Day 5
Up at 6 and ready to go on a hunt with the fearless warriors. But in view of the fact that we did not go at 6, I can write a bit more in my journal. I guess 7 will have to do. I have been shown how to throw their spears; I need some practice I can assure you. These guys are good. They also use small little bows and even smaller arrows. Not sophisticated like my compound bow back at home. Their bows look like something little boys would make and they are about as accurate as it sounds. It is the poison that makes it lethal. They say the animal goes down within 2 minutes no matter where it is hit.
After the hunt-
Within the first few minutes in the bush we spotted our first prey but to no avail. As we walked we spotted lots of wildlife around but with my spear in hand and his tiny arrows, one must get within twenty yards at best to get a good chance.
As we walk on my Maasai friend tells me stories of different hunts that he has been on. “Just six months ago” he said, “We killed 4 elephants not far from here, I will take you to see one of the skulls.” “I was with a few others with only our spears and dogs brought them down”. He said, “The ‘tembo’ is a very dangerous animal for if they do catch you, you are finished. But we are Maasai, we fear nothing.”
I was not sure to be proud of him for his bravery or ashamed of him for poaching the elephants.
We returned home empty-handed, except for a tooth I broke out of the elephant’s to keep as a souvenir. Mark, our Maasai host, shared more of his personal story. “After I received Christ, I cut my hair. In this culture when a boy goes through his circumcision ceremony he does not cut his hair until he becomes an elder in the community around the age of 30. The long hair is not required but it one way that these young men, now warriors get some respect and where they get their identity. After the ceremony we all go to the bush and learn the ways of the Maasai. We are taught by the elders of the community. We learn the ways of the bush, we learn to hunt, make spears, survive, and we learn about women. We also learn of the superstitions and the does and don’ts of just about everything.”
Mark went on, “I was in the bush for three years but a number of my friends stayed in the bush for up to seven years. It is during these years that we are completely free to roam the world, no responsibilities. If we want to go to the big city, we can go. We are tough and people respect us and fear us.”
“After I became a Christian I cut my hair as a sign that I was not holding on to these traditions of our culture but that I was now a follower of Christ. No one could understand why I did this. I was no longer respected among my friends or even the elders of the community. My friends actually killed six of my cows in an attempt to get me to fight back. When this did not work I was asked to leave my boma. After a short time I was allowed back to help with shepherding responsibilities.”
“Some time later I was told that a girl had been selected for me to marry but I refused and told my dad that she was not a believer and I can not marry her.” “My father became angry and beat me; I ran away to the bush and lived mostly on my own for a year. I made my way into Kenya which is just a few mountains away.”
Mark was used to the bush; he can live for 7 days without water. He might be a Christian but he is still Maasai.
When he returned home he found that his younger brother had married the girl he was suppose to marry.
As the months went on, Mark met a mzungu (white) women who was working in the area. She saw his heart and his potential. She sent him to Arusha to do a Discipleship Training School with YWAM. Mark says it was during this time that he really saw a transformation in his life. When he returned home to the Serengeti plains he truly began to share his faith throughout the local bomas.
He started three home groups which are now small churches. They do not meet in a church building; just under the local Acacia tree. A good place to start. Too many church plants have started with buildings, and when you look at many of these churches they are just limping along depending on the wazungu (white man) for support. Over my time in Africa I have told many a pastor wanting a building “if you can’t worship God under a tree, you will not worship him under a roof.” The thinking is that if they have a building then they have arrived and are successful pastors.
Mark went on in YWAM for further training and this is when I, Lyle, met him. I was teaching in a DTS and he had been sitting outside the classroom hearing my teaching and this is when he approached me and said I must come to his village and teach his people. I was drawn to Mark, his big smile and the spark in his eyes. I could not help but love this guy. So here I am a year later sitting under an acacia tree teaching his people.
When I follow and watch Mark today, I see that he is now respected and honored in his community. Once an outcast but now a respected man. Most do not understand his behavior but they do agree with it. They are drawn to his sacrifice and servanthood. An example we all need to follow.
Mark shared his heart with me about wanting to build a clinic here as well as a school. There are no clinics for miles and miles. Most just die in their home or on the way to the nearest clinic, a full days walk away. “No one goes to school here”, he said, “very few can read much less write, so even reading the scripture is not possible.”
(I will say that they may not be able to read words but they are master readers of the bush and if you can not read the bush here you will truly not survive.)
