Maranatha Mission Stories

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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Series Code: MMS

Program Code: MMS009108S


00:01 Hi, I'm Dustin Comm with the Maranatha Minute.
00:03 This year
00:04 join Maranatha's annual convention
00:06 straight from your living room.
00:07 On September 19, watch Mission Maranatha,
00:10 a two-hour television broadcast event.
00:13 This special will feature volunteer testimonies,
00:15 reports from the mission field
00:17 and ways that you can stay involved
00:18 even from home.
00:20 Our annual gathering inspires and informs all who attend.
00:24 And we know this year's event will also bless you.
00:27 Watch as we take you on a trip around the world
00:29 to see stories of how people have been changed
00:32 by the mission of Maranatha.
00:34 Despite the unique challenges
00:35 presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,
00:38 God has continued to use Maranatha
00:40 to spread the gospel.
00:41 So join us for a celebration of missions
00:43 as we share what the Lord has done
00:45 around the globe.
00:47 This broadcast special will air on a variety of networks
00:49 as well as on demand on our app,
00:52 the Maranatha channel.
00:54 And if you didn't catch our September 19 broadcast,
00:56 go to maranatha.org/missionmaranatha
00:59 to watch.
01:23 Agony, agony, agony.
01:26 I agonized at my future.
01:28 For I knew no more than a potential mother,
01:31 merely at the age of nine.
01:33 I wondered what a future it will be for me.
01:37 As I grew up, I looked at my mom,
01:40 an example of the future that awaited me,
01:43 merely at the age of nine.
01:46 She always toiled under the hot beating sun
01:48 and in the strong biting cold,
01:50 looking for the black little gold
01:52 just to earn money for the day.
01:54 Oh, what a painful future.
01:57 I looked at myself and wondered
01:59 what a potential mother I would make
02:01 merely at the age of nine.
02:03 No! I had to escape.
02:10 The journey took long.
02:15 I was walking on foot.
02:19 I started walking
02:22 at 12 pm
02:27 after 9 at night.
02:30 The rain was flooding all over.
02:33 The rivers, I pass through, they almost...
02:38 Some water is here, another one is here.
02:41 And at that time I was too short,
02:44 not the way I am now.
02:47 I met wild animal there,
02:53 but God is able.
02:55 They have not hurt me.
02:59 I have just passed through them.
03:02 This is Aliza Tianina.
03:05 When she was six years old, Aliza ran away from home.
03:09 For her she says that it was good
03:11 that it was raining
03:12 because, you know, when it's raining,
03:14 everybody's asleep.
03:15 Nobody will think of going out,
03:16 nobody will think
03:18 of someone can run out, you see.
03:21 But when we arrived, she arrived,
03:23 we saw a miracle
03:24 because imagining of someone running in the cold,
03:30 passing through some rivers and go to Karuah.
03:35 It's God that was I can say.
03:39 The decision to leave home risked Aliza's life
03:41 but as a Maasai girl in Kenya,
03:43 the consequences of staying home
03:45 would have been worse.
03:47 The Maasai culture
03:49 is one of the very old cultures
03:54 within the Kenyan society.
03:57 And for them,
03:59 what they value most is their cows
04:03 and the boy child.
04:05 So the girl child is more or less like a property
04:09 to be disposed off as and when,
04:11 you know, they're ready for.
04:13 As Maasai,
04:15 you have to take care of the cattle.
04:18 You have to give birth like a chicken,
04:22 you cannot count.
04:25 No, you cannot stay like the way you do.
04:28 You stay like your child must be created
04:31 to give birth to another.
04:34 Just give birth until the end of your life.
04:39 And so these girls are married off
04:42 at very early age in exchange of cows.
04:46 So by the time a girl is being taken off,
04:49 the cows have already been delivered
04:52 and that is something valued both by their fathers
04:56 and even the mothers.
04:58 And before that is done, they go through the FGM.
05:03 FGM or female genital mutilation
05:06 is a painful and dangerous ritual
05:08 Maasai girls must undergo to be prepared for marriage.
