wood working with the new tools which we know are waiting for customs clearance.

Our house

Through all of this we have regular inspections by government officials and a recent group came out unannounced looking for our compliance with certain things. At the end one of the inspectors, after mentioning some minor things like our kitchen workers not having hair nets in place, ending on a positive note saying, “well this is by far the best orphanage we have seen in the district”. All of you should keep in mind that in addition to having 60 children living in the village we have about 125 day students who attend school here who

receive breakfast and lunch. Another ministry out of England provides housing across a corn field on church property for the day students many of whom come from far away and go home on some weekends. It is easy to see how our days go by so quickly but I still try to find a little time to do some gardening illustrated by the included photo taken from our 60 foot water tower recently (I have given up climbing the water tower myself thinking if I ever took a tumble someone would say, “well, why were you so stupid”).

Our African adventures have been expanded by a visit yesterday to the Maasai village in the bush from which four of our resident children came. They are among our brightest children. Some of you will recall from a previous blog entry a year ago that their grandmother had complained to the uncle who brought them to us that he was going to sell them. She did repent later when the children were brought home for a visit well cared for, well clothed, very polite, happy and articulate. We picked up their uncle in Arusha without whom it would be impossible to find the place and then we needed also a Swahili/English speaker who can translate for the ladies most of whom speak Swahili as well as Maasai.

The local store "duka"

We anticipated the worst that can happen in a trip like this-a breakdown in the bush or a bad thorn puncture. I checked all the tire pressures, fluid levels and connections including the condition of the spare tire. The bush is now bone dry and everything looks like not a drop of water has fallen for months. Even the ground around the living areas has noticeable cracks. Some of the Maasai haul water on their donkeys for 5 or 6 miles and most of their herds have been led as far away as 60 miles to obtain grass. The tribal teenagers are left to care for the herds under these circumstances and most of them have never been to school. The girls often are already spoken for in marriage as early as 11 with some down payments on the bridal price. We made our way through the dry wilderness after turning off the main road which predominately serves the expanding tourist traffic to the Ngorongoro crater and the Serengeti. Uncle Lazaro, one of the over 200 grandchildren of the grandfather’s seven wives, called out, “turn here” to the left or right and sometimes straight ahead. We passed ancient volcanic cinder cones, dry river beds and giant washouts from flash floods and after about an hour of off road bumpy, tottering travel arrived at the large collection of mud and stick huts. Word had been passed around that the four girls were coming back for a visit with about 200 relatives showing up to see them. We asked that Lazaro the only fully educated one among them, introduce us to each one of the adults who were linked to the children through one or the other of the deceased parents. The Maasai ladies were wearing their full regalia of bead jewelry (Lazaro’s mother told us through the translator that they never take them off even to sleep). When we complemented her about her appearance she took one of the necklaces off and offered it to us. There were so many orphans clothed in rags as Lazaro pointed them out that I could not count them. I noted that one of the older boys was crying standing by the oldest of our four girls, she was also crying and then Lazaro said, “that is her brother”. We don’t know why he wasn’t brought to us, that was Lazaro’s original decision or perhaps he was too old to catch up, but it was so sad to see him standing by his sister leaning on a stick. A world now separated them even though they still remembered and cared for each other-he will spend the rest of his life as a livestock herder uneducated and living in abject poverty.

Lazero cutting goat meat

A goat was slaughtered for the occasion and had been nearly completely roasted by the time we arrived. Some chairs were brought into the bigger room of Lazaro’s parents unfinished house which now has a roof on it. A year ago it was just some walls.  They are living in one room furnished with a solar light. They proudly showed us their new bed which with the sacks of maize and beans from the harvest fill the room. He told us considering all his parents had done for him in paying for most of his education that he at least owed this to them. So far the floors are just dirt and plates of tin partially placed over the windows to keep the place from being too drafty. We were able to rinse our hands from a pitcher of water which was passed around and I wondered how much effort they had gone through in hauling this water since it was so clean. Meat was sliced off the freshly roasted hind quarter and passed around with rice. Only honored guests were eating in the room-the rest ate outside. His grandmother who is now 90 years old was escorted from her little hut to eat with us. When it was time to go home Lazaro’s youngest brother showed me his recently completed store outlet nearby. It was about as big as an outdoor toilet and had a small entrance door with a window beside it serving as a pass through for customers. There was soap, sugar some lollipops and a few other items but a battery powered music player provided atmosphere during store hours.

Last night I clearly dreamed of gliding over our snow covered North Dakota in the deep winter. It was so beautiful and vivid, unprecedented in my dream experience, that I was sure it could not be a dream. I woke up thinking this is how the prophets must have seen their visions. When we got out of bed both of us were very troubled about what we had seen and experienced. Wasn’t there something we could do to make their life better especially considering all the kids. Lazaro told us his dream was to start a primary school for them. This whole episode illustrates the challenge that often confronts us in working out here. The needs are so great so where does a person start and which ones should we address?  I personally have gotten some help in Hebrews 4 from verses that I have always wondered about. We are told that the word of God is “living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit” (v.12). My Bible Knowledge Commentary says the phrase, “soul and spirit”, here means things which are based on man’s natural or soulish desires as opposed to things which are spiritual and relate to the spiritual life. The word of God can help us perceive the differences between the two which are often so entangled like the joints and marrow that we cannot separate them unassisted. And so I have started to pray, “Lord you have seen everything that I have seen, you know all about them, what do you want me to do now, I am overwhelmed”? We hope that some of you will catch the vision of how much you can contribute even if you are over 65 and retired-you don’t have to be a Sunday school teacher, preacher or missionary theologian to make a difference. Thomas Ken, the author of the doxology, penned these lines in the early 1700s.

Redeem thy miss-spent time that’s past
and live this day as if thy last;
improve thy talent with due care;
for that great day thyself prepare.

Lord, I my vows to thee renew;
disperse my sins as morning dew:
guard my first springs of thought and will,
and with Thyself my spirit fill.