Church-another chance for culture shock!

Today, being Sunday, we divided up into 6 or 8 groups that went to various churches in the area.  Some churches were near, one was up to 4km away, some were in English, others were in Kiswahili or Kikamba (the local tribe), some were long and some were similar to a US service.  What was ours like, you might ask?  Let me tell you...


First, breakfast was at 7am, and the electricity was out from the time we woke up until after we left.  Read:  bad hair day!  Our group left about 9:15, to walk the 3.4km uphill (but not both ways!) by 10am.  We could have taken a matatu (sort of like a Kenyan minibus), but I don't think any of us are that courageous yet!  They are all over the place and are, obviously, a very common form of transportation.  They seem to defy the principle of physics that 2 objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time!  They cram so many people into them that I don't know how they fit or breathe, and they drive like each of them is the only thing on the road.  Yikes!  Anyway, we opted to walk and arrived on time to a warm greeting. :) 

The front of the church, on our way home

The choir singing after the service - I didn't want to take photos during.

The service was sparsely populated at first, but the large building was filled with about 300 people within the first hour.  The first 2 and a half hours were singing, prayers, and 2 (or 3 - it was a little confusing) offerings.  At that time, the children were dismissed - after 2 and a half hours!!  Oh, and we were asked to come up and introduce ourselves and sing.  We sang Amazing Grace, and I don't think they were very impressed. ha!  And they shouldn't have been - their music was amazing!  Fun and vibrant - we all loved it, even though we couldn't understand any of it.  Ours was stale in comparison.  Also, when the pastor led a prayer, many in the church joined in with their individual prayers - each one quiet and controlled, but the effect was a beautiful murmuring.

The congregation largely did not understand English.  I was surprised and am starting to see that maybe we really will need Kiswahili in the hospital in Kijabe.  The pastor taught in both Kiswahili and Kikamba, and threw in just enough English in for us to follow somewhat.  He taught from Jonah and emphasized that, as Jonah sinned by running from God's instruction, so we can sin and be disobedient.  He went on to explain that we can have sinful thought patterns, sinful/unloving words, and allow sinful exposures into our lives.  The last point was interesting to me, as he really teased out that we should be discerning about the tv shows and music that we watch and listen to.  I am certainly not trying to be arrogant about being from a developed nation, but I was surprised that this was one of his main points since I had spent the morning with no electricity and walked over 2 miles to get to church!!  Just saying.  Things are not always as they seem here.

After 3 hours and 45 minutes, the service ended.  It did seem long, but not that long.  The kids were amazing through it - we were proud of them. :)  We were invited to visit with the pastors after the service, and they fed us a lunch of white rice and vegetable stew.  I tried to focus on their hospitality and not think about whether the spoons had been washed.  Ok - I am a germ freak and am trying to come to terms with that! 

Sorry this blog entry is so long - I wanted y'all to share our experience. :)  Don't forget we walked 2 miles home - arrived about 3:20.  We were thankful for the avocados and pineapple we had gotten from Rose, the vegetable lady, and the peanut butter sandwiches Rick made with the breakfast bread.

Thanks for reading this far!

Lots of love,
Sarah
Romans 6:12-14    Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

The kids love seeing their pictures on Ted's itouch! :)