05:12 It comes with the risk of infection,
05:14 urination problems, severe bleeding and even death.
05:18 FGM is illegal in Kenya,
05:19 but continues to be
05:21 a common practice among the Maasai
05:22 who usually live in remote areas.
05:25 In Maasai community when a girl is born,
05:29 she's just seen to be like a source of wealth,
05:32 a source of income for the family
05:35 because once you're born as a girl,
05:37 by the time you grow up
05:38 at the age of seven, eight, you go through FGM,
05:42 that tells you
05:43 that now you have become a woman,
05:46 you need to be responsible.
05:48 At that point,
05:50 they even start communicating to you,
05:52 "You're not supposed to be the same compound
05:54 with your mother,
05:56 you are now a grown-up person,
05:58 you need to go and start your family."
06:00 So as early as nine.
06:03 It is a traumatizing experience
06:06 because some of them
06:08 go through very difficult situations.
06:11 There are those who after FGM,
06:14 they are not given even time to heal
06:17 and because these fathers are eager to get their wealth,
06:22 to get their animals, and these other men,
06:27 they just want...
06:28 They don't care, they just want to have women.
06:49 With that imagination or that culture
06:53 and that believe in their community
06:55 that once you have gone
06:57 against the will of your father,
06:59 you're cursed.
07:00 So they are those who still live
07:02 with that fear that,
07:04 "Okay, I'm here, but I know, I've gotten myself curses."
07:11 After some time,
07:14 I heard that my granddad wanted to curse me
07:19 because of running away and not to get married.
07:25 But I wasn't even thinking about cursing.
07:31 I was just thinking about my education.
07:34 Also, my dad did the same.
07:36 He told her that he want to get life,
07:41 come back, and go to your husband's home,
07:45 or unless I'll curse you.
07:48 Most of the time you find
07:49 that automatically the relationship is broken
07:53 because if it is well-known
07:57 that you need to obey your father,
07:59 you need to obey your mother,
08:01 the moment you have gone against their will
08:03 that you are to get married to this man
08:07 and you want to get this number of cows
08:09 to get the family moving and you went against that,
08:12 of course, you become like an enemy
08:15 to this community and to the family.
08:19 When my dad first heard that I have ran away,
08:23 he just wanted to kill my mom.
08:26 Same to my uncle,
08:28 first it was my uncle that beat mom,
08:30 because he's telling her that she's the one
08:33 who have showed me the way to go.
08:36 My mom was not aware.
08:37 Nobody knew that I could run away
08:40 because I was obedient.
08:42 I was not showing them that I want to go.
08:45 No, I was just quiet...
08:50 My dad hit her because of me,
08:53 and my mom was not aware of that,
08:57 I can run away.
09:01 So many people wanted me to die at that age,
09:04 but I trusted in God.
09:06 And I know God is everything.
09:08 Aliza is now 15 years old and has lived
09:11 at the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center
09:14 for the past nine years
09:15 as she receives a Christian education.
09:17 It is her home now
09:19 along with 160 other girls and 45 boys
09:21 who helped the girls
09:23 develop healthy relationships with males.
09:26 Girls must sleep two to a mattress
09:28 because there isn't enough space.
09:30 The toilets are holes in the ground
09:32 and students must bathe in outdoor stalls
09:35 with a bucket.
09:36 The conditions aren't ideal but for many of these girls,
09:39 they cannot return home.
09:41 The decision to run away from FGM and child marriage
09:44 means they are not welcome in their village anymore.
09:47 The first time I went
09:49 I had stayed here like five years
09:52 without seeing my brothers,
09:53 without seeing anybody, no home.
09:57 And I have to go there...
10:06 And everybody was happy to see me.
10:11 Everybody was proud of me.
10:16 But it was dad that,
10:20 my dad just came out of the house.
10:24 And that's it.
10:26 And he wanted to beat me
10:28 while I'm holding my little brother.
10:37 But everybody was crying,
10:40 "Please don't beat her, let her stay with us,
10:43 we have missed her a lot."
