1 Chronicles 16:28-29 (NLT) O nations of the world, recognize the LORD, recognize that the LORD is glorious and strong. Give to the LORD the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his presence. Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor.
For several weeks Maasai John had been our contact with the local Maasai community as a number of them assisted us and dozens of other families to learn to live in a rural East African setting.
At night the men patrolled our campsite to ward off the leopards eager to hunt the plump baboons that slept in the fig trees towering above our tents. In the mornings, women carried our laundry in tubs on their heads to the stream to wash our clothes, and their children. Toward the end of our time together, Maasai John invited our family and one other to join him and his family for chai, or afternoon tea, in their compound.
The manatta (homestead) consisted of several dung and mud huts with stick covered roofs, forming a circle around an inner corral where a few cattle and restless goats were housed at night. These animals, gaunt and haggard, represented the full wealth and honor of John, his brothers and their families. We were welcomed with grace and kindness into one of the huts, offered small stools to sit upon and drank together hot tea mixed with smoked milk and cups of sugar. His wife showered me with shy grins and gifts of beaded jewelry.
Though John spoke English, his family and our family did not speak a common language but we shared a common love -- a love for Jesus and in just a few hours, a love for one another.
As we made our way back to the jeep, John invited us to stop into one more house. This one was made of cinder blocks and cement with a tin roof. It had several benches and open spaced-windows. This was God’s house. John built it for his family to gather each week to worship God, study His word, and learn to follow His Son.
Shortly after that holy afternoon, I learned that the common perception in the local rural area is that if you are poor, you live in a mud hut; if you are more well-off, you live in a wooden structure; and if you are wealthy, you live in a stone house.And so it was that John had built for God, his King, a stone palace, while he and his loved ones continued to live in their humble huts.
Oh, Carol, you knew I would love that story. I'm pretty sure that's the same John who helped with our orientation; he invited us to his home for tea, too. What a dear man. I did not know about the house of worship he had built. I treasure that story.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Hi Linda. Yes, this is the same "Maasai John" you knew. Wycliffe was looking for some devotionals for a project they are working on so I submitted this and one more that will show up here later. Precious memories, for sure.
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