Village #2: Namelok

Namelok is an easy 30 minute walk from Tungamalenga village, just down the road, around the corner, and then cross country. It's all level ground, no hills. Last August, the Shepherd of the Valley travelers made a special request that we walk from our camp at Tungamalenga to the village of Namelok, rather than taking the bus. We had been riding a bus a couple days in a row and needed to stretch our legs. Our hosts graciously agreed, even though they could not understand the American need to walk when transportation was so readily available.


We kicked up quite a bit of dust on that walk.








The women of Namelok are incredibly strong and resilient. Namelok is a Maasai village. These families have been located here since around 2004. Maasai traditionally have lived in Kenya and northern Tanzania, and in the past ten to fifteen years, have been relocated farther south.


Maasai are traditionally nomadic herders of cattle.












Maasai families also tend to be polygamous. That presents a challenge to evangelism efforts. Typically, we find many women and children among the Maasai who have been baptized, but not so many men.


Approximately seven of the twenty village congregations that comprise Tungamalenga Parish are Maasai. Early on in our partnership, as we visited Maasai preaching points, we would observe some interesting banter between the Maasai chief and the parish pastor. The pastor would often congratulate the chief on the growth of the congregation, and thank him for his support. Then he would gently tease the chief, asking when he would also be baptized like his wives and children.

When we visited in January 2006, the women of Namelok were proud to show what they had accomplished. They had built a chapel, forming and baking bricks, constructing walls, even completing the roof all on their own. This would be accomplishment enough for any village congregation, but was especially significant given the Maasai's nomadic tribal traditions. Building a church meant that they were here to stay.

Unfortunately, on our next visit in July 2007, we found the foundations at Namelok had shifted. The walls of the chapel were sinking, and the roof had to be propped up by additional timbers from inside.




The rains of 2008 caused the building to collapse. Parish members salvaged pieces of the metal roof, the timbers, and bricks.


By the time we visited last August, new building plans had been drawn and a smaller foundation had been laid. Congregation members and Shepherd of the Valley pilgrims circled the foundation and offered prayers that with this new, sturdy foundation, another chapel will rise to be a gathering place where the word of God is proclaimed, where faith is nurtured, where the saints are equipped and sent out into the community to be the hands and feet of God.

The people of God at Namelok are a resilient people.