10:48 For most of the girls
10:50 at the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center,
10:52 the connection to their childhood home
10:54 has disappeared.
10:57 They must learn to live without their family.
10:59 The Kajiado Center becomes the girl's new home
11:01 and Principal Sarah Daniel becomes a mother figure.
11:06 Sarah is just amazing.
11:07 I mean, when you meet her, you interact with her,
11:10 you know that here is a lady who's passionate
11:12 of what she's doing.
11:13 She actually cares for the girls.
11:15 She is, you know, hardworking.
11:17 She's always on the go,
11:18 you know, she cares for the girls
11:20 because you can see the girls actually love her a lot.
11:22 It is not artificial.
11:24 It's not something
11:25 because volunteers are here or I'm there
11:26 or somebody from the conferences has come
11:28 that she does this.
11:29 She actually does this day in and day out.
11:30 And she's very charismatic, you know?
11:32 She is full of energy
11:33 and she wants a better life for these girls, you know?
11:36 And when we go...
11:37 As you see her she actually goes out
11:39 and sees it there are girls that have been married off
11:41 or, you know, are going through FGM,
11:43 and she actually goes there and rescues them
11:44 and brings them back.
11:45 You can see her heart really feels for these girls.
11:47 She was like a mom to us,
11:49 you know, when we go to Kajiado,
11:51 that's home
11:53 and people there are our sisters,
11:55 our brothers, and our moms, and our dads.
11:58 So Madam Sarah was just a cool mother.
12:01 Though the Kajiado students become family,
12:03 Sarah knows that deep down
12:05 children still want to be accepted by their birth family.
12:08 From time to time,
12:09 she attempts to facilitate a reconciliation
12:11 for certain girls if the family is agreeable.
12:15 And let me tell you for these girls,
12:19 when they get that opportunity to see that their father
12:22 can even just tuck their heads
12:25 because that is their sign of greetings,
12:28 you could not imagine the happiness they do have.
12:32 Even if someone who will feel,
12:33 "I'm not still safe to be here
12:35 but at least my father has shown me
12:38 that I can still continue to be called his daughter."
12:44 When we come back,
12:45 Aliza returns to the village she once ran away from.
13:02 Some companies spend millions of dollars
13:04 to bring you these sounds and images.
13:08 I made it.
13:10 These sounds and images are created
13:12 from the dollars you give to Maranatha.
13:16 Your support of our well drilling efforts
13:18 is bringing clean accessible water
13:20 to communities in Africa, India and Brazil
13:24 because while this sells soda, this saves lives.
13:40 Aliza's first visit back to her village
13:42 did not go well.
13:44 Since then,
13:45 Aliza has tried to keep the relationship
13:46 with her father alive by visiting again.
13:49 As her father observes
13:50 the knowledge she is gaining in school,
13:52 he realizes the value of her education.
13:55 A recent visit
13:56 showed that her father has experienced
13:58 a complete change of heart and he's proud of Aliza.
14:40 While filming in Aliza's old village,
14:42 the Maranatha Mission Stories crew
14:44 received word that a young girl,
14:45 a cousin of Aliza
14:47 had been brought to this village to undergo FGM.
14:50 She was crying and distraught.
14:53 While we were there,
14:55 Sarah came to know about this child that was...
14:57 She's only nine years old, I think,
14:58 and she was sent to her grandmother's house
15:01 for FGM
15:02 and Sarah was asking around that,
15:05 "Why are you not in school?
15:06 Why are you not in school?"
15:08 And I learned she cannot communicate.
15:09 So I thought she has never gone to school.
15:13 So after I followed up, I've realized,
15:15 booking has already been done.
15:17 So she was waiting for FGM so that she can get married of.
15:22 This girl is here for FGM
15:24 and she's already been given off for marriage
15:26 and then, you know, Sarah just, bang,
15:28 went in and said,
15:29 "I'm taking this girl back with me."
15:31 But when I talked, she told me,
15:33 yes, she's willing to go to school,
15:35 but nobody is ready to take her to school.
