We went dark for three whole days. Did you survive back at home? Take a deep breath. Your kids are doing great! Mom to mom, here’s my heart on that…sometimes the best gift we can give our children is trusting them into the care of others or allowing them the space to prove their independence. And can I just take a minute to tell you something? They killed it this weekend! They camped, they mastered the long-drop toilets, they went on a safari, they allowed themselves to become immersed in a totally different culture and worshipped with open hands and open hearts even though they didn’t understand a word of it at times. And our adult chaperones were there for them to help them feel equipped to handle all of those situations. This has been such an incredible group to travel with.
Here’s a recap of our weekend. I’ll keep it brief but hopefully have time to come back and fill in more details later.
Friday:
We had a breakfast and then hit the road in our safari buses to head over to Maasai Mara. We had a few stops along the way including a visit at a scenic overlook of the Rift Valley. We did a short school program at a school along the way and had some time to visit with their students and share about Jesus. The big buses moved slowly over the rough terrain, but we made it to the Maasai tribe before dark.
We were welcomed by the people with a beautiful ceremony overflowing with acceptance and love. I’m still slightly undone by the beauty of those few moments. They gave us each a gift—a blessing—which was a unique hand-crafted necklace. They have so little yet they give so freely. After a quick meal we had a time of worship with them and then were able to join them for a worship service. Their style of worship and the language barrier made this a truly unique service for the students. They spoke often of how happy and excited they were to have us help them.
Saturday:
We got to sleep in!!! After our first night of tent camping, having a later breakfast was a welcomed change. We spent time with the Maasai children that morning building salvation color bracelets and talking with them. The babies were a little scared of us “mazuungas” because they had never seen someone that looked like us. And some of the older people in the village told us we all look the same.
During the afternoon we spent time worshipping with the people of the village. I’m convinced it was a tiny taste of what heaven will be like. After some rest time and some dinner we headed in for another time of worship. They wanted to make sure we all had seats for their services and many of them chose to stand in the back of the church until we all found seats.
We headed back into our tents for one more night, grateful for hot showers (for those that chose to take them) and just so thankful for the hospitality and kindness that was shown to us.
Sunday:
We hit the ground running! After packing up our camp and eating breakfast and taking the traditional trip pic, we went to the baptism service done by Matt and Chip. Twelve Maasai people were baptized this morning! Water is so precious here that baptism services are very rare.
With what looked to be a storm blowing in, we rounded everyone up and hit the road. BUT not before the tribe pulled the leaders aside and gave us a blessing. They gave us shukas (blankets to wear), jewelry, and accessories. It was such a special gift!
After another long bus ride, we had an evening drive through the national preserve. Due to time limitations, we cruised rather quickly for the majority of our evening drive. Then we headed to our safari camp for the night.
Monday:
We arrived in the dark and then left in the dark the next morning, but it was so worth it to watch the sunrise out on the Maasai Mara National Preserve. We saw so many animals (lions, leopards, zebras, antelopes, gazelles, giraffes, elephants and more!) and the countryside was breathtaking. Our morning drive happened at a much slower pace. Our drivers were able to use radios to find out where the action was and stop so we could watch and take pictures.
We’ve loaded a few from the drive onto our Facebook page and will have more coming over the next week or two.
After riding back to our home base tonight we’re resting up and geared up for a long day of ministry and then heading home. We are ready!