Hospitality

Today was a special day for all of us. We went to our first Maasai village. It was quite an exciting experience. On the way there I had the pleasure of sitting next to a Maasai cattle herder and a pastor that was also Maasai. We headed down "the road" (By "the road" I mean that there is literally one main road going north and south in Tanzania that will take you to where you want to go. There is also a road that goes east and west.) Stopping along the way to drop off the cattle herder and a microscope donated by Wartburg to a secondary school. Then we took a long and winding dirt path to the Massai village where we were greated as though we were heros.

Such great hospitality from people that we have never met before and may never meet again. They showed us their village, giving us the grand tour of their handmade pond, their school and their church. We worshipped with them for three hours, which is a pretty short service considering they can be up to six hours long. There was much singing and praying. Their choirs were outstanding, something that you can't quite duplicate in the states. The Maasai people feel rhythm in their heart of hearts and that beat just spews out of them when they sing. It is powerful and exciting to see, yet relaxing and delicate.

After the worship service was over, they fed us rice and a very tasty tomato and potato sauce to pour on top. As a special treat they gave us bottles of Pepsi and 7up. This astounded me, what great generosity for people that they may never see again. The Maasai people are not rich by any means, and for them to spend what little they have to feed us and treat us to something as expensive as soda makes me want to understand more about this grand hospitality that not only is held by the Maasai but by the people of Tanzania. People go out of their way to greet you and make sure you are comfortable. The respect for their fellow human is something straight out of the Bible.

That is something that has really hit me today and really ever since we landed in Dar es Salaam, the Bible. At times I think that we miss the importance, the significance of the great hospitality that is shown in many of the Bibles different stories. I think that we (by we I mean me) forget that these are stories for people who are in poverty. The gospel was not written for the rich to get richer, it was written for the poor to have something to hold on to...eachother. What better way to have connections and friendships in hard times than to give to and depend on those around you.

Well that's all I have for right now. I may be posting photos up in the next few days... but until that happens...

Peace,
PHW