15:37 Yeah.
15:39 So I've told I would go with her.
15:43 So it's good we came on a school day,
15:45 we're able to identify.
15:48 After consulting with Aliza's father,
15:50 the village elder,
15:51 it was agreed that Sarah would take the girl
15:53 named Malaton back to the Kajaido Center.
15:56 Aliza's father also asked that they take his young son,
15:59 Aliza's brother,
16:00 as they couldn't afford to send him to school.
16:03 Though the center's capacity to take more children
16:05 is stretched to its limits,
16:07 Sarah agreed to take the boy named Edgar.
16:09 The village sent the children off with a song
16:12 and the two begin a journey into a new life.
16:20 I was so, so, so happy.
16:22 So happy.
16:24 In fact, that time I saw them coming to get inside that car
16:29 going to education,
16:31 I felt tears of, just like water.
16:35 I was even just like that, just really crying.
16:41 The crew drove back to Kajaido with Aliza's brother Edgar
16:44 and cousin Malaton,
16:45 family, she never expected to live with again.
16:48 The children began the school's intake process
16:51 and transitioning to life at the Kajiado Center.
16:55 The first thing
16:56 that we need to do with this girl comes in
16:58 when you go to wash,
17:00 you need some clothes to change.
17:03 Maybe there is a girl who has two or three dresses
17:06 that you can borrow,
17:07 but you can't borrow the inner wears.
17:09 So all the time, I have to make sure
17:11 that I should be able to get
17:13 like the inner clothes for this girl
17:15 to be able to put on.
17:17 Then at that time,
17:18 there's also other essentials like soap, a basin...
17:23 And sometimes they come
17:24 when we are not able to do that.
17:25 But we have to
17:27 even if I have to go out and borrow
17:28 because this person is just looking at me
17:30 as the hope at that point.
17:36 We also take time,
17:38 visit the children office department
17:40 because they also need to get us
17:42 some document for us to file
17:45 and to ensure nobody can threaten us
17:47 of stealing their children
17:50 because the children office is also aware.
17:52 The other thing we now want to take them
17:54 for medical checkup,
17:56 which is also a bit expensive.
17:59 When we got to the hospital, they would not say,
18:01 "Oh, this one is a rescue. It's free."
18:04 We have to pay
18:05 what the other people are paying.
18:08 Some of them
18:10 because they have never gone to school,
18:12 they are not even able to communicate
18:14 in another language
18:15 apart from their local language.
18:17 And that is why we normally need that
18:19 like we have this,
18:20 we have some women who are volunteers
18:22 who also come in
18:24 and even our other guys who have gone through this,
18:27 they're also able to help us understand.
18:29 Personally, I do speak the simple ones.
18:33 We can communicate in a simple way,
18:36 but let me say that these children are genius,
18:40 for me, that's what I can call them.
18:41 Because you'll realize
18:43 once they interact with the rest
18:45 even within a month or two,
18:46 they can speak the simple words.
18:49 They can communicate with others.
18:52 Malaton and Edgar went
18:54 through the school's intake process
18:56 seeing places and things
18:57 they had never experienced before.
18:59 That evening
19:00 they were unpacking new belongings
19:02 into a new home cramped though it is.
19:04 That morning, the girl's life was just normal,
19:07 you know, get up, milk the cows, clean the place,
19:10 just a day to day life that these girls having.
19:14 By afternoon, bang.
19:15 They had their life had been transformed.
19:17 It is complete U-turn
19:18 where they now have a better future,
19:20 they have shot at life.
19:21 And who knows, they could become lawyers
19:22 or doctors or engineers
19:24 and it is so heartening to see that happening
19:26 in front of your eyes, you know?
19:27 Here you are seeing them with torn clothes
19:29 and nose leaking and dirty,
19:31 and by evening they were so smartly dressed
19:33 and so...
19:34 You could not recognize them.
19:35 And you could not recognize them
19:37 that these are the same kids that we rescued.
