This is the sign we were looking for Sunday morning. Richard had gone ahead to church to help plan the service so I was bumming a ride with two friends who were relying on me for directions.
We sludged through the mud and potholes, didn't go far enough, thought we were lost, turned around, came back and taa-daa!
We made it. Welcome to a very nice church in Kenya. Many churches are just cinderblock, wooden beams and corrugated tin, but this church is well established and helping to plant others. I'll walk you through the service.
Each service starts with Praise and Worship. There might be a choir or small group leading. Typically there is a keyboard player who experiments until he finds the key the lead singer is already singing in and then joins in full force. There might also be a drum machine involved.
During this time, people are arriving and packing the church. Announcements are made well into the church service to make sure as many people as possible will actually be there to hear them. After more singing, presentations, and a prayer for the children, the Scriptures are read.
The preacher then has the pulpit. This was Richard's scheduled Sunday to preach in this church. (He was listed as Bro. Brueck in the bulletin.) I am always so blessed when he preaches, which is a great thing, because one day, he's going to be my pastor!
Two of our cottages of boys also came to hear Richard preach. They were all gussied up in their Sunday best suits. (OK, seriously, that flower-embossed, corduroy three-piece on Michael is killing me with cuteness.)
The church prepared tea and biscuits (cookies) for all of our kids in a separate room underneath the sanctuary. Morris was double-fisting his tea time experience.
These two girls from the church shared tea with us and finally overcame their shyness to shake hands and smile.
At the end of almost every church service I've been to in Kenya, the congregation says the "grace" together (2 Corinthians 13:14):
May the grace of the Lord Jesus,
And the love of God,
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
Be with you now and forevermore. Amen.
I pray that these young ones, and all the rest, may truly live this beautiful benediction.
I felt like I was back in Nairobi for a couple of minutes while I read your post and recognized the red mud, and the PCEA signs. Those precious little children are adorable! Thanks for sharing that beautiful grace from 2 Corinthians, and for linking it with your prayer for the children. Your entire post blessed me. I pray God will bless you with joy in serving Him there.
ReplyDeleteLinda