Maasai Land 2012 – Testimonies of the Conference



Maasai man at a neighbor's house

During the planning, and actually the trip itself, all of our own plans and schedules fell apart, and we saw that if anything was going to happen, God would have to both organize and fulfill it. With our eyes on the Master, we yielded the conference to the Lord and were awed by what the Lord did though we had nothing to offer. The night before I left for Tanzania, a woman called us from America. The Lord had shown her the hunger and brokenness of the Maasai people. She didn’t have a lot of money and had recently given up her job, but she decided to give all the money she had saved from her last check for my trip to Maasai Land. Before that night, I had money for the pastor’s leadership seminar but didn’t have any money to travel to Maasai Land and hold the conference. Though I still had far less money than the estimate I had received, the Lord worked things out so that the amount this person gave was just enough for all that we needed. This was just a foretaste, a testimony, of how the Lord would reveal His glory if we only believed in Him, and chose to trust in Him for everything.


Ministry Times

Standing with friends holding weapons

The first full day in Maasai Land was spent visiting people and various church leaders wanted to interview and meet me in person before I was allowed to do anything in the area. Then, for three days we held the conference in the mid-afternoon. I taught about salvation and relationship with God, but my main teaching and focus of the conference was on outpourings of the Holy Spirit - holy fire and love. From the testimonies we received, we know of no sick people who had come for prayer that weren’t healed. Nearly everyone we asked was instantly healed. The Maasai were already full of love, but throughout the conference they were challenged to love God and one another even more. As people turned their hearts to the Lord, the Holy Spirit sent fresh outpourings of love and fire upon people’s hearts. It was truly amazing. The last day of the conference, we had believers turn toward one another, and repent on behalf of the land for the pride and division that had crept into the area. For two years, rain has failed to adequately fall on their land. If they continue in the love the Lord has released into their hearts, we believe that rain will fall in abundance this coming rainy season (2 Chronicles 7:14). People were so hungry to grow in the Lord that every night, as late as 10:00 p.m., a group of various adults and children came to my tent asking to hear the word of God, and receive prayer and ministry. Through their hunger, I learned so much. We were also invited to minister at Ilkilakuno International Ministries. Through much suffering and even beatings, the leaders of this ministry had started one church and in six years it had grown to 40 churches. Before I left, I was given an open door to return and minister, even in the much deeper areas of the bush.

The Lord did many new and unusual things during the ministry times. We found that the Lord was more interested in revealing Himself (His glory) to the people He loved and drawing them to Himself rather than simply healing them. Here are a few testimonies.
• A woman brought material for me to pray over, so that she could lay it on a sick person at home. But, the Lord wanted to show her that she could be used by God. Instead of praying for the cloth, I prayed for the woman (no one touched the woman as I prayed for her). According to the word of the Lord, I instructed her to go home and put the cloth on the person, and declare healing in Jesus’ name. She did so. The sick man was completely healed.
• A woman had stomach pain. God gave a prophetic word over her life concerning worship. She believed the word. No one ever prayed for her healing, but instantly she was healed, and could move around without pain.
• During an unusual night meeting, the fire of God was falling. I instructed one man to shout, “Hallelujah!” For a while he refused, but then he simply said it without shouting it. Suddenly, God gave a prophetic word about the call of God on this man’s life. The next day, Sunday, the man, who was an unbeliever, went to church and surrendered his life to Christ.



In my host's yard:  view outside and around my tent

 My Daily Life in the African Bush
This is only a glimpse of what I experienced. Pastor Deus and I stayed with a beautiful Maasai family whose love and care for us exceeded anything that I expected. The Lord gave me extra grace to experience His beauty in the midst of situations that I never dreamed of finding myself in. I slept in my tent, and pastor Deus slept in a hut (because I wasn't able to buy a tent for him in Tanzania).  In the area where I pitched my tent, the bathroom was the African bush (we shared it with the domestic and wild animals). This had its own beauty in a sort of way. It was dry season, and I was told that lions and most of their prey had moved on to other parts of the bush. Needless to say, at night time my “bathroom” was very close to my tent. A few times fear tried to enter my heart, since all I had to sleep in was a nylon tent with a zipper. But, the Lord’s peace was the greatest security. The Maasai are herdsmen, and sleep in their mud huts with a locked wooden door and weapons (knives and spears) inside. It’s cultural for them to carry weapons as they care for their cattle out in the bush. African bulls, as well as other wild animals, visit the water hole which was only about a 10 minute walk from our host family’s land. One night, an African bull came very close by, but I was peacefully sleeping and didn’t hear it or see it. In other parts of the land, I got to see giraffes, monkeys, mongoose type animals (they were my neighbors), ostriches and many others. There was no clean water to drink. Every morning, we drank heated milk (fresh from the cow) with sugar and tea in it. This was the creamiest milk I ever tasted. Hundreds of people, and even more animals (cows, goats, sheep and the wild animals), had one water hole which was contaminated with animal waste and other stuff. For many, it is far away from their homes, but the nearest water source. Yet, this was the only water available to bathe in, wash clothes, dishes, etc., and to wash hands in before eating. Please join us in believing and praying that our Lord would do something wonderful and provide this area with clean drinking water for their herds as well as for their families.


Water hole where we got water


Thank you for your faith, vigilance in prayer, and unfailing support. As the Lord leads, continue to pray for the Maasai. Their destiny is great and they have so much to offer the world. Iris Tanzania desires to continue to partner with Maasai believers to teach, train and empower them to fulfill the call of God on their lives.

You can click on the photo below to see the photos online.  We'll let you know when we can put video online.

Tanzania 2012 - A Great Adventure

Thank you for helping us to go on this life changing adventure.
With love, Tyren and Tiffany Haynes