Kijani Farm is a place of hope in rural Kenya. Brian and Heather Dellamater started Kijani in 2016 with a goal to inspire hope and create opportunity for the Maasai people through the gospel of Jesus Christ. They seek to come alongside impoverished people in five primary ways – work, church, water, healthcare and education.
The Maasai people live throughout much of Eastern Africa and used to be nomadic. As lands are bought up, the women and children now stay put, but the boys and men may move with the herd during times of drought. Very few have traditional jobs, and education typically stops after eighth grade.
Brian and Heather find the Maasai people to be community minded, but very busy. Clean water distribution is a primary draw for fostering relationships with these herdsmen. A SonSet Solutions Solar Media Center, installed in February 2021, provides the ability to charge cell phones and download media resources while they collect water. The time it takes to charge their phone creates opportunities for the Dellamaters to build relationships in ways that were not previously available. Some of the media they can download include the Jesus Film in their own language as well as BibleProject resources such as animated Bible videos.
Most Maasai have not heard audio in their own language, and very few have seen video. This novelty provides an opportunity and audience that is unprecedented. At a soccer tournament at the farm, many visiting soccer players brought phones to download the Jesus Film. It was considered very cool, because of the video. It was also encouraging that the men, who are particularly difficult to engage, were also interested in watching.
It is so lovely to see how our mighty God works. Just as Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well and offered her His eternal life-giving water, these people are also coming to Kijani for life-sustaining water, but are walking away with the eternal life-giving gospel of Jesus!
Written by Christy Stephens, November 2021