For the last five days of my life, I have been in the maternity land of elephants, where God has crafted a place so beautiful with sites and sounds it’s hard to describe. I have been in Maasai land, in the middle of the Rift Valley of Kenya.  The people are generous and I have made many friends I will never forget.  The Maasai are rich in culture and community, friendship is important, and your word is everything.  A promise is always kept, and gift is always given.  I have learned so much from them in the short time I have spent amongst these beautiful people.  I have learned about friendship, community, generosity, but most of all, faithfulness.  

Here I am, my last night in Kenya and I am trying to get a grip on what I am feeling from spending five days with this beautiful tribe and breathtaking scenery. I am back in Nairobi and excited to go home to see my family, but my heart is with those I left behind.  I was one hour away from the Mara amongst zebras, giraffes, wildebeests and many other animals,

…but the best part about being out in this land was the amazing people I met.

Meet Rose. A mother of nine, a heart of gold, and a woman who now calls me friend.  I love her.  We connected this week, and she flourished me with beautiful gifts of jewelry she had made.  Her generosity was humbling because but she lives in extreme poverty. Despite the poverty, she keeps a constant smile on her face and testifies that her joy is complete because she knows the love of God.  Here is her smile.

Rose and her nine children drink water out of this river.

Rose and her children have never had access to clean water, but her children reflect her joy despite the circumstances.

This is the cup they drink from and her children have suffered from typhoid and other water born diseases.  In the simplest way, Rose said the water always gives them stomach aches.

This week, we were able to tell Rose and all the Compassion families of KE 599 that they will receive Water of Life water filters because of the great efforts of some amazing teenagers in America who raised several thousands of dollars for water filters.  When these families saw the demonstration of water filters, and how the filters made the dirty water clean, this was their reaction.

I take a lot of things for granted. I was humbled by the things I witnessed this week. The people in this place were so grateful for the gift they had received. They said it was a miracle and it came from Heaven. One water filter cost $55 (to donate) and can provide a Compassion family a life time of clean water.

Tonight I think about all the people I met and all the children I saw in this place. I will remember this place where elephants come to birth their young, and the people live simply raising their goats, cows and donkeys, and how the children walked around with ripped up shoes enough to break my heart for the poverty, …and how we all gathered at the river to pray and to honor God with the gift that had been given to clean this water.

I will remember the sounds of the thousands of birds singing from the beautiful trees that surrounded this place, and of course how out of control the flies and bugs were because of the recent rain.

I will think about the youth and how they danced and sang for us.

It’s so much to take in! I will remember the day I spent with my Compassion child, Hannah, and how much she has grown up and become bold and beautiful in her faith.   I love that Rose took this picture at an angle. My camera was a handful for her. I loved that Hannah became my Maasai interpreter because she is now fluent in English!

What a precious week I had seeing life in this place and sharing in fellowship with such amazing, spirited people who have a rich history and a beautiful way of life. They care for each other and they share. When the water filters are dispersed, not only with the Compassion families benefit, but the entire community will benefit. This is an answer to prayer for these people.

Poverty comes in many forms, but for this community of Maasai, it doesn’t seem to steal their joy for life.  I am grateful to have witnessed the miracles in this place this week.

I am grateful for my new friends.Rose gave me half of her necklaces this week, I gave her a beautiful blanket made by the children in my church.

She told me I was Maasai, and I told her she was my friend. What an amazing week.