James Ole Kukan is a gentle presence. A quiet demeanor belies the strength of character and resolve that are very much alive in his Maasai heart. Of the many things to admire, James’ love and concern for his people is one that sets him significantly apart from peers around him. This love, combined with a tenacious spirit and a living relationship with Christ, has worked to set the scene for a beautiful story of hope unfolding in the remote community James calls home.
“Home” is a valley called Engeua in the basin formed by the curve of the Meto Hills. In 1997, after a request for “the words of God” from local people in that area, James and a group of friends began to visit the region and just pray over it. This is a place full of the spiritual power of local diviners, yet there was a hunger for something more in the lives of many of the residents. The prayer walks led to teaching trips and, for several years, James and a handful of others traveled in regularly to bring God’s love in the form of lessons from the Bible. James looks back and says, “The response was slow in those years.”
By 2000, the local diviners had declared that “church work” would not go forward in this area. Instead, they said, they would use their spiritual power to hold it back. Yet in 2003, partnering with Christian Missionary Fellowship, James helped to bless the foundations of a permanent gathering place for the church. Though it had begun slowly, good news began to make an impact. “Many healings happened in the next years,” James says humbly. “Not many people heard about them, but a lot of people were prayed for when they were sick and they became well.”
In August of 2008, an event occurred that would significantly impact the entire region. The daughter of a well-known diviner was suffering terribly from what some might have thought of as a severe mental illness. Nothing that her father did could stop her from fits of agitation, incomprehensible screaming and running away when people tried to help her. In desperation, her father asked the people of the church to come and pray over his daughter.
The men and women of the church met in their normal Sunday gathering to worship and pray. Afterwards, a handful of them walked to the diviner’s village. Here, before they could even enter the village proper they met the young woman, herself. As they began to pray, she took off running.
Catching up with her about a kilometer later, the group surrounded her and continued to pray. By all accounts, it became quite a wild scene. The young woman alternately yelled in unknown languages, frothed at the mouth, flailed around or hit people. Her father, fearing that she would never be of sound mind again, kept saying that his daughter had died. Yet the group did not stop praying. At one point, quite an eerie voice issued forth from the young woman declaring, “We will not go!” Still, the group continued to pray, calling out in Jesus’ name for healing.
(The young woman and her baby with the group that prayed for her.)
Finally, a peace came. No more violence or voices. The young woman was totally still. She was taken home where she rested. Returning the next day to pray with and encourage her further, the group found her whole, in sound mind and totally free. She has remained so.
News quickly spread that there is hope and healing in Jesus Christ. In December of 2009, this same little church that prayed celebrated the baptisms of 54 new believers as they made their faith public, and James is regularly invited to come and share in locations all over Maasai-land. Hope travels fast ☺
James’ standing in the community has always been strong. His character speaks even when he is quiet. Yet since the healing of the diviner’s daughter, there is even more opportunity for James to make a lasting difference among his people. Continually asked to serve on local and regional boards and committees, James is sought out for his wisdom and influence. Transformation on many levels, from educational to agricultural, is happening in his community and we know the way has been opened by the power of the Spirit partnering with this humble man.
It’s our privilege to assist our long-time friend, James, in every way we can to see lasting hope and transformation in Maasai-land. What a joy to walk beside this quiet man who simply wants to see his people find every kind of freedom.