Back under the acacia tree:
We are once again in the seminar, pastor Ezra is speaking on The Touch of God and prior to this I taught on Deuteronomy 28, which talks of the blessings and curses of God which are all based on our obedience or lack thereof. Not only the Maasai but many cultures across Africa are based on blessing and cursing.
If I were to talk in a western setting of God blessing your dog or cow or shamba (garden) we would probably agree with that, but it would not be relevant. However, here it is so understood and people listen. Find a key to the soul of a culture and bring redemption and freedom to it. So often we preach on things that are irrelevant to our audience. We may have their ears but we don’t reach their hearts.
People are hungry here for something that they can hold on to. Locked in by traditions, superstitions and witchcraft their spirits are as hard as the ground they are sitting on. We all need fresh rain from God.
Q&A
After the session and a meal consisting of rice and beans, I was asked to have a Q&A time. Sure I said. These times are my favorite. I learn so much during these times about who people are by the questions they ask.
Lots of questions of the white man’s world but then the questions of witchcraft come in and how do they deal with it. One question was asked “You as a missionary, what do you do if someone comes in to steal from you, do you just sit there and let them come in or do you fight back?” My answer was I would likely do exactly what they would do if someone came into their boma to steal one of their cows. They all laughed and gave a cheer.
After and hour or so, Mark closed the session and said, “lets go Simba and drink some chai at my mothers hut. Once again my eyes had to adjust to the smoke and the darkness.
I began to ask Mark’s mother about her life, “no one has ever done that” she said. I asked her “If there was anything you could do in your life what would you like to do?” I was expecting a different answer, but she simply said “I would like to build a new little house for myself.” Mark began to explain “In this culture it is the woman who builds the house. Once married, the bride builds her own house. Here she raises her own kids and even raises goat kids and calves. There is no room for her husband in this house for he stays in his own house. He will only come to his wife’s place for a few moments of romance now and then.
I asked about circumcision of both the boys and girls. For the boys circumcision happens between the ages of 8 -12. For the girls circumcision only happens when they are given away in marriage. Some girls are promised away in marriage at the age of eight but mostly girls are around the age of 12 before they are promised away to a Maasai warrior.
Circumcision – boys and girls
We talked further about girls’ circumcision, the why’s, the how’s, the if-not’s; and what if she refuses? In short, the girls don’t refuse because they do not know any other way. This is just the way it is here. She does not know to say no. Every girl is circumcised, it has been this way for generations, there is no other way.
We talked of the health issues around the girls’ circumcision. I asked of the attitude from the men if a girl is not circumcised, is she considered unclean? I learnt that a man will not accept a girl as his wife unless she is circumcised.
I asked Mark and he himself agree with girls’ circumcision. We talked a bit about it and in the end I put together that this was the first time he has ever heard there was a problem with it, and that there might be another way. He has not yet been shown or taught another view. So now Mark was full of questions wanting to do what is right. We turned to scripture and found nothing about women’s circumcision so we concluded that if it is not in scripture then maybe it is not good to practice it. We also concluded that though this practice may not be healthy or necessary, this does not make it a sin. It is just an unhealthy traditional action that has cost many young girls their very lives.
In the bigger cities this practice is looked down on, there is even a law against it though it is still practiced out here in the Serengeti plains of Maasai land, it is just the way it is.
I, as a total outsider, need to not condemn them for this practice but rather try to understand them though I may not agree with them. My job is to approach this from a constructive viewpoint. Not arguing from my western viewpoint. It is amazing how deep and personal one’s conversations can get over a cup of chai in mom’s mud hut. Bringing in a new idea or new way of thinking is not even easy in a western setting.
Just look at the church and all our different interpretations.
Some say baptize by sprinkling, others say only by submersion while yet others say baptism is not even necessary. This issue alone may be enough to raise a few hairs and split churches. Many are not open to change, even if they see the truth in the change but due to traditions and pressure from position and status we stay in our practices.
In this small, dark and smoky hut we talked of many things while we filled up on cups of very sweet tea. The bride price for girls here is the price of about 3-4 cows and/or 6-10 goats or sheep. Young men marry somewhere in the age of 18-24. You don’t see many teenage boys around, since most of them are in the bush during these years. Their diet consists of only meat and blood mixed with milk of the cow. They will only eat this for years and not get any vegetables at all. Hard to imagine really. When they return home after these years they will marry and within several years they will become an elder in their community.
