"And a little child shall lead them...

Explanation: Isaiah 11:6 (Jesus)


Sunday February 17th

Today was probably my best day here yet~ and probably one of my favorite village services!!!!! After breakfast, we left about 8:45am…all 9 of us, before Pastor Malaki joined us! The Stubb Family came with PH, Luka, and myself…so the 3 children (Megan(14), Nathan(11), Marissa (12) and their mother, Carol sat in the back while Godfrey, me, Randy, (and eventually Pastor Malaki) sat in the middle!!! The Stubbs are great~ Megan is excellent at kiiSwahili and has already surpassed me by 5-6 lessons!! The parents are very nice, but boy they sure can talk a lot!! (you all thought I talked a lot…) haha Seriously…sometimes I just like it to be quiet in the car- to listen to music, or to just look out the window, and I really do like to listen to the conversation that PH/Luka/ other evangelists or pastors usually have to see if I can pick up anything!! However, Randy decided to talk to me pretty much the entire way to the village- about Makumira University where they teach music. *Note: the Stubbs are a very small/thin family- that is why 4 fit in the back so well! :)

Well, we drive for about 10 minutes maybe when we get an incredibly flat tire. PH pulls over immediately (thank God there was an area of extra road on the shoulder for buses)! So, we all get out of the car and Luka is very speedy at changing the tire and within 15 minutes we are going again! *Note: they do not carry spare tires here, they carry extra tires…
About 45 minutes into the drive, we pick up P. Malaki on the side of the road and shortly after that we turn off onto a Secondary Road that seemed to go straight forever…however it was very bumpy as we went from one side of the road to the other to avoid various dips and potholes and puddles of water/mud-sometimes there were patches of water covering the whole road- we prayed that they weren’t too deep! After what seemed like an hour (probably only 30-45 min) we turned off on yet another “road.” Now we were to the Tertiary part of the trip…basically following some tire tracks through the bush… there were a couple terrible parts of the grass that were submerged in water that we had to get through… and then we stop because we see that just ahead of us has eroded: ½ the road is dry gravel but the other ½ is a watery, muddy mess. Well, Luka and Malaki have been directing up until now, but then Luka gets out to figure out how to go around this bad area. We follow him through some trees and then a small child (about 9-10) suddenly appears with a huge smile on his face and he shows us the way. We follow he and Luka until the little boy has shown us back to the “road”…more like a path… and then he gets in and sits on Luka’s lap to continue pointing PH in the right direction…right up until we stop before the brick-built church! I give Randy the credit for remembering this verse… it was great because right before this child appeared Randy and I had been sharing previous village experiences and we were talking about how being here, in this culture, it makes the Gospel come so alive- meaning, I feel like I could be walking around with Jesus…
I think we arrive around 11-11:15am and after a few greetings Carol and I head off into the bush to find some trees to use as a restroom. Now, every village visit up til now I have been able to wait until returning to the seminary, but those roads were so incredibly bumpy that I found myself needing to go… so I relented and was thankful for the company!! Haha I’ve gone to the bathroom in a few crazy places before when I was here 4 years ago, but it was still akward, knowing how many people were just beyond some trees in the church, and many Maasai women were cooking at a fire as well… and it probably wasn’t the best day to wear bright orange :)
We join the rest of the group, now standing outside by a sand pile engaging in conversation… a couple small kids come over and Megan absolutely loves kids and since her Swahili is so good she tries talking to them… we learn the name of one of the two: Kennett. He is a little rascal and trouble-maker but has the greatest laugh and a cute smile….when he wasn’t smirking! Anyway, we took a couple pictures with them…and of course, the close-up pictures I have with them the children aren’t smiling! But sometimes, children don’t know to smile for pictures so they scowl or just stare… we go into the church and there are a few benches and some other children hanging out… well- somehow this game got started between Kennett and myself because he climbed up on the bench and reached out to me and so I would “catch” him and swing him around… he just loved this and squealed with delight every time I did it…over and over and over again… about 15 times!!! J I enjoyed every minute of it as I haven’t gotten a chance to play with many children…(it really helped to have along the 3 American children because it made it a lot easier) and Kennett just clinged to me! :)
Then the Mamas brought in chai and shooed all the children out of the church. We were served wonderful chapati And maandazi…but the chai was NOT TRUE Maasai chai!!!! I was bummed and surprised as the Chai is obviously absolutely wonderful!! But PH did say this was a very poor village, so it is possible they did not have means to obtain the ginger to grind. After chai/conversation PH and Malaki go outside to register for a few baptisms and the rest of us stay sitting. The Stubbs, myself, and Luka were on one bench and Godfrey was behind us. Women and children start showing up and a choir gets assembled on a few benches and so they start some pre-service singing (the men of course gather outside to chat before the service). After a few minutes Luka gets up to go bring in the kneelers and the rest of the things used so the spot on the end next to me is open for quite a while until suddenly the most beautiful Maasai man just plops down next to me (of course, I did not know this until after the service as I really only saw the side of him)…although right after he sat down he turned to me and asked me “Are these liturgy books?(referring to the stack of 4 books between us)” in excellent English.
