Sunday Serenades

Here it is, Sunday night and we are relaxing and listening to the crickets chirping softly outside of the windows. A frog or two is joining in the chorus with its deep croak. Ahhhh, peace and calm. It is a sweet relief at this moment in time.

We began our day with a trip to a village church and it was truly eye opening. The church was outside, the roof held up by bamboo poles or something similar. The floor was packed down red dirt. There was a bit of a stage that had a couple of red crosses hanging on the curtains and table cloths. It was humbly and beautiful to see. The people sat on benches or plastic chairs. They arrived dressed in their Sunday best and looked fabulous. And the kids! Kids, kids and more kids! Some had little suits on, some fancy dresses, many in bare feet and some in shoes. They sat at the back but at one point in the service, which was about 3 hours long, came up front and did a presentation. We were welcomed and the Worship began. This little outdoor church has a sound system and we sat right beside the speakers. Oh my, most of us can no longer hear:-) Just kidding, it was loud but it was so very much alive. Lots of clapping and moving and "Praise the Lord."  "Amen!" At the end of this service they handed out the Operation Christmas Child boxes. The children were well behaved, lined up and when their name was called, graciously received a box. It didn't seem to matter whether or not they were a boy or girl, they just got a box. The interesting thing was, none of the children grabbed them and ran, some bowed low when they received it and many knelt. They then walked to the back of the little church, sat and waited. Oh sure, some had clear boxes and did peek inside. There were smiles when they noticed, 'Sweeties' (Candies). One little girl was so excited to receive a Barbie doll type of doll and she did open her box and try to fit the shoes on her doll. These children seem to have very little and yet seemed content. After church they all walked back to their houses with their boxes.

This little church had 3 collections today. One of the most heart breaking for me was when they were trying to raise 10 000 shillings so they could buy one more plastic chair this week. This is about $4.00 and it was a struggle for the church to raise these funds. They had an offering to buy petrol for the generator and then the regular tithing offering. One little old woman, beautifully dressed, walked slowing to the front and put in her envelope. Quite honestly it reminded me of the scripture where the poor woman gave her only penny. It truly made me realize how much we have in our part of the world.

After this service we rushed back to Noah's Ark to attend their service. It was quite different, a little more similar to the Promontory style. This church had mostly children from the home and a few adults. It began with Praise and Worship, they had a time for testimonies where people could come and explain what they wanted to praise the Lord for. There was a great deal of singing and then the pastor spoke. He did such a good job and spoke on the topic- You are Fearfully and Wonderfully made. He reminded all of us there that we are made in God's image and we are each created as an original and that He loves us. He was engaging and well spoken. There really was a lot of joy in this service and it was sweet. When it ended we came back home and flopped for a bit. This really means we had coffee, pop and snacks:-)

The third event today was dinner in the Children's Home. ! Oh my.  This too is well run but very, very loud. Of course it would be, there were about 110 children 8 and under. They each had a spot to sit and there are about 8-10 at a table. There is at least one Auntie, the woman in charge, and it is her job to serve the children. Before they get to eat, one Auntie tries to calm 110 children down. She does this by ringing a bell and telling them to be quiet. It takes a little while, but somehow or other, they do get there. Before we could eat we prayed. There signal is, "Hands together," and the children reply, "Eyes closed."  They tried to close their little eyes, but some were peaking at us. I know this because I had my eyes open to see if they had theirs closed!  Dinner was fish and chips. Yummy! The Aunties dish it out and pass it to the children and they begin to eat. They ate everything in their bowl. In fact, I thought I had taken all the fish off of the bones, but one little girl reached over, took my bowl and REALLY cleaned the bones! Ooops. Now I know what eating all of my fish looks like. After dinner the children remained singing and there was a Bible reading and much singing.

One little girl had her 9th birthday today so they served cake for dessert. She got to cut it and people served it.While this was happening the other children were banging on their tables and yelling, "We want cake! We want cake!"  It was now really, really loud but they were having fun. After dinner, they scattered and ran to their rooms to get ready for bed.

We came home, tired but content. Well I am and I think the team is too. It truly was a beautiful Sunday and now that we spent 5 hours in church today, I figure we're good for most of the summer. Ha ha, just kidding.

We all appear to be feeling fine. We learning lots, seeing  much and beginning to understand how different lives can be and in some ways, how similar too.  We're off on our Safari tomorrow but Chuck is staying behind, so he may blog. Thanks so much for your prayers, they mean a great deal. Until the next time.
Taryn