1/10/10

What a lovely day we have had here in rainy Mukeu. We awoke this morning to a chilly, cloudy day, but it certainly did not put a damper on the Lord’s Day here in Africa. We walked into town to go to the AIC Church of Mukeu where we were greeted with very loud music in the native tongue of Kikuyu. The west has obviously had a bit of influence here because they sang with microphones and a keyboard despite the relatively small size (I’d say there were about 150 in attendance). Someone played the keyboard and added synthetic drums to a retro beat. It didn’t quite go with their traditional African singing. My favorite was when they sang acapella and played hand drums. Then I really felt like I was in Africa! It was wonderful! We didn’t understand a word that was spoken, but we did recognize a few melodies and sang along in English: How Great Thou Art and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. I also surmise they said the Lord’s Prayer after prayer time and joined with them in English. What a blessing it is to worship along side brothers and sisters in Christ even though we cannot communicate together. The Body of Christ is an amazing thing. The service was filled with a lot of dancing, singing and clapping. It seemed like we were truly immersed in their culture. Isn’t it amazing that God understands every tribe, every tongue, every culture? Isn’t it amazing that God binds us all together in Christian unity? How incredible! I do think I made a bit of a fool of myself today. For the offering, everyone went forward to drop their offering in the basket. I was sitting between Dr. Sams and Chris in a very small row. Chris had gotten up and Dr. Sams wanted to, as well, so I just got up and went forward with Chris so as not to disrupt the flow. Once I got up there, I looked around only to realize that I was the only woman who had gone forward. Everyone else was male. I hope I didn’t commit a major cultural faux-paux! After church, we came home to rest for a while. We went for a long walk through the country side. It really is incredibly beautiful here. We’re surrounded by mountains. It’s amazing to see how people live…one woman lives in a small tin home with 5 of her children. Her oldest son, Mike (who is employed by the Kibarita family with whom we are staying) lives next door. The tradition here is that when you are a 14 year old boy, you build your own house. So several years ago, Mike built a home for himself of sticks and mud. He is so proud of it. And he is thrilled that he has a cow and a few goats to go along with it. Can you imagine building your own house at 14 and still living in it 3 years later? Wow! We had a meeting with the AIC Dispensary board to discuss what we will be doing this week. It was great - they are trying to build a maternity ward here, so we had a brainstorming session to come up with some ideas to make this dream a reality. It looks like Monday-Friday we will have clinic at the Dispensary. Then on Saturday, we are going to Lake Naivasha to see some hot springs as well as to the equator. Right now, we are on the south side of the equator. It’s not every day that you get to see the center of the world…I’m excited. I’ve heard that if you stand on one side of the equator, a piece of grass will spin in a bowl of water in one direction. Then if you switch to the other side, the grass will spin in the opposite direction. Isn’t that so cool!? We came home tonight through the pouring rain and were soaked to the bone and covered in mud. It was so nice to sit by the fire and warm up a bit. After dinner we sat around in a circle and sang songs - both in Kikuyu and English. It is so amazing to me that even though we are worlds apart and speak very different languages, the Lord hears us just the same. I told Chris tonight that I feel much better about this “mission” experience than I did the first week. I feel like here we are immersing ourselves in their culture. We are living in their homes, eating their food, listening to their dreams and trying to help them. And in turn, they want to hear our dreams and ideas. This makes my heart much more at ease.