I remember looking at my watch at 12:30pm while the pre-service singing was still happening and I told Carol that if we start the service by 2:30pm we would be doing good!! Not too much later (maybe 30 min or so) we actually started! It was about 2 hrs again- and just wonderful!! The girls choir sang and also the “Von Trapp Family Singers” as PH liked to call the Stubb Family! They sang a couple songs in English and one in Swahili in the beginning of the service…then there were a couple baptisms- a baby and a young boy…PH gave the message and this one was a lot harder to understand- or maybe it was just harder for me to concentrate as we were all squeezed onto this bench together…so on one side of me was this Maasai man and the other was Marissa (the Stubb’s daughter with Down Syndrome)- she is a delight, but sometimes its hard for her to pay attention for so long, so she was taking over my “personal space bubble” as we might call it…actually- after riding packed in the car for over a month now and thinking about my other experiences…there’s not really a personal space bubble anymore! Haha
Communion time rolls around and typically those baptized go first, then the young Maasai warriors, because supposedly, if they do not go right away they will not go at all….well, the 8 or so young men were sitting in the rows behind us but it looked like PH was motioning for us to go, so we started to walk up- and well, I just kept going because no one else was getting up behind us… so I ended up taking communion with all of the warriors first! Haha- then again…every village we go to I am always an “honorary man” anyway as I eat first… :) During the offering, the Stubb Family sang “Thy Word” and they sang in English, but Megan would sing the verse in Swahili right after…so it was a beautiful flowing mixture of kiiengereza (English) and kiiswahili!!! I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but after the offering, there’s a tiny bit of liturgy left, then the pastors kneel facing the altar and the whole congregation sits to have a couple minutes of silent prayer/reflection! Then the Pastors/evangelists exit first and we start to sing # 317 and file out to shake hands until the last person or child is out! PH says a blessing, and then the service is over and people slowly disperse!
Well, as I went around shaking hands I ended up being across from 3 Maasai men (including the one sitting next to me)…and I knew that he would want to come talk to me as he knows English and the men were looking in my direction… (I was also surprised and intrigued about where he was educated though) well, sure enough… he heads in my direction and comes right to me- (I was standing nearby Randy and Carol) and says “ I want to know you better- where are you living?” haha and I said-right now? well, I am (we all are-motioning toward the Stubbs) all from Morogoro- the Lutheran Junior Seminary. Then Randy talks to him about for awhile as Megan and I step a few feet away to take pictures of the children that were all lined up in a group nicely. Then, he came over to me again and asked if I was married yet…I said not yet- but I am with someone back home! He acts very surprised (about not being married) so I explain that in America many people do not get married until their mid-20’s, like 25 or so, because they like to finish school first. He then asked how long I will be here for, and I said only one more month. PH came over and said “Marko!” so then I knew his name at least!! PH said- I wanted this guy to be an evangelist!!
Then we had to eat- with my right hand of course! I must say…I am getting the hang of it!! We all chatted/said good-byes to different people… I was able to get a picture with the two Evangelists: Moses and Mathaeo (matthew), as well as another Maasai man and Marko!! Except, in the picture he is not smiling and he had a wonderful smile and excellent teeth! Now half of our group is in the car ready to go, but I was still outside and Marko told me that the children were saying- is this an ndege (meaning airplane)- and he told them no, it’s a gari (car) …and they said-what’s that? He thought it was funny… then he shook my hand and told me- “God-willing, we will meet again.”
Malaki then grabbed my camera and had someone take a quick picture of us…little did I know that Marko happened to be in the corner of it! so now you can see his great smile!
We finally get going and Luka drives back on the Tertiary Road and gets us through the mud/water…then we hit the Secondary Road and we stop briefly to see this Evangelist Center that Luka had built…and also the water pump that pumps clean water…PH pumped it up and down quite a bit and then the water finally came! Luka and Malaki did some pumping as well…and then I tried it!! It’s not hard, but you have to pump it MANY times so I got tired- but I did manage to make the water flow!! Almost as soon as we get back in the car it starts to downpour for about 30 minutes… then PH and Luka switch once we are back on the Primary Road. We drop off Pastor Malaki and continue back to the seminary arriving about 6:10pm… Luka and I went to PH’s room to look at the calendar so we could start planning for the week my parents will be here…then I went to dinner about 6:35pm- everyone else had finished but Sofia (who is finally back after being gone about 9 days in Dar for a volunteer meeting through her missionary organization) and Godfrey were there to keep me company!
The rest of the night I accomplished uploading a lot of pictures and then just reflecting… I hand-wrote a bunch of thoughts/feelings down… it was just a good night of brokenness and I learned a lot…but therefore also didn’t go to bed until late.

