The Masai Feast

Ngoswani Masai Discipleship Training and Feast

Last Friday, at about 8 a.m., we started the 5 hour drive to Masai Mara and the small town of Ngoswani. My dear wife Haviylah was planning to come, but the day before, she had stepped on a three inch Acacia thorn that went almost an inch into her foot. Very, very painful. That eliminated any possibility of her coming with us. Acacia thorns are a little poisonous and by the next day she couldn’t walk. Three days of rest with herbal foot baths and she was okay and walking again.

The 5 hour trip almost took 8 hours, because of a car problem, that took 2 1/2 hours to fix. Not bad! We had asked our Father for a cloudy day, so the heat would be minimal and that’s what we got. The rest of the journey was pleasant. 

We arrived in Ngoswani, almost the same the same time our Mennonite missionary friends Luke and Jamila arrived, even though they left Nakuru, 3 hours after we did. When all of us finally arrived, we were all given a warm welcome by our beloved friend, Deb Daren (the church’s missionary founder), and the rest of the StoneHouse family.

After a bite to eat, Deb, Angie, Njeroge, and Luke’s family visited the surrounding villages (Bomas) and engaged in some evangelism. 

I gathered the men of the church together and began to teach and discuss various church matters and personal issues, that had arisen from the problems and persecution they had begun to experience. Slowly, the men began to open up about their own lives. This is crucial for them to be trained as disciples. Our fellowship allowed us to intimately interact with each other in all personal matters. It was a good beginning. Saturday we spent over 4 hours together.

 Meanwhile our Masai brothers slaughtered two goats and began to prepare for the campfire feast that night. Anytime preparations are made for a feast, the Masai begin to celebrate. There was a lot of jumping, fellowship and mouth-watering smells as evening time came.

Before it grew too dark, Luke’s family and I (with a bunch of Masai brothers) went looking for elephants. We finally spotted a herd coming down from the backside of the mountain that Deb’s house is on. They were heading for a water hole at the base of the mountain and we were right in their path. It was pretty exciting. Although Luke and I were glad that both our cars were four wheel drive vehicles.

 

When we returned to the campfire, we were fed some of the best goat meat I’ve ever eaten. After having stuffed ourselves, I was ready for bed, but Deb said … stick around… the brothers have prepared something for us.

After a few minutes, as the fire blazed, they came. Suddenly, sounds filled the African night that can only be heard from Masai men and women. All our brothers and sisters (and a few of the compound’s guards) began singing and dancing traditional songs around the campfire. It was awesome. For almost an hour they marched, danced and sang.

If you have never heard Masai tonal dance sounds, it will surprise you. (For a sample… visit our Facebook home page…  https://www.facebook.com/stonehouseministries/  and press the play and volume button on the home page picture ).

They even got us to join in the dance with them. It was hilarious to watch me and the Mennonite family members try to move like the Masai.

After the Masai dancing stopped, we insisted that they try to do the ‘Twist’. That, my friends, was even funnier than us trying to do Masai dances.

All in all we had a wonderful and fruitful time. Luke and Jamila’s family left right after our Sunday gathering the next day. We on the other hand, being completely exhausted, waited till Monday morning to travel back to Nakuru. Arriving home, we praised the Lord for a safe and non-eventful trip back to Nakuru.

Pray for us as we continue to advance the Kingdom of God in East Kenya.

Blessings from StoneHouse Ministries.