19:39 Though they experienced dramatic changes
19:41 in just a day's time,
19:42 Malaton and Edgar smiles show they are happy.
19:45 What is love?
19:48 He loves me.
19:50 As they settled into a new home,
19:51 Sarah was again confronted with the reality
19:54 that they had no room to house them
19:56 and beyond the cramped conditions
19:57 for current students,
19:59 this lack of space prevents the school
20:00 from proactively rescuing many more children.
20:03 I have cases of 46 girls who wanted to come in,
20:07 but I don't have the space, honestly.
20:10 I just give promises
20:11 that just give me some more time.
20:14 But in case of any danger, please consult us,
20:17 let us know but we don't have this place.
20:21 When we get back,
20:22 hear the success stories of three former students
20:25 and learn what Maranatha is doing
20:26 to help the Kajiado School's lack of space.
20:41 This year, Maranatha's virtual convention
20:43 offers three ways to engage with the mission.
20:46 On September 19, watch Mission Maranatha,
20:49 a two-hour television broadcast event.
20:52 This special will feature volunteer testimonies,
20:54 reports from the mission field,
20:56 and ways that you can stay involved
20:57 even from home.
20:59 This broadcast special will air on a variety of networks
21:02 as well as on demand on our app,
21:04 the Maranatha Channel.
21:06 After the television special,
21:07 join a meet and greet on Zoom with fellow volunteers
21:11 and Maranatha staff from around the world.
21:13 This online meeting will allow you to see
21:15 old friends and talk with our staff
21:17 about various country projects and updates.
21:20 Register at maranatha.org/missionmaranatha.
21:24 And finally, make sure to join us
21:26 for a special webinar on September 18,
21:28 the day before the broadcast.
21:30 Our experts will discuss how you can best plan
21:32 for your financial future
21:34 and support Maranatha at the same time.
21:36 Go to maranatha.org/missionmaranatha
21:39 to register.
21:45 Though the conditions
21:46 at the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center
21:48 are inadequate,
21:50 it is here that students receive
21:51 a solid foundation upon which to build a future.
21:54 Some girls learn a skill trade like tailoring,
21:58 others eventually pursue a college education.
22:02 Josephine Metian Raita earned a degree in education
22:05 and now teaches at a local primary school.
22:09 I spent my life there never going home.
22:12 All of primary, I finished.
22:14 Secondary I went without even single day
22:16 going back home.
22:18 We've been given somewhere to sleep,
22:20 you have been given education and...
22:24 You have been given, nurtured spiritually
22:27 because we always had good times during the Saturday,
22:31 we go to church, we worship,
22:32 and we learn a lot about good things.
22:37 I had that passion long time ago
22:40 because I always admire teachers
22:42 when teaching in class and nurturing those kids
22:45 because I always see that it's very,
22:49 I think it's the best profession
22:51 because you bring someone from knowing nothing
22:55 to be someone very useful in the society.
22:58 So long ago when I'm in primary school,
23:01 I always admired to be a teacher
23:03 at least to make someone to be like me
23:06 and let someone know something that never knew.
23:09 Tracy Risancho is finishing her journalism degree
23:12 at a university in the capital city of Nairobi
23:15 and credits her experience at the Kajiado School
23:17 for setting her on a path to success.
23:20 I really studied hard
23:21 because in my mind I knew
23:23 that coming from such a poor weird background,
23:28 and I really have to try my best
23:30 so that I can put myself in a better level tomorrow.
23:33 So I really tried, it really raised me up so well.
23:36 As I continued, I was a head girl,
23:38 an assistant head girl,
23:40 and it really helped me,
23:41 the responsibilities helped me at least to grow,
23:43 know myself,
23:44 know how I should handle others,
23:46 know how I should talk to people,
23:47 know about how I can control my thoughts
23:50 when I am with other people,
23:51 how I should talk to them.
23:52 Yeah, it's really helped.
23:55 Kajiado really helped me
23:56 because if it wasn't for Kajiado
23:57 maybe I wouldn't be here.
