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Missionary to Kenya brings hope
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| Linda Masey brought photos to demonstrate the success of the Mustard Seed program in the Mathiland tribe of Kenya where she visits each January and brings much needed supplies and hope to the people. Deb kunkle photo |
by Deb Kunkle
OELWEIN – When Linda Masey speaks about matters close to her heart she may get a far-away look in her eyes. That’s because one of the things that matters most to her is far away — halfway around the world in Kenya. But it’s not really one thing, but more like a group of people — the Mathi tribe.
Masey recently gave a talk about her missionary work in Kenya during morning worship at the First Presbyterian Church in Hazleton.
“We live in a country where fortunately, we can meet basic needs and have a safety net in case we suffer trouble. Other countries don’t have that,” Masey said.
Fortunately for the people of the Mathiland tribe, there is the Mustard Seed program and Linda Masey, who makes annual treks to the poorest of tribes bringing needed supplies and hope.
Masey said her first trip in 1997 was part of an exchange program and quite sheltered.
“They let us see the positive things,” she said of the 10-day excursion where participants lived house-to-house with host families. The families Masey stayed with were of the Mathi tribe.
“I was really bitten by the missionary bug,” Masey said. “We were requested to find a cow and a generator. That search led to a trek of the Kenya countryside off the beaten path.”
Masey explained the people who donated the cow were the Jim Stewart family of Oelwein. She added that from that cow there is now a herd of three animals to continue supplying dairy to Mathi people. She said the generator they located was for the mission hospital.
As a registered nurse, Masey was especially drawn to the crude hospital setting and to the children’s ward where young victims of snakebites and burn accidents were the most common ailments.
“Children were carried or walked, sometimes for days, to get to the hospital for treatment. Open fire cooking was to blame for many of the burn accidents. I couldn’t believe people would survive in those conditions,” Masey said.
The following year Masey was asked to go back to the mission hospital to improve the nursing staff and conditions. It has become an annual trip, with Masey hauling more and more plastic totes filled with supplies each year.
The supplies are items donated mostly by people in Northeast Iowa with whom Masey has shared her mission work and the plight of the Mathi tribe. Donations have included baby layettes, pencils, paper, washcloths, shoes, clothing and soap — lots of bars of soap — to help cut down on germs and infections at the hospital.
She explained the government of Kenya will not supply soap to its hospitals, only two gallons of bleach for three months. She said bringing soap to the hospital and teaching the importance of hand washing has been very successful in improving children’s health. That was the first focus.
Three other areas are focused on for the mission trips:
• To provide school supplies for children
• To achieve financial assistance for children
• To provide Mathi language bibles for churches and families in the Mathiland tribe.
“It takes a lot of people to do these four things. The Mustard Seed program is the longest successful program in Kenya,” Masey said.
“There has not been a year we have not met these basic needs for Mathi children,” she said.
Masey explained Mathi children cannot go to school anywhere in Mathiland without a school uniform and shoes. Grace United Methodist Church took on a shoe project to provided shoes for children. Last year they provided 50 uniforms so now 50 children have been able to go to school from this project.
Through the Mathi bible project funds are raised to purchase bibles in Nyrobi. Each church has two bibles, one stays at the church and the other is a traveling bible to families in the congregation. The family that has the bible for the week holds prayer services between the regular Sunday worships.
Masey said the Mustard Seed program has made a tremendous evolution from its start in 1987 to today. Its success can be seen not only in areas of Kenya, but from within the missionaries themselves. She admitted it was not her decision to travel — there was a much higher power at work. Now each January, she packs up her totes filled with supplies and enough personal belongings to get her through a month in the African wilderness. The Mathi people wait with anticipation for her arrival, perhaps as children here await Santa.
Masey has her own little house in Mathiland, which is her command post and living quarters. She communicates with civilization back home through the Internet, via solar-power and a laptop. It’s a crude setup, but it works, she says.
She compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed — from the smallest, hope can grow. She started with 200 pencils and now the program has supplied 8,000 kids. Ninety-five of the students go on to college or get jobs after graduation and they are coming back to help their Mathi tribe, she said.
