Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 33:2 (Spring 2019)
Article: Lessons From Scripture For Maasai Christianity, Lessons From Maasai Culture For The Global Church
Author: Joshua Robert Barron

PP 33:2 (Spring 2019) p. 17

Lessons From Scripture For Maasai Christianity, Lessons From Maasai Culture For The Global Church

Joshua Robert Barron

Joshua Barron and his wife, Ruth, serve among the Maasai of Kenya. Joshua holds an MDiv from Emmanuel Christian Seminary in Tennessee and is pursuing a PhD in World Christianity at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology. The Barrons minister with the Community Christian Churches of Kenya as well as the Maasai Discipleship Training Institute and the Community Christian Bible Training Institute. You can read about their work at BarronFamilyMission.net. This article is a truncated version of a significantly longer paper, which is available from the author at [email protected].

Meetae tonyorraki maibai — “there is no one-way friendship.”

— Maasai proverb1

Faith in Christ can and should transform every area of human life. Not only are believers transformed through their relationship with Jesus, ultimately resulting in a transformed culture, but as the Christian faith is enculturated around the globe, Christianity itself is also enriched by new insights and deeper understandings.

One area where transformation is needed is marriage relationships. In many African contexts, women are oppressed and frequently abused. Having spent a decade working with Maasai churches, I can attest that this is an important issue among the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania. There is clear evidence that Christianity empowers many African women. Not only do they “receive social, spiritual, psychological and material benefits” in churches, “but they also feel affirmed and their dignity [is] upheld.”2 I am equally convinced that the gospel is transforming gender and marital relationships within Maasai culture and that Maasai Christianity can bring valuable insights to the practice and theology of marriage and relationships in global Christianity.

In this article, I will first examine the Maa (the Maasai language) word pair olkitok and enkitok. Olkitok refers to a “master” whereas enkitok is the usual word for “woman.” I will then discuss the problems in gender relationships which the Maasai experience. These problems are often rooted in sinful attitudes held by men and women against each other. Today among the Maasai, for example, women are not seen as “great” (the root meaning of –kitok) but as “only children.” For this reason, the dignity Jesus offers women appeals to Maasai women. The Scriptures offer an uncompromising vision of gendered relationships, which is counter-culturally liberating for women. The gospel has b...