23:59 God is everything
24:00 because God brought me from the village
24:03 to Kajiado to high school I have not been failing...
24:07 I've not been a failure.
24:09 I think I'm chosen.
24:12 And I'm the hope for my home
24:14 and the village and Kajiado, yes.
24:18 Because I believe when maybe I get money later,
24:21 I will still go back to Kajiado and help the girls there.
24:26 I know I'll be a successful person one day.
24:30 And really inspired like I really want to give back.
24:35 When I'm here in school, I think about that
24:37 and I struggled so much like I really tried to study hard
24:42 so that when I get at least a good job,
24:44 I can help the center.
24:45 Okay like the school
24:47 is maybe a bit congested they know,
24:49 okay, I've been this some other these back
24:51 and I saw like, kid, okay, people are so mean...
24:55 So at least when you build a dormitory that is so nice.
24:59 They're not going to be congested
25:00 and it's so beautiful.
25:03 And then what happens is that
25:05 the girls who have graduated
25:06 and gone to high school or to college or university,
25:08 they all come back when there is a vacation,
25:11 you know, when there is a break,
25:12 they have no home.
25:13 Once these girls leave their homes,
25:15 they run away from their home or their rescue,
25:16 they have no place to go back.
25:18 So the home is Kajiado Girls Rescue Center.
25:20 And all of them come in
25:21 and that time it really, really gets crowded
25:22 because, you know,
25:24 you have the girls who are in high school,
25:25 you have the girls
25:27 who are in college and university,
25:28 plus the kids who are there.
25:29 And at times,
25:31 it's barely you cannot even move
25:32 in the dorm without banging or bashing to somebody,
25:33 you know, because it's so crowded,
25:35 there's so many girls.
25:36 You'd normally always,
25:37 you know, touch somebody or hit somebody
25:39 because there's no space
25:40 and, you know, the bathrooms are, I mean, bad.
25:44 I mean, there's no bathroom, you know, there's no showers.
25:47 The showers are all broken down.
25:48 There's no shower, it's a bucket with scoop
25:50 and, you know, the conditions are horrible,
25:51 horrible for these girls.
25:53 In 2018, Maranatha agreed to provide
25:56 the Kajiado School
25:57 with a number of new structures,
25:59 including two new girl's dorms with showers and toilets,
26:02 a boy's dorm, and an administrative office.
26:05 Funding is needed for these new buildings
26:07 that will not only improve living conditions
26:09 for current students,
26:11 but allow the center of the space
26:12 to rescue more girls.
26:15 We are so excited.
26:17 We really thank God.
26:20 It's a time that we can say we have seen God in our life
26:24 and in our institution
26:26 because the work they are doing in our center
26:29 honestly, it touches so many lives.
26:34 You know, no kid should go to this,
26:36 you know, no child should go through this
26:38 and here is an opportunity as a volunteer you come
26:40 and help build these dorms, these classrooms,
26:42 these offices, to interact with them,
26:44 get to know them, guide them, help them as donors.
26:47 I mean, you know, if you build these dorms,
26:50 these classrooms, these,
26:51 whatever is needed on the campus,
26:53 it will definitely change their lives.
26:55 Maranatha is beginning the work of providing
26:57 the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center
27:00 with adequate facilities, but we need your help.
27:03 Funding is needed for these new buildings
27:05 that will not only improve living conditions
27:07 for current students,
27:08 but allow the center of the space
27:10 to rescue more girls.
27:12 With your help,
27:13 the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center
27:15 can be a safe haven for even more children.
27:18 Give a gift to support Maranatha's work
27:21 on this campus.
27:22 Your support will provide these children
27:24 with the opportunity for a bright future.
27:27 I now feel myself as a potential doctor
27:30 to improve the health conditions
27:31 of my people.
27:32 A potential lawyer,
27:34 to advocate for the girl child's education.
27:37 Give us an opportunity.
27:40 Take charge, work diligently.
27:42 Make a change for a better future.
27:44 Make a change for a better future.
27:45 Make a change for a better future.


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Revised 2020-10-26