Story by Päivi Griffin
“We visited over 2,000 people in over ten villages” evangelist Elisha Moita, the head of Malambo Discipleship Training Centre, beamed in the cockpit of the MAF Cessna 208 on the return flight from the outreach trip to the Kiteto District in Tanzania.
About 180 km from the capital Dodoma, getting to Kiteto means crossing mountainous terrain, and travelling on dirt roads which are frequently affected by weather conditions.
MAF flew the team from Malambo to Dodoma, a swift hour and a half flight by the Cessna 208, saving the team of 10 from a 12-hour drive. Four hours later, these faithful people of God walked onwards, vanishing to the bush. Their hearts were burning to reach people living in isolation.
A six-day-long evangelistic outreach was well received.
“We split into 10 groups, according to the number of us evangelists. Some of us visited more than one village,” Elisha said.
“To the people, it seemed a privilege to receive evangelists from afar” he said. “They were excited to talk with us and to listen to what we had to say.
“It was so wonderful. When we prayed for the sick, some became well right in front of our eyes.”
Among the evangelistic outreach team was Pastor Fanuel Tobiko who said, “I preached the Word of God in Lerigirik, baptising people there and ministering the Holy Communion.
“I remember this one woman. She told me she had never been able to give birth. I prayed with her – and she found hope again."
We saw them come to church again, being reconciled back to the community of believers. Meeting those people touched me deeply.
Both Pastor Fanuel and evangelist Daniel Sianh'au were encouraged to see people return to faith in the locations they visited.
Daniel said: “We saw them come to church again, being reconciled back to the community of believers. Meeting those people touched me deeply."
Many men in the Maasai community do not go to church, but the evangelism team successfully managed to share the Gospel in a culturally relevant way.
“People were eager to receive us” Elisha said. “Especially men wanted to sit and talk about Jesus Christ. Many men don’t go to church there, but when they realized we are Maasai too, they came to hear the message. More than two hundred men committed their lives to Christ.”
Elisha believes that common ground and understanding is vital to reaching isolated communities.
“Our evangelists speak tribal languages, so people fully understand our teaching,” he said. “We also understand Maasai traditions, so they don’t become a problem.”