Mission Report: Matebete Village, November 2013
By Reverend Paulo Ole Kurupashi
November 6-10, 2013 was another mission trip for Reverend Tim Sullivan of Workers Together With Him ministry who came to our Maasai Land of Matebete village.
Reverend Tim taught “The Prosperity of the Lord's Servant" which was divided into seven topics: Treasures in Heaven; The Deceitfulness of Riches; The Prosperity of His Servant; Forsake Not the Levite; To Make the Gospel Without Charge; Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness; and How to be abased and How to Abound.
Rev Tim taught his classes with my help as an Interpreter and counsellor after I was graciously released from my duties for the Lutheran Church in Iringa.
The teachings were of much blessing and of moving someone from one level of understanding to another. When you read “the prosperity of the Lord´s servant,” what first comes to mind is to prosper on earth in terms of money and worldly treasures. We think a servant of God should have a lot of money or cattle or cars but after the teaching we understood that it is spiritual prosperity which makes a servant peaceful.
We learned that a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ prospers when the message of Jesus Christ is accomplished or spread in the world among the people.
These powerful teachings moved me to agree that the name to be given to the building we use for classes should be changed to the “ITO TEACHING CENTER” so that other good teachings can be provided more and more.
Reverend Tim met with ITO leaders and other Maasai elders to discuss the sustainability of Gospel work among Maasai people. This work has united different church denominations in Matebete Village. Normally in Tanzania we see unity among the Historical Churches like the "CCT" (Tanzania Counsel of Churches) and we see unity among the Pentecostal Churches, but through WTWH Ministry under Reverend Tim, both the Pentecostal and CCT Churches have united among the Maasai.
In the evenings, Reverend Tim walked around Matebete village to visit friends and see new developments such as the Matebete water supply project. Before the Maasai in this village used to pump water by manually but now water is pumped by a generator. Tim also visited the Matebete Cultural and Historical Boma or Emanyata. This will be a place where visitors can learn about our culture before globalization. They can see how we slaughter goats and roast the meat. They can see our dances, and buy our crafts and jewelry. They can hear stories from the past, and step inside our huts or embunda. If they desire, they can even spend the night inside!
The purpose of the Matebete Cultural and Historical Boma is to keep the Maasai cultural and traditional ways of life alive for future generations.
You are all welcome to Matebete!
If you are interested in learning more about the Maasai Historical and Cultural Boma, click here to write an email to Reverend Kurupashi.
© Workers Together With Him, Inc.