Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Another marriage seminar week is under our belt! What a week it was! Four Masai couples, one Baraguyu couple (similar to masai) and one couple from the costal tribe of the Digo. So, we had pastoralists as well as farmers and fishermen. It just goes to show you that Kingdom culture transcends all earthly cultures when we allow His truths to saturate our lives!
Masai culture is a particularly difficult culture to penetrate with the truth of God's design for marriage. For instance, introducing them to the truth that God created men and women equally, both from His image, and that He has given each of them His divine destiny...whew! This a completely foreign concept for a tribe that for centuries has treated their women as property. Many of the men in our seminar confessed that in their tribe women are beaten for "misbehaving" in front of the men. When asked what they meant by "misbehaving" some responses were, "If a woman looks into a man's eyes when talking to him." Woman are simply not allowed to do this in this man's culture for its sexual implications.
Another one mentioned, "If she gives birth to girls and no boys, we can take her out to tie her to a tree and beat her." (side note here... let me tell you how shocked they were to learn that it's actually the man's "seed" that determines the gender of the baby. It's the Truth and only the Truth that is setting these men AND women free)!
Words can not begin to describe the incredible impact the Truth of God has in these marriage seminars. I'm always in awe of the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit as He is guiding us into all Truth...the Truth that will set them free and release their women into the destiny God has for them.
In these seminars we stress the importance of playing and having fun together as a couple. Believe me when I say this is completely a foreign subject with them. For the rural, African woman her day consists of work. She wakes up before the sun to prepare her donkey for the long journey of finding water. For the ladies in our seminar, they said they have to walk 8 hours round trip just to find an efficient water source. They return home to find a hungry husband. She then preps the fire, cooks the meal, cleans up the meal. It's now time to gather firewood. She sets out on this detail. Upon returning it's time to do laundry. By the time this is finished she finds yet again it's time to fix a meal for her family. She preps the fire, cooks the meal. She feeds her husband, then her children. She eats what is left. She cleans up the dinner mess. By now the children are tired and cranky. She bathes them and puts them to bed. She's now ready for bed herself, only to wake up and repeat this for the next day.
So.. as you can see... helping them to realize that building a little fun into their day..however that translates culturally, is ever so important. To help them realize this we had them participate in some rather western style games to prove the point that "laughter is indeed good medicine." They all enjoyed the games and agreed that, "A cheerful heart lifts a man/woman up!" Their homework was then to think of ways they can play together in their own homes. Fun!
The last thing we do on Friday of that week to culminate the end of our seminar is to host a wedding, offering them the opportunity to re-new their vows... vows established in Godly truths they learned from the seminar. Friday morning, after having a nitty gritty session with just the ladies, I realized they weren't ready yet. They couldn't renew vows they weren't committed to following yet. They openly admitted that they wanted to follow these truths. They believe the truths. But, the power of their culture and traditions is so great they just don't know they can follow them. My heart broke. We postponed the wedding till later in the afternoon to afford us a time to bring them all together..men and women.. and pray! God has given us the warfare we need to tear down EVERY demonic stronghold. We needed to get into the presence of God, take up our sword of the Spirit and tear down strongholds. It became apparent to me as we prayed that God wanted the men to read aloud from Ex 34 and 20 about the "iniquities of the father being passed down from generation to generation and extending to the 3rd and 4th generation." The Holy Spirit made it clear that these cultural traditions of hatred on their women have been passed down to them. But God, in His mercy, has plucked them out of their tribes to be the ones to tear down those strongholds of hatred and bondage over their women and be the generation to bring "blessing to the 1000th generation." We had the men stand up while our dear Tanzanian co-worker, Loymayani, prayed for them. Immediately men began to fall to the floor, sobbing, repenting for past generations and asking God's forgiveness and blessing for them and their future generations. When things settled we then asked the men to stand behind their wives. We had them gently hold their wives head in their hands and pray for the blood of Jesus to wash their minds clean of all the lies the enemy has told them for centuries. Wow!! It was nothing short of AMAZING! The presence of God in the room was so great we were all in tears. NOW we were ready for a wedding!!!
Tearing down strongholds and breaking off bondages over marriages in these rural, African tribes is like peeling back layers of an onion. You peel back one only to expose another. It's a process. Yes, there is instant freedom in many areas. But, when they return to their villages to live out these truths, they will face temptation to return to the bondages they've just been released from. Please stand with these courageous men and women of God. They need our prayers to help them contend for these freedoms! I often tell them it's a rippling affect. By their example they will affect and influence those around them. It's not easy tho. Please remember to pray for them by name: Philipo and Noolasho
Luka and Sara
Musa and Agnes
Mattaio and Ana
Philemon and Deborah
Yakobo and Eva
These are the world changers God has chosen for the Maasai, Barabuyu and Digo tribes! Let's stand with them in prayer, holding up their hands in battle! Together, with our prayers, they are more than conquerors in Jesus' Name!
