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Joshua and Ruth Barron are new members of the CMF Maasai team.  They arrived in Kenya in January 2007, together with their two wonderful daughters, Alitzah (2003) and Hannah (2005).  But now they have three wonderful daughters!  Eliana was born in Nairobi, Kenya in July 2007.

Ruth earned a BA in English and psychology from Milligan College (1997).  She swore that she would never go to the seminary across the street where all “the weirdoes and bare-foot missionary-types” were, strange people like Jonathan and Joshua.  So she naturally enrolled at Emmanuel School of Religion the following Fall, completing an MA in religion with a concentration in Christian Doctrine (2000).  The following August, she and Joshua married – and his now-second-best friend Jonathan was best man.

Joshua likes to think that he is a bibliophile, but he is really a bibliomaniac.  Unable to limit himself to a reasonable course load, he received a BA in Bible & Ministry and also a BS in Chemistry from Milligan (1995).  After teaching Chemistry laboratory to college freshman for a couple of years while working in two graduate programs (seminary & Chemistry), he narrowed his focus and earned an MDiv from Emmanuel (2000).

Before they were led to serve with the Maasai, Joshua served a missions internship with Pioneer Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea (1993) and spent two summers (1996 & ’98) working with churches in northeast India.  Three months into their marriage, Joshua and Ruth spent a little over a year ministering in South Africa, where they taught at a small Bible college and worked with local congregations.  Upon their return to the States, they entered the very challenging & cross-cultural field of youth ministry until they began support raising full time to join the CMF Maasai team.

The Barrons are devoting their first year to learning the Maa language while residing in the village of Endoinyo Erinka. Upon completion of their language learning year, they will reside in the village of Ewaso Ng’iro, adjacent to a CMF training center. Focusing on discipleship and leadership training, one of their primary roles will be to develop curricula for the Maasai churches. They will work with local Maasai church leaders to develop and produce teaching and training materials in the Maa language.

In Maasai culture, boys look forward to the day when they will become warriors.  Eventually the warriors will advance to young elder and finally to elder.  With each advancement comes increased responsibility and maturity.  Joshua and Ruth desire to help the young Maasai churches grow in a similar fashion, so they will increase in faith, maturity, discipleship, and witness.  It is with this goal in sight that Joshua and Ruth join the work among the Maasai.

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