A Girl of Two Worlds

This story is about Nosim, a young girl who is ordered to attend the missionary boarding school. The chief thinks that having a Maasai in the school wil make them more important. Thus begins Nosim’s double life where she juggles the world of school and Christianity with Maasai life. At first it appears both lifestyles cannot co-exist. Nosim tries to be Western and Christian at school and Maasai at home. She eventually realises that if you don’t follow Jesus throughout your whole life you are not following him at all–it is then that she gives her life to Christ. But does this mean leaving family and culture and idetity behind? The perfect ending to this story is how Nosim is encouraged to take the gospel to her own people, by remaining a Maasai woman and a Christian. She is in actual fact a girl of two worlds–definitely a Christian and definitely Maasai. But her life of deception is over as she brings the true word of God to her lost people.

Written for children ages 9-12 years old Lorna Eglin is an AIM missionary in South Africa. Her years in Kenya brought her into contact with many Maasai girls just like Nosim. Though Nosim is fictional she is based on real life Maasai girls that Lorna worked alongside during her time in Kenya. These girls went on to be teachers, nurses, and secretaries in modern Kenya. One is the first Maasai lady doctor. Another is the wife of Kenya’s ambassador to Japan.