Kenya - Day 4

Sunday, June 10

I love gathering with the people of Crosspointe on Sunday mornings to worship our God, but this was a special day in my life as a pastor.  It was such a humble honor and great privelege to not only worship with the men, women, and children of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church of Dirubi, Kenya - but also to stand before them to preach God's Word and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus. 

We were greeted upon our arrival with singing the moment we got out of the car.  Everyone was waiting outside for us and with smiling faces they welcomed us with their voices. The church itself was a small building with no glass in the windows (the candles were all extinguished by the wind at some point during worship) and with a dirt floor.  The structure is still an upgrade from the previous sanctuary which still stands to one side of the church. The service followed a traditional order of worship in the local vernacular of Luo. So at different times us American visitors could pick up on the rhythm of the Creed, Lord's Prayer, or other elements of the liturgy. And though we didn't know the Luo lyrics, two hymns were familiar by their tune - Rock of Ages and Nothing But the Blood. A group of 6 or 7 added additional special music standing before the congregation.  I think their handful of voices without microphones may have been louder than the 130 voices that fill Crosspointe on a Sunday morning so we may have some volume knobs to crank up in our worship.  The service also included Communion providing even greater joy in sharing the unity of the church with these individuals who spoke a different language and lived in a different part of the world. Beyond the opportunity to preach, I also helped with Communion serving wine from a chalice - for the first time. During the worship service the men sat on one side and the women and children sat on the other (on very simple wooden benches without any back support) and then during Communion almost all of the children waited outside the back door looking in while the adults received the Sacrament.  The offering also was very unAmerican.  Two people we would identify as ushers stood up front and members of the congregation then brought their offerings forward. Many people gave various amounts of money, but some also brought forward bags of produce - I remember kale, sweet potatoes, and avocadoes and there may have been more. The bags were placed at the feet of those gathering the offering and then add the end of the worship service they were auctioned off with one member acting as an auctioneer and those in worship bidding against one another. That money was then added to the rest of the offering. It was definitely more exciting to watch than the typical offering given in an American church and it was neat to see how people gave from what they had. I again cannot fully describe the experience of worshiping with this group of Kenyans who are our brothers and sisters in Christ, but it is something I hope to never forget.

Following the worship service, a number of leaders within the Kenyan church also addressed the congregation with various announcements. Throughout the trip, there was a high level of formality and respect when we met with different church leaders and on Sunday there was a lot of excitement as they named Dirubi (the place we were) as a future site of a Project 24 orphan rescue center.  Everyone present erupted into applause as the announcement was made. The North Dakota and Minnesota North Districts of the LCMS have committed to jointly funding three rescue centers over the next three years and on Sunday Dirubi was identified as one of the locations for this effort.  Following worship we were again fed extremely well with a kale dish, rice, ugali (which is a staple served with most meals and made out of cornmeal that is like a thicker version of mashed potatoes that you eat with your hands and shape into balls to soak up the rest of your meal. It doesn't have a lot of taste but it was good), chicken, and our favorite tortilla-like dish of chipati.  During the lunch we were able to speak with church leaders, pastors, and others in a more informal manner to learn more about the church and its people and its ministry.

It would have been great to spend the whole afternoon and day with the people we had worshiped with but we were soon back in the car and headed toward another orphan rescue center in Othoro. The children who live in the rescue centers have lost at least one if not both parents to AIDS, malaria, poverty, or some other cause. As we toured the grounds including the dorms, kitchen, and church we met kids that were probably 2 all the way up to the 8th grade.  We saw how they drew water from a well and also scrunched our noses at a dish that is very popular in Kenya - minnow (yes, as in the fish).  The rescue center is located right next to a church and right next to a public school.  The local pastor/evangelist took us over to the school and introduced us to the classes. Now I know I have been writing a lot, but do you remember what day this is?  Sunday.  And there were kids in the classrooms - some of them with a teacher receiving instruction for a couple hours in the afternoon and others studying on their own (quietly and diligently) without the supervision or guidance of a teacher.  From Othoro we continued on down the road to a Lutheran high school or secondary school for girls.  There were about 320 students and 260 of them lived there at the school. The school is in the process of building a dorm but for now the girls sleep in converted classrooms. We met with the principal and a couple teachers and learned more about the education process and challenges.  At all of the schools we went to there was a sense of excellence and a commitment to helping the students achieve a successful future despite the lack of resources. At Othoro, the boys were up at 5:15 and in class by 6:00. At the Lutheran high school, the girls were awake at 4:45 and in class by 5:30. At the high school, all of the grades were also posted with the students names where everyone could see them so that those who were excelling could be congratulated and those who were struggling could be encouraged.  While we were at the school a heavy rain storm blew through and all of the girls took pots and basins outside to be filled with rain water. The final leg of Sunday's traveling took us south to Kilgoris.