Masai Warrior and Jesus

In August we learned that we would be able to visit the Masai Mara in Kenya. Charles would come over from Uganda, join us to drive the back roads to the campsite, and camp for two days and nights, see the animals and learn more about the Masai. Little did we know of God's plan for the visit.

Upon our arrival we were introduced to Richard, a 20 year old Masai warrior, (pictured above) who knew where to find all the animals in the Masai Mara. Late afternoon we departed in "Rhino" our '92 Mitsubushi Pajero to see some animals. With Charles at the wheel and Richard navigating we began the drive. Richard tried to set appropriate expectations saying it was rare to see lions the first day out." So Margaret responded with a prayer. "Lord we are here to enjoy your creation, if it is your will for us to see some lions we would love it."

As we drove we saw herds of zebras, gazelles, and giraffes and amazingly enough a pride of lions eating a recently killed wildebeast. Richard was so excited and said "this is really lucky to see the lions...this rarely happens." But Margaret replied that God hears our prayers.










While we drove around Margaret talked to Richard about the Masai religion and what they believed and many questions about the culture. As they talked about worshipping ravens and drinking cow blood mixed with milk she interjected comments about what we believe as Christians. At one point she excitedly said, "Imagine what fun Adam had naming all these magnificent animals." We talked about Genesis and the garden, polyamy and God's plan for marriage, why Jesus came to earth and God's restoration plan for eternal life. Since Richard spoke some English but mostly Swahili, Charles answered questions and translated what Margaret said in "Texas English." Richard was very curious and was particularly drawn to the praise and worship music Charles loved to play as we drove around. Frequently Richard increased the volume and sang along with the songs. God was at work on Richard's heart.

The next day we took a drive early in the morning and saw ostrich, cheetahs, a fox, gazelles and hippos. Our discussions continued with Richard as he explained he was required to read the Bible in school and knew many of the stories. Somehow we got on the subject of the Holy Spirit and that no one can force us to believe in God or Jesus but that it is a choice to accept the gift of what Jesus did on the cross for us. He was very curious and continued to discuss things with Charles in Swahili.

Before lunch Richard said he would like us to visit his village and meet some Masai women who were believers. At the village, the warriors did some traditional dances and explained the origin of the dances. For instance the "jumping dance" started as a result of warriors jumping to look over the thicket for lions. This was interesting because only three weeks earlier a lion had attacked the cattle.

As Richard showed us his village he stopped to introduce us to his 110 year old grandmother and some of the Christian women. Margaret shared with them being "daughters of the king" as an encouragement and we visited a typical cow dung house, saw how they make fire with friction from dowel sticks and learned about how they protect the cattle from lions. The Masai put their cattle in the center of the village at night for protection from the wild animals. Richard said when the lion jumped the thicket the warriors surrounded it and killed it to protect the cattle. He explained this is the only time the Masai can kill a lion since they are defending their cattle.

There are many misconceptions about the Masai being violent people because of the fact that they are fierce warriors in protecting their cattle. They are quiet people with great courage and this is often misunderstood. Charles even admitted that as a Ugandan he has wrong impressions of them. Getting to know Richard revealed many things about the culture and allowed us to gain a more accurate understanding of these facinating people.

We returned to camp for lunch then took an afternoon ride. God continued to answer our prayers as we saw hippos, croccodiles, a herd of giraffe, elephants with their little ones and more zebras. Before we left we had seen some incredibly beautiful animals and sunsets. God's design is trully magnificent as you observe the animals and beautiful landscape.


Our final night Richard joined us for dinner at the camp. He shared with us his plan to return to school, build a modern house and be the first from his village to start a different life. It was obvious he wanted to attend university and asked our advice about what direction he should take in his future plans. We discussed many options and Charles continued the discussions in Swahili. Then Mark asked Richard if he had made a decision about whether he believed in Jesus. Richard replied, " I made the decision today that I believe. He said we were the first mzungu (white people) who ever talked to him about God." All of us were excited and welcomed him into the family. Charles said we needed to exchange e-mail addresses and Margaret committed to mail him a life application Bible. He had seen hers in the car and really liked it.

So we realized God had a plan for us in the Mara and it was more than seeing the animals. Richard became a believer and a brother in Christ! Being alert to what God is doing around us is part of the spiritual adventure. You never know who God is going to put in your path who needs Jesus!