Kim Groop With the Gospel to Maasailand - Åbo Akademi

In 1939, there were 25 Christians in Maasailand. The statistics do
not reveal how many of these were Maasai-proper, but in 1942, just over
40 % of the Christians were real Maasai. 384 The most remarkable trend
observed in the 1930s is the quite steep decrease in church attendance.
While there was an average of 263 churchgoers in 1930, only 70 people
came to Sunday services in 1939. This is particularly noteworthy as the
number of outposts had increased from two to four and Sunday services
were held at four instead of two locations. This seemingly decreasing
magnetism is even further paradoxical because a growing number of
Maasai came to the mission to get medical help, which seems to suggest
an increasing confidence in the Lutheran work. 385
The negative trend in the number of churchgoers was nothing
new. A similar development had taken place in the early Arusha work
between 1904 and 1913. While an average of 380 people visited the
services in 1904, the number of people attending Sunday Services nearly
ten years later was only 306, although more Sunday services were held
and there were 56 Christians at Ilboru. 386 Perhaps the main reason for this
trend is the simplest one – that people’s curiosity made them attend
services when they were new and interesting. Rumours spread rapidly
about alleged messengers of Enkai who had settled among them. Many
men and women became interested and paid the Sunday services a visit.
Once this curiosity along with various expectations had faded, most
stayed away.
The development in the Arusha landscape is perhaps easier to
explain than the one in Maasailand. Yes, people were curious and
participated more actively in the beginning. Apart from the generally
fading interest in what the mission had to offer, however, the influence of
the German officials and the three chiefs on the Arusha people is evident.
The ups-and-downs in the Arusha schools and services obviously
384 See statistics, tables 3.3. and 4.2.
385 For statistics on treatments, see page 169.
386 See table 2.2.
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