After several hours of sitting on a smoked cow hide and smelling like smoke ourselves we left mom’s little mud hut. Pastor Ezra said later he was shocked about all the things he heard in that little hut. As darkness took over the skies Pastor Ezra and I continued to talk about worldviews. Just how does one bring change from this type of worldview into a biblical worldview without one’s own opinions getting mixed up in it all? Nearly impossible.
9pm
Off to our evening meeting under an almost full moon. It is a cold night and all were wrapped in their colorful ‘table cloths’. It was a time of celebration and dance. I joined from time to time in their ‘dance of the leap.’ They all laughed at this white man in his clumsiness; at least I stayed warm... That night I shared more about obedience living as a Christian.
About 11 pm we were off to our beds with the sounds of the howling hyenas. They did not seem very far from our little hut where we slept. Pastor Ezra felt a bit uncomfortable with the hyenas so close I thought it was quite nice as I fixed up some of my t-shirts to serve as my pillow. I do miss my big bed and soft pillow and nothing against Pastor Ezra but Jette makes for a lot better sleeping mate!!!
Day 6
Up early again to see my neighbors plowing their field dressed in the deep red wraps. Against the morning sun this made for some good pictures.
Back in mom’s hut for morning chai we talked about the value system of the Maasai. I was told of the five highest values, but this was from a man’s point of view. I was able to talk to a woman later on and we will see their 5 highest values as well.
But from the men’s side the number one value is: The cow and everything that surrounds the life of his cows. The blood, meat, milk, skin etc.
Number two value, the witchcraft that is so intertwined in the culture of the Maasai man. This is where all blessings and curses come from as well as their source of power and protection.
Number three value was their circumcision.
Number four, their traditions and number five was their chief.
In the eyes of the man, the family is important but does not really have too much value. The children are valued the least. More time and energy is spent on their sickly looking cows than on their own children. And it is noticeable.
These kids are undernourished, full of worms and covered in flies. Many times in rural areas like this, the kids are curious and want to see the mzungu (white man), touch him, watch him, etc. This usually does not bother me so much, it was the same for me as I grew up in Liberia. But here these kids were dirty, covered in flies and basically, they were repulsive. It is not until these kids grow up and go through the rites of circumcision before they are considered of any worth by both the family and the community. Back under the blue tarp and acacia
My spirit is troubled today, are they really understanding and receiving? Superstitions and traditions run so deep. After speaking again on Christian living, I challenge the 300 plus to bring their ‘jujus’, power beads etc, “bring them tomorrow and we will surrender them to the Lord first and then we shall burn them so all can see that you are turning your back on these things.” Everyone knows about witchcraft and how it works, it is real and it is powerful here and this is why people follow it. I just wish the power of the Holy Spirit would come down and overpower all this stuff; I wish I knew why this does not happen more often. If these folks could just see the power of the Holy Spirit. These cultures are power cultures and anything or anybody that has the most power they will follow. Do any of their prayers do anything for them as they wear their juju around their waist? If anything, it keeps them in bondage and continues to give authority to the evil one. We shall see here in a few days if anyone actually brings any of their jujus. It will be a big sacrifice to do this, if not for the juju itself but for the others who will be watching, the peer pressure even in this society is difficult.
Late afternoon once again I take the Mkuki (spear) and take a walk to the valley. The valley floor is covered in aged Acacia trees, reaching their long arms to the heavens. What a glory displayed, this rugged valley has so much beauty to behold, a pen cannot explain. I sit in a small opening, my eyes and ears alert to any wildlife that may show its beauty. The shadows are now as long as the day is old.
As I sit here I ask the Lord once again that I be granted a time in my life to live in such a place as this. Surrounded by wilderness, perhaps I am dreaming again. Sitting in the shadows of the setting sun, I am asking God what it is that would allow the presence of God to be a reality in these communities. Two things come to mind, one is that this land needs to be cleansed, generations of idolatry and witchcraft have cursed this land and its people and secondly, that this deliverance will come through true worship. We can preach and teach all week long but until the land is cleansed through the spirit of worship we will not witness the real presence of God and his lasting power.
The true and sad fact is that millions of Christians across these African nations still hold on to their witchcraft and juju beads. Often you will notice a bible in one hand and juju beads in the other.
I have prayed what seems like a thousand times for that wisdom and possibility to reach into these scattered people groups to bring in the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit that is so desperately needed.
