Global Mission Stories
from ELCA Global Mission

Becoming Maasai

Maasai have a tradition that they were the first people created by God. Other people can be as good as Maasai but no one is better. The Maasai were the first and the most precious to God. In turn, when someone is recognized as loving the Maasai so much that they become Maasai, they are made a part of the tribe.

Mark and Linda Jacobson

Dr. Mark and Linda Jacobson, ELCA missionaries in Tanzania, were recognized in May 2001 as ones who truly love the Maasai. Mark is a physician serving as medical superintendent at Selian Lutheran Hospital near Arusha, Tanzania, and Linda is involved with curative health care. Selian Lutheran Hospital in itself is a witness to the community, much of which is Maasai. The hospital serves about 40,000 patient visits annually. While most of the people in the region are subsistence farmers and live in relative poverty, the hospital has been able to maintain a high level of medical services.

One of the challenges has been to reach out into the Maasai culture, one that traditionally has its own sense of meaning for illness and health. So for the Jacobsons to be honored as becoming Maasai carries special meaning for the relationship between the church, hospital, and community.

The ceremony for being honored as a new member of the Maasai varies. In this instance, the staff at Selian Lutheran Hospital held a special celebration to honor the Jacobsons. The Bishop of the Diocese in the Arusha Region, along with Dr. Kipuyo, Diocesan Medical Director, were the "Senior Elders" welcoming the Mark and Linda into the Maasai community. The ceremony consists of telling the story of why they are now Maasai.

The Jacobsons, Bishop Thomas Laiser, and hospital staff

"Then we were dressed in traditional Maasai clothes," recounts Mark. " I was given the ‘rungu’ or elder's scepter. It is a long, carved, piece of ebony. It's two ends convey different rulings. When one end is pointed to an individual or group it carries the weight of advice. When the other is pointed, it conveys an order."

The traditional healer in Maasai culture is both healer and priest. So the Maasai community found it fitting to give Mark the title of Loibone, or traditional healer. As they did so, the entire community formed a grand circle and danced around the new members. Through this they signify the community embracing and absorbing us into their midst.

"So we are now Maasai," said the Jacobsons.

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