At the end of the day, I pulled Happiness aside, who I mentioned down below, and whispered in her ear that no matter what happens, no matter how hard things ever become, she should know that she has a Daddy that is always with her and watches out for her. No matter what bad men might do, she has a Daddy that protects her and that loves her and she will never be alone. She said she knew and I didn't see her again.
This young boy had a really bad cough and pain in his stomach. He was so young, but was old enough to be in charge of a whole bunch of cattle and be a warrior.
One day we went up to the top of a mountain and played with probably 300 kids. Most of their clothes were barely hanging on them still and only had money to eat boiled cornmeal, kind of like cream of wheat. They call it Ugali.
I was given the opportunity to preach in church and the Lord continues to bless my Swahili. I preached in Swahili and spoke a little to this group of Maasai people in their langauge. They were so surprised that no matter what I said, they hooted and hollered like I was some kind of rock star. I went up and said, "It is beautiful here" and they all screamed like U2 came for a concert.
These women were given this corn grinder from the funds raised by our women's group at our church. They walked 7 days to grind their corn before and then seven back for about 2 weeks of food, carrying it all of the way. They sang and danced around this grinder and were driven to tears when they arrived. They sang, "heaven has come to this place because of the Holy Spirit"

The Maasai often throw their spears to protect themselves from wild animals. They told us of a few times they had to kill cheetahs and lions to protect their livestock. Here we were target practicing with walking sticks on a tree.

These are Maasai warriors teaching us their traditional dance/game that they play. They try to see who can jump the highest without moving the rest of their bodies. They shoot up just like a pencil.

For each clinic day, we assembled a prayer team. After each person was seen and diagnosed, they were sent to the pharmacy to recieve medication, then they were directed to the prayer team. We did what we could to help with their problems, but we knew that the Great Physician would far surpass anything we would be able to do. Shawn Marie loved this job and really developed a connection with the people. It was remarkable to watch her even though she didn't know any Swahili, she found a way to communicate.
This little Maasai girl's name was Seuri. She caught my heart on this trip. She was so sweet and she really liked to hold my hand. One morning, I woke up early to go out and take a prayer walk and there was Seuri, early for school. She sat down on a stoop with me and just looked at my light colored hands, played with the hair on my arm and practiced her English and Swahili. (she predominantly spoke Maasai)
This man is HIV positive and has begun do ministry to other AIDS victims. They meet together, encourage each other to continue to live life as many victims tend to give up on life and wait to die. They pray together and check on each other to see that all are staying healthy. Some churches tell the victims they should not take the medication the doctors give them, but instead they should just pray for a miracle. This man told us that he absolutely believes in a miracle, but that he will continue to take the medicine as a sign of God's continued miracle through inspiration of the doctors. The young boy is his son whom he takes care of. His wife died of AIDS already and one day he will be an orphan. He is one of the boys that still needs support that our church is seeking providers for.
The Maasai warriors let me put on one of their robes and hold their walking stick while I practiced jumping and singing like they do. It was really fun, but I felt very foolish.
This little 7 year old girl was the second to break my heart. Her name is Happiness, but when we first met her there was nothing happy about her. Her mother and father died of AIDS and the little baby on her back is her little brother who was born HIV positive. She lives alone in a little hut with her baby brother. Her grandfather lives next door, but she does all of the cleaning and cooking, and she takes care of her little brother exculsively. There is a woman from our church that sends money every month to support her so she can go to school. She wakes up, gets ready for the day, drops the brother off at a neighbor's house on her way to school, just like a mom on her way to work, then picks him back up on her way home. She would not smile about anything, even the gifts the woman from our church sent to her. In fact, after they were presented to her, someone from the village stole all of them. They were returned, but nothing made her smile. One afternoon, she came to the base for lunch, and no matter what I did, I couldn't get her to warm up. So, I sat across from her and just stayed silent. Then as she continued to eat, I mimiced every move she made. After about 5 minutes, finally she cracked a little smile, but quickly covered it back up. By the end of the day, we were playing catch with a lemon from a nearby tree. Pray for Happiness. I know the Lord's heart breaks for such as these.

I got a chance to sit next to the chief of the Maasai village on the way into town













Justin (brother-in-law) and I with a Francis, a young man studying for ministry













These are the Maasai women that work to make beads to sell so they can buy goats to provide for their children













Holly (mother-in-law) with some of the elementary school kids













I was amazed at how much the Maasai warriors opened up to us this year. They taught us to jump and dance like they do and we did target practice with their sticks, throwing them like spears at trees. They told us stories of how they had to kill lions in a right of passage into manhood













I assisted in a rotten tooth extraction and when the dentist's hand got tired of trying to pull, I got to give a few heaves!!


























We had three days of clinic where Maasai women and their children come for ailments from ring worm to taburculosis. Heidi and I had some medical training, so I was able to do some diagnosing and treatment, but for the most part I worked as a translator. The people spoke only Maasai, so they would tell their problem to a Maasai/Swahili speaker who would tell me, a Swahili/English speaker, then I would relay it to the doctor or nurse.




















This is out whole group, 18 in all. Doctors, Nurses, School Teachers, Students...



























We brought with us 1000 lbs of medical equipment and supplies to give to the Maasai clinic to fill their pharmacy.



























This was one of the worse cases of ring worm. There was a lot of that this year, but for the most part it was respiratory infections and eye irritations from all of the dust in the desert and smoke from the cooking fires inside their homes.



















I have a lot more pictures and will continue to update, but here is a short selection for now. Thank you all for your prayers. King Jesus bless you