Marko was a wonderful guy- and yes, I think the Maasai are in general a beautiful people…but marriage proposals from other Maasai men, I was definitely like, that’s alright- not exactly into half-naked men that carry a large knife/club on their belt (for safety!)…however, Marko was so beautiful to me- maybe because he spoke English well that helped me to see a different side in a Maasai warrior… he was gentle, humble and intimidating all at the same time and to say the least, I was flattered! But who wouldn’t be… yes, I may have been homecoming queen at Wartburg in the fall but what does that mean??? It has absolutely no meaning here… so I’m not anybody special…just another mzungu (white person) that is treated with the same respect as any other visitor to the village… I really don’t deserve all this attention- they give attention to any white person/visitor…but this place really does to wonders for one’s self-esteem!! :)


Monday February 18th


Well… what went from the best day of my time here so far changed to one of the worst on Monday. My new teacher for the week is Amani and he is also teaching during his 3-week holiday break from the University… quite the contrary from past teachers, he explains almost too well- or too much, maybe is a better word. I didn’t even get through one full lesson all day…the lesson was about Mount Kilimanjaro and climbing vocabulary- so that was okay, but it’s the exercise practice sheets that just take me way too long.
I was doing alright until lunch- but then after lunch I was starting to get crabby and tired and so the afternoon period of class from 2:30-4pm was awful…I was useless and I felt very sorry for my teacher. My brain just didn’t want to function…I was ready to cry tears of frustration and just walk right out (I have only wanted to do that one other time…this was worse!) haha Finally, 4pm hits and so I head back to my room for some personal space. It was good to just forget about studying so I looked at a couple friends’ pictures/read a blog as one is currently studying in Botswana (southern part of Africa) and a friend that was in the Sierra Leone! After dinner (which I didn’t eat much of) I started writing about Sunday uploading pictures right away as I had taken so many good ones! However, about 9pm the power goes out and I once again lose pictures (about 5 too)! :( Bummer… so, now you will read in writing and then hopefully soon I can get some pictures up so it will help you connect names w/faces and environments!!!

Blessings for your week!

in His grip,
Alana :)