Blessing You Will Be Blessed

My Small Skinny Maasai Elder Car Lift.

I was leaving the small village of Engaresero, when a Maasai elder began flagging me down for a ride to his boma.  Although I had several people in my vehicle, we made room for him and continued on our journey.  During our conversation, he began to relate to us how he was a rich elder with many cows, wives, and children.  As we arrived at our turn to go to our camp, I joking told him that since he was a rich man, he should give me some car fare for giving him a ride.  He clicked his tongue as the Maasai do when surprised or expressing emotion, laughed, and got out of the vehicle. He then came to my side of the vehicle to thank me for his ride.

The next few moments were truly a new experience for me.

He asked me for both of my hands.  He took my hands in his and then spit on each of my hands.  He then placed both of my hands on my chest, covering my heart.  He spoke some words which I did not understand.  Then taking my hands again in his,  he spit on my hands again and placed them on my head, again speaking words that I did not understand.  Then, he took my hands a third time in his, spit on them, placed my hands on the dashboard of my vehicle, and spoke those same unknown (to me) words.  He then let go of my hands, took his walking stick, and proceeded to walk in the direction of his boma, all the while thanking me for a ride.

The rest of the passengers were quiet as we headed toward our camp.  I was also quiet as I drove, wondering where my Purel or other hand wash was in the vehicle or at camp.  One of my Maasai passengers finally spoke up and related that what the Maasai elder did was give me a great blessing and that was the process by which it was done.  He said he had not seen that done in a very long time to anyone and that it was not only a great blessing but a great honor to be blessed in that way.

Then they were quiet again until we reached our destination.



You never know what will happen when you give a small skinny Maasai elder a lift in your vehicle.

Of Sickness and the Occult

Health was the elusive subject of this Tanzanian woman.  She had done all she could to rid herself of the malady that plagued her for these many months.  Hospital doctors, medicines, local herbalists, even the "spirit doctors" were of no help.  The condition was constant with no relief or healing in sight.



Then one day, she heard of a bi-vocational Baptist pastor who was serving in a church in her area.  She had heard about some of the things that had occurred as a direct result of prayer.  This church has a dedicated prayer service on Friday and one on Sunday.


She contacted the pastor and asked for prayer for her condition.  After some weeks of praying and then investigating, it was discovered that she still was clinging to portions of her African Traditional Religion (worshiping ancestors, witchcraft practices, etc).  Demon possession was definitely in the picture.

The church continued to pray for this lady, her sickness, and also prayed that the demons would leave her.  The woman came to one of the Friday prayer meetings and declared that she "had been set free" and been saved!  The pastor asked her many questions, listened to her testimony, and was satisfied that she had truly received Jesus as her Savior and Lord!  Also to her amazement and praise, she no longer had the sickness that had taken up residence in her body.  She was completely healed!

Later, 3 other people came to the pastor.  They related the story of this woman who had been cured and set free from the demonic oppression and probable possession.  Because of this woman sharing her new testimony with them, they also wanted to accept Jesus as their Savior.  Then they related that they too had been involved in witchcraft and had buried their occult articles in their yard.  The pastor went with them to this "burial plot", took a hoe, dug up the articles and proceeded to have a bonfire service of destroying these articles and a praise time for the Lord Jesus Christ!  When people here burn their occult objects, that is true sign of their repentance and faith!

How God still continues to work through prayer!!

Musa and the Snake

One evening, Musa, our worker, was walking to a water spigot in our yard to get some water.
The moon was out so he did not need a torch (flashlight) since he had traveled this stone and concrete path many times.  As he put his left foot down, he felt something wrap around both of his legs and then hit his foot.  Instantly reacting, he kicked the object with his foot. It went flying into the dark.  He then came to the house thinking that he had been bitten by a snake!  There was not evidence of a puncture wound, but I cleaned it with Neosporene and gave him some pain medication.

He slept fitfully that night.  The next day, we took him to a local hospital.  Since the snake could not be identified and there was still no evidence of a puncture wound, he was given some medicine for "sumu" (poison), some pain meds, and a tetanus shot.  He was instructed to return after 2 weeks for a re-check.  The medicines are strong and they affected him to the point where he was not able to work for 4 weeks.

He went to another hospital to get a second opinion and another tetanus shot.

He seems to be doing better now and is regaining his strength.

We do not know if the snake indeed injected venom into his skin or not.

Never the less, God has taken care of him through this whole incident.

This reminds me that Satan is truly a like a snake, waiting to strike at the opportune moment.

We need to be constantly on the alert, physically and spiritually!

Hannah and the Lion's Cave

This story comes from a friend of ours and is a combination of two stories from the Bible, Hannah and her prayer for a child and Daniel and the lion's den.

A Maasai woman in a boma in the Simanjiro area had been pregnant several times.  She carried the fetuses to full term but all were still born.  Maasai culture would suggest that this woman had upset her ancestors, had been given the "evil eye" someone, or even an enemy had cursed her so that she could not have any children.  But she was a Christian.  She could not explained her situation or circumstances, but she did trust God in all of this sorrow, disappointment, and shame.  In this culture, if a woman cannot have children, it is a major shame and grounds for divorce and securing another wife "who can give children".

She then found out she was pregnant again. She prayed about this new situation and then decided to leave her boma and go into the bush. She would take her chances there.  She felt like if she could not have another child, she wanted to die also.

She traveled very far and found a cave in a small hill near a water source.  She set up house so to speak to live her time out in the bush and hopefully return to her boma with her new and healthy child.  It became night and she went to sleep.  During the night, she woke up to a stirring noise in the cave.  It was a pride of lions!  She was their home invader.  But the lions did not bother her.

In the morning, the pride left.  She discovered that there was an entrance and a separate exit to this cave.  She was beside herself and did not know what to do -- should she move but she would not have access to water?  Should she stay and hope the pride would not return?  She chose the latter option. But the pride returned with a kill.  They set it down in the cave a backed away from it.  The woman was hungry and approached the kill to cut off a small piece of meat to cook.  She took her chances with the pride as her hunger overcame her fear of the pride.  She cut a piece of meat off the kill and retreated to her side of the cave.  The pride did not bother her at all.  She ate the meal, grateful that she was still alive.

This scenario continued for several months - the pride bringing a kill to the cave and the woman being able to eat some of it.  The woman continued in her pregnancy to full term and self-delivered a healthy baby!  She praised God and made preparations to return to her boma.

As she began her journey, she noticed that the pride of lions accompanied her, seeming to protect her from other predators and bringing food at other times.

She made it back to her boma and began to relate her story to the rest of her family.  The family panicked when the saw the lion pride not too far from their boma!  The warriors grabbed their weapons and prepared to protect their boma from this major threat!

But the woman stopped them and proceeded to finish her story about the pride's protection and provision for her while in the bush.

Then she asked the head elder of the boma if they could kill a cow and give it to the pride as a thank offering for their actions over the last few months -- the healthy baby and mother giving testimony to their actions.

He agreed and they followed through with the request.
The pride had a grand meal and then left during the night.
They have not been seen since in that area.
That boma is now called The Lion Boma.
It is a testimony to God's miraculous provision and protection through a unique means!


How great is our God!!