8/17/2019 Conley Melodie 1989 Kenya

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Box 7

Namanga,

enya, FRICA

msam

Olwair

C l i r i s r t i a i i

IVfissionary

Fellowship

November,

989

Dear Friends

and Family,

GOURDS:

Gourds play an

mportant

o l e in

the daily

i f e

of

the

Maasai. The

Maasai

make torage containers s i m i l a r t o

Tupperware?)by hollowing

out

the

squash-like r u i t

which

grows

on

ines.

Each ourd i s dried,

then

decorated

with

various

i z e s

and

shapes

of o l o r f u l beads.

No

wo gourds are

decorated the same; each

r e f l e c t s

the uniqueness

of t s

owner.

A

aasai

woman

ight

own e v e r a l gourds,

t o r i n g mOk n

d i f f e r e n t fermentation

s t a g e s .

Each time the gourd

i s

used t

must be thoroughly cleaned and ined with charc oal After

each use,the gourd becomes more seasoned and more valua

ble.

In

many

ays, ourds

are

l i k e

our

r i e n d s h i p s .

Our r i e n d s

come

n

v a r i o u s shapes, i z e s , and c o l o r s ; each one s unique.

The

more

time we pend c u l t i v a t i n g a r i e n d s h i p , the more

v a l u a b l e i t

becomes.

Friendships,

i k e gourds,

take time and

effort to

maintain.

We'd i k e t o

i n t r o d u c e

you

o a

o u p l e of

the

r i e n d s

w e ' v e

made

during our language e a r n i n g y e a r .

NG'OTO IPAMPA:

One f our

d e a r e s t

r i e n d s i s

Ng'oto

T i -

pampa

Mother

ofTipampa). She omes to our house almost

every

day

o g r e e t

u s ,

o f t e n

b r i n g i n g

milk

from

her

v i l l a g e

in

a o u r d . Although

she

knows

no

E n g l i s h , she has become one

o f our b e s t r i e n d s

because

of her

p a t i e n c e

and eagerness o

h e l p

us

e a r n

her a n g u a g e .

We augh

t o g e t h e r ,

and s h a r e

newsabout

ur

amilies and homes.

Ng'oto Tipampa s

one of our

more

r a d i t i o n a l

Maasai

f r i e n d s , and she

s constantly amazed

at our customs and

i f e

s t y l e . Her u e s t i o n s

never e a s e c o n c e r n i n g

t h i n g s t h a t a r e

commonpla ce to us. What s this?

What

oes this do? What

are those?

Now

e

now how

wemust

ound

when

we isit

a Maasai

i l l a g e

She

s

always

curious

about

our

freezer

{Goat

meat

s

s t i l l

good

a f t e r s i x m o n t h s ? ] ) , p o p c o r n(A mall handful

of

o r n

grows o

i l l

a whole a n ? \ ) , bacon{You e a t

WARTHOG?\),

and

the

fact that

each of s 26

nd unmarried

and not

even

l o o k i n g , a l t h o u g h s h e ' d be

happy

o

h e l p u s ) .

PAUL: Although

Paul

t i U l i v e s i n

t h e v i l l a g e , he

s much

l e s s t r a d i t i o n a l than N g ' o t o Tipampa. He as

attended

s c h o o l ,

and

s one o f our t r a i n e d l i t e r a c y t e a c h e r s .

He

n j o y s

t e a c h i n g us about the Maasai language

and u s t o m s ,

but e ' s

a l s o e a g e r t o l e a r n more E n g l i s h .

(We've

taught

him

many

v a l u a b l e phrases..

. Fuzzy Wuzzy was

a

bear

)

Paul has

spent

many

ours

h e l p i n g

us

gather

u l t u r a l

and

language

n f o r m a t i o n . He s one o f our b i g g e s t a s s e t s

i n t h e

l i t e r a c y

work.

R e c e n t l y he

o l d

us h a t b e i n g a

e a c h e r is

t h e

f u l f i l l m e n t of one

of

i s l i f e l o n g

dreams.

A s

we

move toward

the

g o a l

of i t e r a c y f o r

the Maasai,

we

are

x c i t e d

t o be a b l e

to

work with Paul.

r   ^

 

T.m 4

A

e l e c t i o n

of

ourds.

 

v'--~

Susan

cleaninga

ourd.

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YOU: We p p r e c i a t e

the

unique ways you i n d

t o share your

f r i e n d s h i p with

us p r a y e r , e t t e r s , s u p p o r t , p a c k a g e s , and

e n c o u r a g em e n t — t o mention a ew).

Just

like our Maasai

f r

iends, each

of

yo u

becomes m o r e valuable as o u r friend

ships

season.

Soon

w e l l be

moving to

l i v e

at Ewaso Ng'ero, n ear the

t o w n

of

Na rok. T h e p a r t i a l l y complet ed duple x in which we

i l l

l i v e i s part of the Maasai

Training

Center.

Christian

Mi s

sionary Fellowship buUt this C e n t e r

to f a c i l i t a t e

e ve n t ual

disengagement

rom

h e w or k among

he

Maasai as

the

churches an d

leadership grow

in strength.

Currently,

t he

C e n t e r

i s u s e d for fellowship

courses, ntensive

leadership

training

c l a s s e s , and i t e r a c y

wo r k.

 

Our e s p o n s i b i l i t y

i s

to

complete the half

of

h e du p l ex i n

which we i l l l i v e . The t h e r

half

i l l h o u s e v i s i t i n g mi s

sionaries

while t h e y teach or

supervise

Maasai

courses.

We

w i l l n eed approximately $4,500 t o complete ou r h o m e so we

can

quickly begin t h e i t e r a c y w o r k

we

a v e

b e e n

c a l l e d to

do.

PRAYER:

Thanks o r

praying

for

u s

during

t h i s

past

year of

language and culture learning;

we

t i l l h a v e

a

o t mo r e to

learn, but e e l

we

a v e a good foundation. This n ext year

w i l l

bring

many hanges, a n d

we'r e

glad y o u l l be praying

with us.

Pauland

amuel.

 

Pray

tha t

o u r p e rm an e n t housing arrangements w i l l be

completed

quickly so we an be s e t t l e d as soon as

possible.

 We e e d wisd om and guidance as we valuate

t h e

current i t e r a c y p rogram and et goals for

the

future.

 As

we

make h e

t r a n s i t i o n

into teaching, pr ay that o u r

language

a b i l i t i e s w i l l continue to

grow.

 Pray that in a l l o u r r i e n d s h i p s ,

Christ would

be

seen in u s .

A riend loves

at

l l times.

(Proverbs

17:17)

Your riends,

Melodie C onley

an d

S u s a n Olive

A i t t l e

encouragement

from home

n

M e l o d i e ' s

birth

day

Ng'oto

Tipampa

andSusan

by some

g r o w i n g

gourds.

11 89

CHRISTIAN

MISSIONARY

FELLOWSHIP

P.O.

BOX

26306, 5674 CAITO DRIVE

INDIANAPOLIS,

N 46226

Nonprofit

Organization

U.S. Post age

ADDRESS ORRECTIONREQUESTED

Permit

No. 2975

Indianapolis,

Indiana

M I S S I l i N

SERVICES

EDITORIAL DEPT

P

0

BOX

2427

KNOXVILLE

TN 37901

l i l M i i t l i i l i i l l i i n i i l i i i i i l t l i i i i i l i i l i i l l i i i i s I