Missions Blog

Today, we went to the other school, Lion of Judah, which is a few hours out of the city in the countryside. When we arrived, the whole school was assembled outside singing to us as we drove through the gates. There was also a group of Maasai performers in traditional dress, singing, and dancing. The Maasai group led a dancing procession eventually calling us to join in (one of many times they called us up front to dance with them!).

Pastor Wambua took us on a tour of the Lion of Judah classrooms and the school farm where they raise a lot of their own food. The Bible Chapel has provided help for much of the infrastructure of the campus, so it was wonderful to see all the changes and progress and hear the hopes for future plans. Lion of Judah is a boarding school, with dorms for both girls and boys, but they had been in need of a bathroom for the boys. The Bible Chapel helped pay for the construction of a new bathroom, so they wanted to dedicate it while we were visiting. They sang a song.... "look what God has provided", and prayed their thankfulness to the Lord. Then a member of our team cut a big ribbon tied on the entrance. We then had the honor of being guests for a wonderful program put on by the students.

Each class performed songs, Bible memory verses, poetry performances, and dancing. There were speakers and prayers and more Maasai dancing. After this, they dismissed all the students except for the Maasai girls. They stayed back to do a smaller program for us. The girls wanted to thank Pastor Wambua and the Bible Chapel for providing scholarships for them to go to school/live there. Several girls shared with us what life was like for them before coming to Lion of Judah. They told their personal stories of the problems they faced, including stories of physical/sexual abuse, being forced into marriages at a very young age, having to work rather than attend school, and the lack of food, clothes, and daily needs. All of this changed when they came to Lion of Judah, and that is why they call the school "paradise". It was a very emotional experience for us all.

After this, we went out to the sports field (big, red dirt field) to play field games. We played a group game, and then our team members competed with the students and staff in a 100-meter race carrying an egg on a spoon race, and gunny sack races. The male team members played volleyball and soccer with the students and staff while the female team members hung out with many of the girls talking and letting them play with our hair. After lots of hugs, songs, prayers, and goodbyes, we left for our return trip back. We were all very tired and covered with red dirt, but our hearts were filled to capacity with the warm welcome and love we experienced at Lion of Judah.