Every Sabbath, or Saturday, the numerous paths that streak across the golden Kenyan savannah are dotted with vibrant colors as Seventh-day Adventist church members of the Masai tribe make their way to their small church in Kisaju, nearly a two-hour drive
Every Sabbath, or Saturday, the numerous paths that streak across the golden Kenyan savannah are dotted with vibrant colors as Seventh-day Adventist church members of the Masai tribe make their way to their small church in Kisaju, nearly a two-hour drive from the capital of Nairobi.
They arrive from every direction of the expansive land—small colorful dots at first, bursting into flowing brightly hued cloths that drape around the tall, lean Masai.
The cinder block church sits on top of one of the many rolling hills of the Great Rift Valley, which for centuries has been home to the Masai people. The building’s shiny tin roof stands out in the vast golden valley that goes on as far as the eye can see, with the exception of the occasional acacia tree.
For hundreds of years the Masai have lived in this valley located in Kenya and Tanzania, and many of them today are members of the Adventist Church. They are one of the few aboriginal tribes in the world that still hold dearly to the traditions of a time gone by when the great Masai warriors ruled most of Eastern Africa. Tradition and culture is everything to the proud Masai, and some say their minds are very difficult to change.
Locals say that until 1997 there was not one single Adventist church member in Kisaju. In fact many other denominations had tried, with some difficulty, to reach out to the Masai. They had built up small congregations after decades of diligent outreach, according to Joel Mopel, an Adventist pastor for the district that includes Kisaju.
It was then that some staff members from Maxwell Adventist Academy became interested in starting a church to reach out to the Masai. They approached a wealthy Masai land owner and convinced him to donate some land to build an Adventist church, without a single member in sight.
Today there are more than 250 baptized Masai members in the area, and two additional church groups have been organized. A total of 6,000 Masai are members, official statistics for 2000 indicate.
One significant challenge would appear to be the great distance between the various Masai settlements, but not for them. The Masai are great trekkers or walkers. Every Sabbath they trek as much as 20 kilometers to get to the Kisaju Church—20 kilometers each way.
Pastor Mopel, himself a Masai, had to walk 20 kilometers from his home in Loodariak. He says they are quite adept at such long treks. It’s still the only way the majority of Masai get around.
“Masai are very good in walking, very good in walking, very good,” he says, flashing a big smile. “The distance that can be covered in one hour you cannot believe yourself; you cannot believe the way they walk.”
Mopel himself traversed the distance across the rolling hills on this warm, sunny day in about three hours. Leaving his home at six in the morning, he walked without stopping to rest and arrived at the church at nine—just in time to welcome the arriving members.
The Kisaju members love attending church so much they don’t mind walking the long distances. According to Mopel and Pastor Joseph Kindi, the local pastor for the Kisaju Church, there are three main reasons that the Masai have been attracted to the Adventist Church: cultural understanding, truth and music.
According to Mopel, music is an integral part of their culture. They dance and sing for almost every occasion. Some young Masai have been drawn to the church because music is an important part of worship.
“Many of them are attracted into the church choir. When they see them singing nicely, when they see them developing other kinds of new music, they are very much attracted,” says Mopel.
There are several choirs for the Masai—one for almost every age group. They have taken their traditional harmonies and adapted old or composed new hymns.
Most of the choirs will sing on any given Sabbath. This Sabbath is no different from the rest. The congregation begins its worship with music. After a few moments of listening to the choir’s striking harmonies, a few members in the congregation begin to hum along. The choir begins to gently bob and sway to the music. Soon everyone is singing. Singing and dancing is the Masai’s cultural way of celebrating good news, and church is certainly no exception.
While music is certainly significant to the Masai culture, nothing is more important than the truth. According to Pastor Kindi, above all else they are a people who seek the truth.
“The Masai always try to see where the truth is, because the people always follow the truth. They cannot jump from here to there,” says Kindi. “And when this word came, the elders saw that is the ‘truth church’ because they are teaching people the right thing.”
They were especially attracted to the Adventist teachings on family life and the sanctity of marriage—an interesting concept to a culture that still practices arranged marriages.
The Masai are pleased that the Adventist pastors have been sensitive to their cultural needs. This is perhaps best illustrated by the importance of cattle in their lives. They believe that cattle were given to them by God to care for and use for their sustenance. They take care of their cattle as many would a family member. And on the rare occasion they kill one of them, they use every single part to make clothes, beds, food, and containers.
Currently there is a drought that is drying out some of the most common watering spots where the Masai would take their cattle. They are now forced to trek several kilometers to find water to sustain their livestock.
“If you try to look, we don’t have currency. So we depend on livestock for money, to educate the children, for food,” says Kindi. “So the most important thing we do is to take care of them. So if we tell them to leave them at their homes and come here, it will not sound good.”
Kindi, who is a young Masai, understands what this means to his people. They have no meetings in the afternoon at the Kisaju Church so that the members can trek back home and lead their cattle to water. It is an arrangement that makes everyone happy.
“We are also Masai and we are also the pastors who are preaching the Adventist message. So we know their needs, their interests—that’s why we allow them in the afternoon, they are free to go back,” says Mopel.
Having young Masai pastors who understand the culture has been the key to the church’s success among the Masai. They see the Adventist Church as a place where they can worship God, be part of a community of believers and maintain their culture and history.
“They really like and respect, those people who have respect [for them],” says Kimbi, and “they say this is the true church because they have respect. And that’s what attracts them to come in great numbers.”
The numbers continue to grow, which has led to some challenges. They must find a way to pay salaries for more pastors as the number of groups grow. But these young Masai pastors have confidence and large ambitions for the church’s outreach.
“If we get much more support in the Adventist Church, especially financial support—especially for our Adventist pastors—I’m sure the whole Masai land is going to be Adventist,” says Mopel, with a large smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.
“I’m sure of it,” he repeats as he turns to look out the church window into the vast savannah of the Masai land.
The church service has ended and the Masai are already heading home through the various paths, for some a three to four hour trek to feed and water their cattle.
And although they are experiencing a drought and other challenges, one thing is certain: next Sabbath they will all return the many miles and many hours back to this church; the small cinder block church with the shiny tin roof sitting on a hill in the Great Rift Valley.