Mailua is one of our new schools, it is the furthest we go out into the bush, bush.  The last two years, we had a class in Luanot, but there were no longer enough students to justify continuing there.  Several of the students lived over the mountains in Mailua, and they often couldn’t get to school because of the weather and wild animals.  By starting a class in Mailua, we have solved that problem.  There are 43 new students in this school, plus those who hadn’t been able to finish last year. 

In the first class Kathy taught, she kept being drawn to a lady sitting near us by the platform.  Her name is Faith.  Kathy was making a reference to something about Faith, and she inadvertently called her Ruth.  She looks just like one of the girls I had worked closely with for the last year and a half, in the Technical School in M’Takooja.  Everyone laughed. Faith is Ruth’s mother. Meeting Faith and learning her story was one of our WOWs.

Faith is an educated Maasai, and she speaks fluent English.  She had married a Kikuyu from a tribe north of Nairobi.  Usually, when you marry outside of your tribe, it causes lots of problems.  But this is a solid marriage, and Ruth is an amazing daughter.  The reason Ruth is in the Rescue Center is because of the very strong ties her father has to Islam.  She was sent to us to protect her from a Muslim marriage.  Because Ruth was also fluent in English, she was always the one interpreting for Momma Elizabeth, who worked with the girls in the Rescue Center.  Elizabeth had never learned any English in all the years she was with us.  

Just a couple of days before, we had returned to M’Takooja, Ruth had fallen and broken her arm. Because she had no passport, she had to be taken back to Kenya for medical treatment.  This is another strong reason why we needed a place in Kenya for these girls.

The first day we taught in class, we had to use two interpreters, one from English to Swahili, then another into the dialect of Maasai spoken here.  You have to really concentrate to let the 2nd person translate.

The second day, we met the pastor, who also speaks English very well.  He wanted to interpret for Kathy. She said the first sentence, and he tried, but…Everyone roared with laughter.  He turned to sit down, but she said, “No, you can do this,”  and prayed for him that he would hear well and be able to stay with her.  He instantly got the gift of interpretation.  He also translated for Harry.  Another amazing WOW. 

We had intended to return to Mailua, but of course, all our plans had changed. We love watching God move in tribes where no one expects Him to.

We will go back there next year!

Harry & Kathy