The Masaii

The team traveled south of Nairobi to the Okoolasalie region to spend three days with the Masaii men and women. We drove an hour and a half through rocky, primal and colorful landscapes to a place where hundreds of men and women were waiting for our team. It was like a scene from a movie as we crested a mountain framed hill to be greeted by hundreds of dancing and singing Masaii ablaze in a sea of red clothing. After a formal greeting by Pastor Peter, the team broke up into groups of men and women and we taught. God blessed us with a wonderful African rain while we were there.
The next day the team arrived at the conference in Oloserian which means" place of peace". We teach under the Acacia trees to groups of men and groups of women. We were thrilled that all the women in our group were saved. One lady told us that her father was a renowned witch doctor and after her salvation she led not only her father to Christ ,but 29 other family members. These women were so eager and thirsty for The Word and encouragement. The Masaii women make up 90% of the church. We had a long discussion with the women giving them teaching and learning skills to work with their children. It was a day of many blessings.
On day three, the team visited a new school that Pastor Peter had recently started. The precious little ones were sitting so sweetly and there were a few white goats there also quietly listening. For now they are under a tree, and Pastor Peter plans to have a building in the future.
Our team also went to different villages to evangelize. Praise God for the salvations on day three. We ended up at a church and were invited in and formally greeted. We then went outside and broke up into groups to teach God's word and answer questions. The Holy Spirit was so strong that day and we experienced many blessings with this group.

February 2010-Kenya

Team Members: (left to right)

Peggy Campbell -Hocutt Baptist
Mimi Brummitt- Bayleaf Baptist
Walter Haskins -Bayleaf Baptist
Betsy Vaughan- Hocutt Baptist
Pastor Steve Roy -Hocutt Baptist
Joanne Roy- Hocutt Baptist
Wayne Harrifeld -Hocutt Baptist

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Legacy School in Narok, Kenya

Against all odds, a Masaii woman named Margaret Koileken started a school in Narok about five years ago. She was motivated by the oppression Masaii girls live under and the lack of hope within her district. These young Masaii girls bear little hope of finishing school when puberty sets in. After missing days of school each month, they will eventually be unable to pass their national exams and qualify to go to state run high schools and then college. As a result, their fathers will marry the girls off for a few heads of livestock and they will start having babies at the age of 12 and 13 years old.

The school takes children at 3 years old and they can stay through what would be our 8th grade. They have facilities to board about 60 children at this time. Their school fees are about $900/year. Most families in Kenya struggle to pay school fees to any school which average $450/yr. Every Kenyan student has to buy uniforms or they cannot attend any school. The tuition for Legacy includes 2 meals/day and tea/snack. (The British influence, you know!)

They just started their new school calendar in February with 203 students. Margaret was thrilled to show off their National Testing results to us. In a very large district, Legacy scored the TOP IN THE DISTRICT with her first class to complete 8 years! WOW!!! Also, they scored the highest score recorded to date and all her students were invited to the top High Schools around Kenya. I told Margaret she ruled with an Iron Fist! These children never have any discipline problems!

Our first day with them, the entire student body charmed us with an assembly on their back field. It was a lovely and pleasant day to be outside and watch these precious children sing and dance for us. They worked so hard for us! If you want to see the face of Jesus you gotta go to Legacy! At the end, we were all invited to get up and dance with them! What fun!

The second day was more serious. We were prepared to teach 3 x 1 hour classes. I love the little ones (4,5, and 6) so I volunteered to teach them in the morning. We made fun bracelets with pipe cleaners and beads.

I also taught the 1st,2nd and third grade classes. I showed them pictures of our family and pets which they loved! I taught about who Jesus really is and about a few of His miracles. With great joy, we had 47 children accept Christ that day!

Margaret begged us to bring science curriculum's when we were there in September, especially concerning sex education. I put together a lesson plan including "True Love Waits". Two of our team members taught the 5th-7th grade girls about sex and were faced with some very tough questions. Many of the girls are violated by their families or fathers. They are very frightened and need someone unbiased to talk to.

Kenya Mission Trip

Kenya Missions February 14-27, 2010

I have been very blessed to be able to go back to Kenya for the second time with Bayleaf Baptist Church. I am just an ordinary woman with no seminary training. What allows me to go and teach and evangelize is my tremendous love for the Lord. I have a very special place in my heart for the Kenyan people. They have the loving ability to make one feel very welcome (karibu) and have the warmest and most comforting smiles. They are so generous and welcome us into their homes and churches. They always offer us hospitality, even if taking the food from themselves.

This trip was set up for us to teach and evangelize. We are not there for medical missions or disaster relief. We may be giving pastors continuing education,evangelizing in the villages, conducting a Women's Conference or teaching an impromptu group of children. We also support orphanages and The Legacy School in Narok. Each trip itinerary varies with each team which travel in September and February.

The people have so many needs and so much to do daily. The first priority of the day is to find water. Even in Kisumu, which is on Lake Victoria, the people do not have water service in their homes Lake Victoria is the worlds second biggest freshwater lake in the world, yet they cannot easily transport this water to their homes or gardens. There is always health concerns which goes along with man and animals sharing the same water sources.

I have only been to two homes that have electricity and most homes are made with dung and mud mortar. Because of the way these homes are self-built, there is no way to keep them 100% free of predator threats at night. (ie snakes,scorpions,etc.) Also, these hand-made structures only last about 10 years.

Kenya experienced a terrible drought last year while we were there. The landscape was much greener everywhere we went this time after God has blessed them with sufficient rain. Many people lost livestock and everything they had. One Masaii lady told us that many men killed themselves because they were so despondent. It made their daily struggles unbearable. So sad.