Maasai Development Project (MDP) grew from friendships between Jan Latsha, Gwen Edwards, and Maasai women who lived behind Maxwell Adventist Academy (MAA), Ongata Rongai, Kenya. The women spent hours together, sitting under trees communicating with body language and the common love for their children. Later, Gwen and Jan started Bible studies and a literacy class with the small Maasai community. They could not have known how far a single literacy class and a few small Bible studies would take them.

In 1994, Gwen and Jan along with some of their Maasai friends from MAA held a three-day evangelistic effort in Kisaju, home village to the Maasai women living behind the school. This effort led to more friendships along with a request for weekly church services. Property was donated for a church and in 1995 a Maasai church was built by a mission group from the Upper Columbia Conference in Washington state. By the end of 1995 when Jan and her family were leaving Kenya to move back to the United States, money was left to sponsor the first two lay-pastors in Kisaju. In 1998, Jan and her friend Celeste Lee traveled back to Kenya to visit Kisaju. While there, they received many more requests for teachers and pastors from different areas of Maasailand. Jan and Celeste began to realize they were only touching the surface of the needs in the Maasai community. As the work began to grow rapidly, they were counseled to formally start an organization to carry out the project.