Maasai Worship

It really blessed me to see these pastors worshiping God in their own style.

Marigold sang in Swahili and they were blessed.

It was wonderful to see the ladies in their dress and their worship.

Africa Day 10

February 5, 2010
It rained off and on all night last night. It was a nice gentle rain. It was very cool. I was able to stay in my sleeping bag most all night. We thought it was going to be so hot here but the weather has been very comfortable. In the middle of the afternoon it can get pretty hot if you are in the sun. But if you are in the shade the breeze makes it pretty comfortable.
We went to the graduation of the pastor’s conference this morning. How much fun it was to see and hear them sing and worship God in their native style. It is amazing that God is here with them this way. We have a great big wonderful God!!! Marigold sang a song in Swahili and you could see how it touched them. Some of these men walked 2 days to get to this conference. The pastors on our team taught them for 3 days. Roger Loomis, Harry Yates and Stan Rutkowski. We gave them ties. They got to come up and pick out 2-3 ties each. There were about 60 men there and one lady pastor. We were able to give her a necklace.
After lunch we went to a local church. Bishop Moses’ church. We got there and there were several women and men there. But after we got in the tiny building filled up with women and children. The ladies sang for us and so did the teen girls. They have a chant type of music where one person sings a line and then the others repeat it. And do they dance! They do a line dance and go around the church. It was good to see the ladies. We have seen the men in their costumes. This time we saw the ladies costumes. They are so colorful. Mostly reds.
I was ready to go to bed shortly after supper, but it was actually about 9:30 before I went to my tent. I’m still not ready to eat heavy food. I ate the fried potatoes, cabbage and fruit. I drank a soda, but wished I hadn't.

Africa Day 9

February 4, 2010
I woke up with nausea and diarrhea this morning. I got up and took my shower and got dressed, went to breakfast but didn’t eat anything. It wasn’t long before I had to go to the choo again. Then I went back to my tent and layed down. I slept all morning. I got up to the choo again but didn’t feel very strong. Went back to bed. I didn’t sleep much but rested. The wind is blowing very strongly and we heard thunder in the distance. There is the possibility of rain but it hasn’t come yet. The nice breeze has made it comfortable to stay in the tent. Otherwise it would be stifling hot.
The others went to another school, but I stayed back. I didn’t think I was up to the jouncy ride. I am feeling better though. I am eating some saltine crackers slowly and drinking plenty of water.
I came to the supper table but didn’t eat anything. Just crackers and water. I was ready for bed at 6:30 pm. I woke up at 9:30 pm and went to the choo and then slept until 3:30 am. Went to the choo again and laid awake for a few hours. Probably fell asleep again just before time to get up. I didn’t hear CeCe or Cindy get up and get dressed. It was 7:30 am before I woke up.

Campfire and Zebra

Near the end of this video, you can hear the zebra making its donkey-like call.

Maasai Bomas

Africa Day 8

February 3, 2010
The Maasai people are so pretty. The women and the men. They are so anxious to be your friend, They wave to you as you drive by. The men dress in really neat red outfits. The shuka is a cloth that they use as a cape for warmth and is part of their costume. Red is their defining color. I love their costumes.
The men have more than one wife. The each wife builds mud hut that are situated close together. They have a barrier around the huts made out of the horrible thorn branches that are prevalent here. These clusters are called Bomas.
The weather has been hot to us, but the Maasai think it is cold. They have kept their shukas on most of the time.
We went to 2 more schools again today. I got some videos of the children singing their welcome song. Each child raises their hand at the invitation and they all repeat the sinner’s prayer. Then we give them New Testaments so they can read them and grow.
We took a shortcut home after our last school today. We drove thru the fields. We went by many bomas We saw herds of cows that are considered a man’s wealth, and goats. It was fun going right by their homes.
Marigold took 3 of us for a ride to see the animals. We came upon a herd of Zebra. Something had scared them and they were running. I got a movie of them running, especially a baby who was frolicking around. It was really neat. We also saw a herd of wildebeest and some gazelles. It was hard to get a picture of the gazelles since they are so little.
We sat around the campfire and roasted marshmellows tonight. We gave some to the Maasai. One guy spit it out immediately. Others liked it.

Schools

Africa Day 7

February 2, 2010
I didn’t sleep well last night. I was on 2 air mattresses and that made it hard to stay on it. My sleeping bag kept wrapping around me as I would turn over. I would get too hot. Next year I will bring a mattress pad, fitted sheet, flat sheet and a blanket. I took one of the mattresses off and I hope I will sleep better tonight. The other thing is that when I was awake I listened to the noises. I heard Zebra, Wildabeast, and doves.
Took a “shower” this morning. The water didn’t come out of the shower head. I finally had to use the faucet at the lower part of the shower and just wash up. The shower beside me worked fine. They have really have fixed this place up since they first started. This is the first year with the permanent showers and choos.
We had hard boiled eggs, some type of bacon, spam, fruit, and toast for breakfast. We went to a school to teach the children about Jesus. Lori Loomis did a wonderful job of telling the salvation story. She is so animated. We gave out salvation bracelets, candy and New Testaments to those who could read. Every child raised their hand for salvation and repeated the sinners prayer. How special!
Had chicken, rice, cabbage, sauce for rice for lunch. Went to another school this afternoon. They had 600 students. We had the bracelets and candy for all of them but ran out of New Testaments.
Came back to camp and took a short nap. That was very helpful. Now we are waiting for supper. It was the hottest today yet, but it is cooling down some now. A breeze is blowing.

Camp

Our dining hall, morning devotions around the camp fire, just keeping warm around the fire in the evening, our Maasai guards.

Camp

Africa Day 6

February 1, 2010
Today we are going out to the bush, to Masai country. Mike and Marigold have purchased land there to build a mission compound. They have a tabernacle there already but the sleeping quarters are still tents. They hope to have permanent tents soon but not at this time. I am anxious to see this. They say we will see lots of animals out there. Probably more than during the safari on the game reserve. And the ones at the camp are wild where as the ones in the game reserve are more tame. This is going to be fun.
We ate lunch at a restaurant along the way. We had samosas. They were a little spicy for my taste. The French fires were good and so was the coleslaw. I ate a lot of that since no one else was eating it. Then later I was told I shouldn’t have eaten it. I pray I don’t get sick. It was very good.
We arrived at camp sometime the middle of the afternoon. We got our beds set up in the tents and our suitcases arranged. We had several air mattresses in the tent when we got here. I didn’t use mine at all. CeCe and I each had 2, so we stacked them. Cindy had one that was already double.
Supper didn’t happen until after 8 pm. We has spaghetti, fruit salad and a local bread. It was very good. We had popcorn for dessert. We had a nice campfire that stayed going all night.
CeCe and I switched roommates. Michelle went to be with Nancy and Cindy came to stay with us. We miss Michelle. We had bonded with her.
The choo is the hard thing to get used to. It is the outhouse. It is just a hole in the ground and you have to squat over it to go to the bathroom. It is a cement floor and they had a mettle rack that has 3 legs that can be put over the hole to use to hold yourself up with. That is a real blessing. My knees and legs just don’t do a good job of holding me up. It is very difficult to aim correctly so much of the urine goes on the cement floor. And BM….?