"All their life
in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and
the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story
which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter
is better than the one before."
C.S. Lewis, The Last
Battle
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| on the road to Maasailand |
This was the quote I took away with me as I graduated from
USC almost exactly a year ago. In a flurry of graduation caps, cardinal and
gold, I was sent off into the world—wide-eyed, excited, and unsure. Life up
until this point had been so structured for me, and for the first time my
future lay before me: wild and unchartered. God gave me a nudge and so I
jumped, hand held firmly in His, into a strange new adventure… and here I am in
Tanzania a year later, begrudgingly counting down the days till my departure.
The past few months with Pamoja have been quite steady: Work
all week and hang out with the Pamoja community, rest/homegroup on Saturday,
and church on Sunday with an occasional town trip. But every once in a while, I
get to go somewhere awesome and spend the rest of the month reflecting on it.
During the month of March I had the incredible experience of
going to Maasailand out in Simanjiro to visit some of Pamoja’s Maasai friends. (Honestly,
had I not been slacking on my entries this trip should have deserved its very
own post lol.)
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| packing for the trip |
Maasai are a tribe of herders who usually live out in the
bush (aka the middle of nowhere,) and spend their days taking care of their
goats, cows, and families. Getting out to Simanjiro in the first place,
however, was already a doozy and made me realize how much I took the paved
roads in the U.S. for granted!
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| busted tire |
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| cow crossing |
Apart from hours of feeling like I was sitting
on a bucking bronco for 6 hours, there were so many things I took away from the
trip to Maasailand.
- Having to do your business in the bushes is
actually quite freeing: You know initially, having grown up with toilets to
pee/take a dump in nearly my entire life, the idea of squatting and potting
seemed kind of gross. However, since there are no rest areas along the roads of
Tanzania, but tons of trees and bushes, I quickly realized that no toilets
meant I could go whenever I want, wherever I want!
- Freshly roasted goat meat is awesome: The Maasai
slaughtered a goat for us the nights we were there, and Kirsten and I were
invited to watch. This is a huge testament to God’s work in the community,
because originally Maasai men wouldn’t even eat meat that was seen by a woman.
I felt a little bad for the goat, but not too bad because honestly she had a
way better life than the factory bred animals we eat at home. Maybe that’s why
she tasted so yummy- I don’t even know the words to describe what it tasted
like! Chewy, smoky, rich in flavor, with a hint of wilderness and Maasai to
it. Just thinking about it now
makes me hungry, but I’m not sure when I’ll ever have the chance to taste
similar roasted meat again.
leading goat to slaughter 
dinner :P 
- Smiling, and trying your best to communicate goes a long way: Some of my fondest memories in Maasailand was trying to communicate with a couple Maasai women. Both of us speak very little Swahili because my mother tongue is English, and theirs is Maasai, but once I got past laughing and figured out how to say “God bless you” in Swahili, their smiles and hugs and grasping of hands said much more than words could ever express.
I became particularly fond of this kid named Samson...
it probably helped that he spoke a little more Swahili lol
we couldn't communicate well with each other,
but the women and kids hung around us and were so welcoming!- Life isn’t better out here in the bush, but it certainly points out some flaws from my culture, such as the lack of community and happiness: The Maasai have a really simple lifestyle compared to mine—stripped to the core with only the bare basics, and yet they have such a joy and depth to their community. When asked if they would ever like to live in the west, for instance, the Maasai immediately answered “no.” Even though many of them have traveled to North America, our material wealth cannot make up for our lonely souls, nor can it make up for our constant desire to search for a higher purpose.
building a house out of mud and cow dung 
maasai kids LOVED photos!! (except maybe not that particular baby)
I usually had to sneak pictures unless I wanted to be lost in a crowd of kids
tents we slept in 
watching a cow give birth (it miscarried T.T) 
scenery out here is beautiful, but the winds can be brutal - God is moving in the Maasai and raising up local
leaders: It’s incredible to hear some of the testimonies from the men and women
here who discovered Christ for themselves (not foreign missionaries) through
dreams and are now centering their lives around Jesus. They are now growing
into a community that promotes education, encourages more respect for their
women, opposes FGM (female genital mutilation,) and strives to be a light to
other Maasai communities.
