One girl occasionally petted my head, trying to get my Pentecostal hair to lay down. The rest of the groupies peppered me with questions.
I felt like an oddity in a sideshow – Like siamese twins or the snake boy, a giant white stickman from across the ocean is quite a spectacle for the kids of the Maasai tribe.
“How many children do you have?” one asked in perfect English.
“How old are you?”
“What is your favorite meat?” they asked.
I answered all of these questions with a straight face and total lies. Thankfully, these girls have been given the gift of interpretation for my gift of sarcasm. Good job, Compassion. The ice was broken.
“I have 27 children.”
“I am 70 years old.”
“I like to eat lions. But they’re hard to catch now that I’m 70. I’m not very fast anymore.”
Then we talked about Beyonce’s music, and how to kill a cobra, and sang Lord I Lift Your Name On High with much more groove than I’m accustomed to. And one girl advised, out of nowhere, that I never eat a zebra no matter how hungry I get because they are beautiful.
Then Penini, a girl sitting on my left who’d been petting my skin the entire time, asked me, “Why are you white?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “God just made me white and made you beautiful brown.”
“I’m not beautiful,” she said with an appreciative grin. So I played along and told her again.
“You girls are all very beautiful.” And they smiled.
“Why did God make black and white people?”
“Well, that’s a great question,” I said, and I took Penini’s fingers and wove them into mine. Black. White. Black. White.
“These two colors are beautiful together don’t you think? Like a zebra.”
They seemed to like that answer. And they said I should sponsor a girl from Kenya because they are the most beautiful.
This post made possible with photos from the very talented Ryan Detzel & Keely Scott.
Steve Jones says:
This is why I love Shaun Groves.
Ryan Guard says:
Like a zebra… brilliant!
Love this.
Kelli says:
You’re brilliant. A brilliant stick man with pentecostal hair! Ha! Great story. ๐
Amanda says:
I LOVE that story!
Annie says:
Lovely.
Keely Scott says:
i love this post. dang.
Jason Yarborough says:
Beautiful. My wife and I adopted a boy from there. Name’s Mulika. Be on the look out for him!
Thanks for the posts/updates.
Shaun Groves says:
Adopted or sponsored?
PastormacsAnn says:
Wow. That’s makes me cry. So lovely. Thank you so much for sharing this Shaun.
Jill Wade says:
No witty response from me other than….I love it! Love, love, love this post!
Daniel C White says:
not much to say Shaun, other than “wow” I’m so glad I read this today
Mela Kamin says:
Thanks. You gave a great object lesson in loving your neighbor and reaching out in love and compassion. My 10 year old and I laughed at your “zebra talk,” as she put it. And, we were able to then have our own talk about sponsoring children and the need.
jd says:
Brilliant…… and beautiful.
Tom says:
Wonderful! Such an amazing answer to a really great question. Well done! We have sponsored a girl who lives on the Maasai plains. I was hoping maybe one of you all got to talk to her. We’re so happy you have visited them here; I know it’s a long way to travel.
Tiffany says:
Wow wow wow. Beautiful.
john w. hewett says:
from Pete Wilson’s message on Facebook today, I came to this site. Absolutely the most beautiful explanation of the difference in black and white. How beautiful you made these children feel beautiful and loved!!! I will return to this site each day to fill my soul.
Allen says:
mmmm, good! Loved this, Shaun! Thanks for sharing.
Jenn Phipps says:
Beautifully said! Thank you for your ministry in this wonderful country. We recently sponsored a girl from Kenya so this makes your stories even better.
Lindsay @ Not2Us says:
Speechless and Tearful. Thank you.
Iva says:
Hello Shaun, what a lovely post thank you.
Could you tell us more about how Compassion helps or respects the thin line between helping the Masai (according to what we feel is more acceptable / reasonable) and honouring their culture?
For instance, I find female and male ritual circumcision cruel and rather horrendous, but I imagine that it is very important in their culture as rites of passage, signs that they belong to their tribe.
From what you’ve seen, what is Compassion’s stance on that?
Shaun Groves says:
Great question, Iva. Here’s an explanation from a sponsored child, better than any I could offer:
http://blog.compassion.com/not-in-vain-child-sponsorship/
Stephanie H says:
Absolutely beautiful. Loved reading this.
Kees Boer says:
Hi, Shaun, That’s great! So, did you end up sponsoring a child from Kenya? I’m so glad you speak up for these children and you write about them! Kees
Terrell says:
Shaun,
I love you heart. I love what you are doing. I love you, my brother in Christ. Thank you. Thank you…for inviting my Kristen. For allowing her to tell the story of these beautiful children of our God. You have forever changed the Welch family.
When you are discouraged, know that your obedience has changed us. That your life has impacted the children of Africa. Words cannot convey how grateful I will forever be.
We (me and these children) serve a mighty God! So good. So strong. So redemptive. So full of love. Hug Ephantus for me tomorrow. It would mean so much.
May our Lord bless you.
Terrell
misty says:
Beautiful.
Bethany says:
That’s sweet
Leslie says:
Following the bloggers in India finally got me off the fence and sponsoring a child with Compassion. Now I’m drawn — breathless, heartbroken, joyful – into every journey you guys take. Thanks for the beautiful glimpse of this beautiful ministry. And thanks for your role in it.
oh amanda says:
Awesome. A teachable moment. I love it.
Melinda says:
You AND your pentecostal hair make me smile.
Beautiful post. Beautiful lesson.
stacikristine says:
Oh my goodness. I love this. Like a zebra.
keith says:
I’ll just have to echo here. Perfect.
Sarah Salter says:
I LOVE this story! And when I go to Kenya in July, I’ll probably tell it 27 times. I hope that’s okay…
God bless you and keep you and your team!
Nikki B. says:
I was touched looking at these pictures and reading this blog. Wow…