“Something made me ask to go on that first trip. Now I can’t imagine my life without this mission. Here I am Lord, I will go if you need me, I will hold your people in my heart.”
To learn more about Masey’s mission work in Mathiland or to make a contribution to her goals, contact her through Christ United Presbyterian Church in Oelwein, 283-1656.
Masey recently gave a talk about her missionary work in Kenya during morning worship at the First Presbyterian Church in Hazleton.
“We live in a country where fortunately, we can meet basic needs and have a safety net in case we suffer trouble. Other countries don’t have that,” Masey said.
Fortunately for the people of the Mathiland tribe, there is the Mustard Seed program and Linda Masey, who makes annual treks to the poorest of tribes bringing needed supplies and hope.
Masey said her first trip in 1997 was part of an exchange program and quite sheltered.
“They let us see the positive things,” she said of the 10-day excursion where participants lived house-to-house with host families. The families Masey stayed with were of the Mathi tribe.
“I was really bitten by the missionary bug,” Masey said. “We were requested to find a cow and a generator. That search led to a trek of the Kenya countryside off the beaten path.”
Masey explained the people who donated the cow were the Jim Stewart family of Oelwein. She added that from that cow there is now a herd of three animals to continue supplying dairy to Mathi people. She said the generator they located was for the mission hospital.
As a registered nurse, Masey was especially drawn to the crude hospital setting and to the children’s ward where young victims of snakebites and burn accidents were the most common ailments.
“Children were carried or walked, sometimes for days, to get to the hospital for treatment. Open fire cooking was to blame for many of the burn accidents. I couldn’t believe people would survive in those conditions,” Masey said.
The following year Masey was asked to go back to the mission hospital to improve the nursing staff and conditions. It has become an annual trip, with Masey hauling more and more plastic totes filled with supplies each year.
The supplies are items donated mostly by people in Northeast Iowa with whom Masey has shared her mission work and the plight of the Mathi tribe. Donations have included baby layettes, pencils, paper, washcloths, shoes, clothing and soap — lots of bars of soap — to help cut down on germs and infections at the hospital.
She explained the government of Kenya will not supply soap to its hospitals, only two gallons of bleach for three months. She said bringing soap to the hospital and teaching the importance of hand washing has been very successful in improving children’s health. That was the first focus.
Three other areas are focused on for the mission trips:
• To provide school supplies for children
• To achieve financial assistance for children
• To provide Mathi language bibles for churches and families in the Mathiland tribe.
“It takes a lot of people to do these four things. The Mustard Seed program is the longest successful program in Kenya,” Masey said.
“There has not been a year we have not met these basic needs for Mathi children,” she said.
Masey explained Mathi children cannot go to school anywhere in Mathiland without a school uniform and shoes. Grace United Methodist Church took on a shoe project to provided shoes for children. Last year they provided 50 uniforms so now 50 children have been able to go to school from this project.
Through the Mathi bible project funds are raised to purchase bibles in Nyrobi. Each church has two bibles, one stays at the church and the other is a traveling bible to families in the congregation. The family that has the bible for the week holds prayer services between the regular Sunday worships.
Masey said the Mustard Seed program has made a tremendous evolution from its start in 1987 to today. Its success can be seen not only in areas of Kenya, but from within the missionaries themselves. She admitted it was not her decision to travel — there was a much higher power at work. Now each January, she packs up her totes filled with supplies and enough personal belongings to get her through a month in the African wilderness. The Mathi people wait with anticipation for her arrival, perhaps as children here await Santa.
Masey has her own little house in Mathiland, which is her command post and living quarters. She communicates with civilization back home through the Internet, via solar-power and a laptop. It’s a crude setup, but it works, she says.
She compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed — from the smallest, hope can grow. She started with 200 pencils and now the program has supplied 8,000 kids. Ninety-five of the students go on to college or get jobs after graduation and they are coming back to help their Mathi tribe, she said.
“Something made me ask to go on that first trip. Now I can’t imagine my life without this mission. Here I am Lord, I will go if you need me, I will hold your people in my heart.”
To learn more about Masey’s mission work in Mathiland or to make a contribution to her goals, contact her through Christ United Presbyterian Church in Oelwein, 283-1656.
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