Maasai Evangelism Conference

Last month I was invited and attended the second annual Maasai Evangelism
Conference here in our region of Tanzania. Gathering in a small village about an hour north of the city of Morogoro, were thousands of Maasai men, women and children who had come from all over Tanzania in order to participate in this event. There were even several distinguished guests representing the Maasai communities in Kenya in attendance.

It was a very special event for the people here. It had the feel,
to me - as one of a hand-full of people present who were not Maasai - of a
massive family reunion. You could feel the excitement as this mass of
people celebrated the meeting of relatives and explored their heritage together.


It was a joyous event, yet the official purpose of the gathering, according to our host (one of the young Maasai men assigned with the responsibility of organizing the event), was two-fold:
1) It was a spiritual retreat -- an evangelism conference in which the
Gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed and the community was encouraged
in faith.
2) It was an educational retreat as well -- There were several sessions in which teachers and speakers discussed various issues pertaining to Maasai life and life in East Africa. Health concerns, environmental protection, and the value of education itself were each focus topics targeted to benefit the whole community.


On the final day of the event I witnessed something I had never seen
before: a mass-blessing in which every single person had hands layed
on their heads, one by one, by one of the pastors present. They were each given a
blessing and the whole group was blessed, that their lives might be given God's guidance and security, in the name of Jesus Christ. This was an ecumenical gathering which included clergy representatives from the Lutheran Church, the Pentecostal Church and the Anglican Church and possibly more, each domination having established churches amongst the Maasai people.

Following the mass-blessing, the event culminated with at least 20 persons(both adult and child) being baptized. This added yet another dimension of celebration to the conference!

And then... as is always true at Maasai functions--we feasted on rice
and, of course, the central symbol of Maasai living... (ng'ombe) beef!
And it was good.