Day 9 - A Different Way of Life

Hello again! This morning (Sunday) we again got up early and immediately set out on another safari. This was a wonderful trip! We came across a pack of at least 15 hyenas which was quite enjoyable, along with a family of 10 or so elephants. The best part was seeing two of the elephants playing and pushing each other around with their tusks. We were amazed at how close they were to us, and also a little intimidated when the male started walking up to the front of the vehicle as if to say "get away from my babies," he made a good Dad. While out we also enjoyed the beautiful sunrise as we were surrounded by mountains and hot air balloons rising into the air. We were awestruck again by God's creations this morning. We then returned to Fig Tree for our breakfast which was delicious like all of the other meals. Then we packed up and headed to visit a Masai Village. Upon arriving at the village, we were greeted by the chief's son, Kennedy. He instructed the men to come out and perform a traditional dance for our group. At the end of this dance they would each individually jump into the air taking turns. The higher the male could jump the more pull he had with the ladies. This is part of what I meant by the title, the Masai live a very different way of life. Then the women came out and did their traditional dance in which Mel, Daphni, and I got to participate in for a brief second. After the performances we were directed to enter into the village itself. The village is basically a square made up of their homes, and some other materials to make a fence. The center is completely open and that is where the larger animals such as the cows and donkeys stay at night to be protected from lions and other threatening animals. Each home has a room for the smaller animals like the sheep and goats to stay in at night. Each man would bring his own small animals into his room in his home every night for protection. We were then showed how they make fire without matches, and given a look inside their homes to see where they sleep. Each man will have multiple wives, they are polygamists. We then visited their market and passed out some sweets to the children. The children were just as children are at home, you tell them only one piece and yet they still keep coming back for more. It was a very interesting and intriguing experience to see their way of life. Once we said our good byes we set out again to head back to Ewasso to see Chief John and check on how the well was going. We arrived at Chief's house and talked for quite some time. He showed us his corn field and explained how he only sleeps for two hours a day because at night he is protecting his corn from the elephants like he had been doing the night before, and during the day his is fulfilling his role as chief. He introduced us to his wife and two of his three children. We all decided that we had never met a more Godly man than Chief John. He says everything he owns is not his but it is the lords. He puts so much time and effort into maintaining his crops and then he gives almost all of it away! He gives his 10% to the church, sets aside what he needs for his family and such, and then lets others come and take what they need. What a righteous man! I hope everyone is as excited as we are for the work our church is doing in this village, we couldn't have picked a better brother in Christ to donate our efforts to. The men working on the well had reached water late Saturday evening and today they were in the process of putting the casing on so the water will come out clean. The people in the village were so happy, this will truly change their lives! We must say we are very proud of our church for all of the good we are doing in Ewasso and here at ANU. The Lord is blessing our efforts beyond our belief! After saying good byes once more to Chief John, we set out to return to ANU. Once back at ANU we felt like we were back at home. We had a nice dinner and then went our separate ways to unwind and prepare for classes the next morning. We enjoyed every moment of our weekend and feel very fortunate for experiencing the moments we did as a team. We do ask that you please keep Crystal and Evie, and the rest of the Radically Changed group in your prayers as they travel around South Africa. They are there already and safe and things seem to be going well! We look forward to what adventures and blessings God will provide us with as we head into another week!