Oloipiri Village is in northern Tanzania near the Kenya border. It is a very poor community that struggles with survival every day of the year.
The Maasai who live there are pastoralists – they raise cattle and, by necessity, plant crops.
They are a proud people who are known to be fierce in battle.
Most live in traditional mud & dung huts within homesteads called bomas.
When Dan Harms and a team from Humanity for Children visited Oloipiri in 2019, they attended the Lutheran church on Sunday – there was no church building, only a hillside. The congregation worshipped there rain or shine. They dreamt about having a church building but never thought their poor community could ever build one….until Bethel came along!
The community had other dreams – a preschool for their kids who, during the day, would be left alone in the bomas. Children were in constant danger from lions, snakes, and other wildlife. Their dream was to one day have a real preschool, but they never thought it would happen….and then Bethel came along!
Thanks to support from Bethel and other congregations, a church and preschool have been built, and are now being heavily used.
