Maasai Mission

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Update on Pastor Daniel and Ngorongoro Naretu Elders

Jenny Chapman

Who is Daniel?

Daniel is a 40 year old Maasai man, and a pillar of his community in the Ngorongoro Conservation area of Tanzania, right next to where people take safaris. He is married to Mary who is 39 and they have 3 children; Saruni who is 2, Lazaro who is 8 and Namayana who is 14. The older 2 attend a boarding school. Daniel was educated at a Christian school and has basic English and was the village spokesperson when I visited on safari in late 2017. Around the time of the Pandemic, Daniel dedicated his life to helping the Elderly Maasai in his and neighbouring villages. This work is entirely voluntary and he has a small team of volunteers. He also became a Christian and a Pastor around the same time. He is entirely dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him for the rest of His life. He now finds himself studying for a Bible College Certificate.

How did we at BFC get involved?

5 years after my visit and after he had become a Christian, Daniel began corresponding with me via What’s App. Un-beknown to us both, God had been at work and brought us together for a purpose. Recognising this to be of God, I have been able to share these developments with everyone at BFC so that now, over a 1000 people in 3 villages there in Tanzania know about, pray for, and speak well of us.

Last year, as a church we fundraised for a 4WD vehicle to help Daniel in his vital work. We were all greatly blessed to find that through obedience to God, we were able to send enough money for a vehicle to be purchased in August. This 4WD is proving to be a blessing to hundreds of people which means that Daniel and his co-driver are on call 24/7. In the past 8 months. Many people from babies to the elderly have been taken to medical clinics or hospital enabling them to get timely help and, in some cases, preventing death.

After a lady recently died of lung cancer, Daniel wrote:

Pray for me a lot because the pain of old age is my pain. I thank God for this ministry that God gave me to share the pain and suffering with the elderly who lacked people to share their pain and suffering with.

Fire wood and water have been transported to the elderly who can’t collect it for themselves, as is food.

On Christmas Day, Daniel gave a significant number of elderly people a real treat, for a picnic lunch:  

I took them to Ngorongoro Crater  to look at the animals and they managed to see a Leopard, a Rhino, an elephant, a wildebeest, a hippopotamus, a lion. They were very happy and their happiness is my happiness too.

With regards to the vehicle; services to the elderly are free, whilst anyone else contributes by paying for fuel. They have kept up the servicing, tyre maintenance, some minor repairs, and added a radio. Daniel says he has been congratulated for careful driving and good maintenance on the car.

I asked Daniel to tell me a bit about his volunteer helpers. In the photo above, the lady on left is a widow who does the elderly’s washing. The lady in the centre helps in another village and the man on the end is Daniel’s co-driver. He is also a great story teller with the elderly.

Daniel’s Vision

God has given Daniel a grand vision, which in time will bring more people alongside with training, who can be paid for their work. He would even like a pharmacy to be built in his area, because the services to the elderly are so poor and pricey. One of the things that will greatly help, is the development of a website for Daniel’s work which can be shared with people all around the world.

 I am very grateful to Oliver Stephenson, who is developing one for us and we hope to be able to launch it during May.  Praise the Lord, that He brings the right people alongside to answer the needs as they are put forward.

 The Pharmacy that Pastor Daniel would like to have built would include 3 huts with solar power as Day Centres for the elderly in 3 villages. This is something that we can work towards this year. Whilst I don’t have a lot of detail, the budget is around $15-$16k for the 3 huts. I am pleased to announce that the Lord has opened the door for an occasion which will serve as both a fundraiser and a blessing to those who attend.

There is a band called the Jesus Music Collective that put on a show called Songs of the Jesus Music Pioneers during the recent Adelaide Fringe. They played music from the Christian bands and artists of the 1970’s and 80’s. For people around my age, it was a chance to hear songs we haven’t heard in a long time. It was a very worshipful event and a good supper and time of fellowship after, suiting all ages. This band has agreed to donate their time to do the same event as a fundraiser for Pastor Daniel. To spread the word further and maximise numbers, the Burnside City Uniting Church was approached and has offered their venue for free. Burnside Family Church will host the event.

Our mighty God is certainly at work in and through us and is accomplishing His purposes. I would like to finish with a message that I received from Daniel.

Hello Dear Mum (Jenny), I am very sorry for not answering your messages on time. I have been very busy for two weeks in a row. I have had the task of preaching the gospel of Christ to those who have never heard the true gospel of Christ. I reached the places where you walk on foot for a long time because there is no car road and even if there was a car road, still fuel would be a challenge.

I am very happy to fulfill the order of Jesus Christ to preach His word to all nations and make them followers of Jesus Christ. I have also had the responsibilities of caring for the elderly with special needs. I would like to send greetings of sincere love from my heart to you and my Dad Steve with the Burnside Family Church for the great support of a car  because of the ministry. I would like to inform you that the car you support us have been helping to save the lives of many needy people who are sick at night and even during the day and do not have help to get to the hospital.

 

My assistant driver and I have been busy with a great heart to help them when they have the challenge of diseases. I am also very happy to hear about the ongoing fundraiser process. The initiator of good works in the hearts of his elect is our God and it begins and ends. Today evening I received a phone call there was an 8-month-old child in the village where I live. He was very sick with pneumonia. I received a call from people crying and despairing that the child had fainted. They called me to help them, at least to save his life to send him to Dispensary and I helped him and he was given an injection and he got relief and our God was glorified.

 Your Son Daniel Olekipeen.