Maasai leaders meeting about their school system
Lastly, here is an audio clip (this was recorded at night) of the worship songs they sing at
night. They write their own praise songs that apparently change quite a bit
over time, but it’s beautiful!
***
With my last days in Tanzania ticking away, I find myself
reflecting quite frequently about what I have learned my first year out of
college, and I think it can be summed up into two points: that 1) missionaries
are not exempt from the struggle bus, and 2) God can still work through us
despite our struggles.
Chapter One of my post-grad story kind of became a "wilderness" experience,
and much of this came with unrealistic expectations of what it meant to be a
missionary. I think that sometimes, when we (myself included,) think of
missionaries, we think of stellar, superhero Christians who perform above and
beyond. Missionaries are the people who punch Satan in the face with powerful
prayers, cast out demons, bring entire communities to Christ and stay on top of
their quiet time, right? But I’ve realized that the danger of that
misconception is that as a missionary to Skid Row LA and Africa, I hold myself to the same
unrealistic standards. And when I fail to meet them, I begin believe in the lie
that I have also failed God.
But thankfully, when one is surrounded by good community and
seasoned missionaries, I’m reminded in tough moments that God never intended
for us to journey alone. Ecclesiastes 4 says "Two are better than one,
because they have return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help
him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" I have
been blessed to live with people from such diversity of cultures, academic
backgrounds, personalities and lifestyles—to whom I can learn from and lean on.
Living in community also produces a beautiful vulnerability that demonstrates
our need for God’s grace to unite and strengthen us. I may not have poured out
my heart and soul here at Pamoja, but just knowing that we are a community that
constantly prayers for and serves one another is often encouragement enough.
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| celebrating one of the kids birthdays! |
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| going to miss these girls when I leave |
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| goofing off :3 |
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| poor fuzzface got spayed last week lol, but she's back to being her silly self again now! |
Despite months of spiritual wrestling, I look back on Africa
and see God’s grace working through my skills despite my shortcomings. It
amazes me to see what I have been able to accomplish, and what Pamoja has
accomplished in 6 months. By the end of the month I will have completed
thirteen 40-page full color comics for distribution. Pamoja is currently in a
state of expanding, and we are taking on new media projects, partnering with
local east African churches, building more housing for future missionaries, and
recruiting new members to our team. Our God is able! Even on the days when I
don’t want to talk to him, or feel totally unproductive He has surrounded me
with awesome community, solitude when needed, and the cutest furry friend. In a
few days I can leave the country knowing that we have helped make financial
literacy more available to hundreds of thousands of people.
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| on set with Wewenami- our kids puppet show |
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| screening Nipe Jibu- our film musical, to Maasai at night (photocred to Steve Wozny) |
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| Jeremy partnering with a Kenyan pastor to distribute 300,000 copies of a discipleship curriculum |
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| Mwanangu, our puppet show's main character |
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| a newly tiled tree from Kirsten that I like to call the tree of Gondor :3 |
This mid-term mission was humbling because it’s long enough
that my project will make a difference, but short enough to know that most of
the heavy lifting is still done by those who have spent decades on the field,
and those people deserve medals. Nevertheless, I love the fact that regardless
of how long I’ve been here, every day, every second we live for God’s kingdom
adds a tile to His mosaic of a redemptive story. After I leave, Pamoja will carry on with it’s media work and community building, but it has been an honor to see God’s hand in this ministry and be a part of it. I hope to return again.
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| sunset over Pangani beach in Tanzania |
Catch you on the flip side, fabulous friends :)
p.s. for any of you going to Urbana 2015, I’ll be there with
the Pamoja team so come say hi!
