Kenyan Sunday.............

I awoke this morning to a cacophony of noise...........the rooster crowing, a small dog 'yapping', the morning call to prayer from the local mosque, the call of the birds for the sun to wake up..................all against the backdrop of the darkness of the night sky.

Even though it was early (even for my standards) it was a nice way to wake up. A sense of anticipation as I laid there and thought about how the day might unfold. We left the Mennonite Guest House in 2 vehicles with Ron and Martha driving. We were headed to the Eastleigh Mennonite Church. Interestingly, the Kenyan Mennonite Church owns this building and rents it out to other groups in the area to help them pay their expenses.

When we arrived we were warmly greeted and seated at the front of the church. Four young women were already singing while Donald, the choir director was accompanying them on the keyboard and it was delightful to be brought into worship with their music.
Pastor Simon Onyango was the worship leader and after we had a few songs as a congregation and a time of prayer all the visitors were welcomed and introduced. The choir also sang 2 songs and they had special videographers there today to tape the choir and the service for a dvd that they are making. This church is blessed to have 2 bishops and 3 pastors worshipping with them and Rebecca A. Osiro was the pastor today to deliver the message. The theme for this month is Building of the Church of Christ and today the focus was Singing Builds the Church. Psalm 51 and I Chronicles 16:23 - 29 was read. Pastor Rebecca's style of preaching is warm and delightful. She is very easy to listen to and to follow. She talked about the importance of music in our lives and lead us through a number of examples of songs in the Scripture - David, Jacob, etc...... Scripture has songs  of welcoming and sending, lament and praise, songs of warning, songs to soothe the soul, songs of prophecy that communicate the heart of God, songs of thanksgiving...........

Pastor Rebecca and me at MGH in Nairobi - May  25, 2011

Pastor Rebecca said the problem for us is that we have expectations.......we don't want God to take us through difficult situations, we want Him to make things easy, but God goes with us through everything and we need to be thankful for everything........that we woke up today is a miracle! We don't realize all that God has done for us.......She asked us why do we sing? Does our singing impact us? We must sing for the Lord.......our heart intent is important. We must cleanse ourselves and sing in holiness. Singing in the Presence of the Lord is the only way we can be salt and light to the world.
Her challenge to us........"Join us, sing with us, support us in our singing......" We, as the church, the Body of Christ, must try to be like Christ - everyday, not just on Sundays. I was moved by Pastor Rebecca's use of Scripture throughout her message and I took copious notes so that I can go back and study the Scriptural background to what she said. I loved her delivery and the way she connected with the congregation. She touched me and gave me food for thought................its okay to lament at times........its okay to rejoice.......its okay to need to be soothed.........its okay to be thankful..........its okay..........sing a new song unto the Lord - that is the important part - singing to and for the Lord.
After Pastor Simon Onyango reminded us that we have so much to sing about, then he lead the congregation in a Kiswahili version of the song............'Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, How I've proved Him or and or....Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus, Oh for grace to trust Him more! I loved that even though I tried to sing the Kiswahili words  I knew the song and I could sing in my heart.
The service nourished my soul........the music touched me and the spoken words encouraged me. The warmth of the welcome and the fellowship afterwards was touching. I felt welcomed and at home! At home because even though I am thousands of miles away from my home I was with people who are indeed my brothers and sisters. I was prayed for and blessed - the time with the Eastleigh Mennonite Church was rich. I still hear their songs and feel the rhythm of their music..............

We arrived back at the Guest House in time for lunch and then spent part of the afternoon going over all of our visits. This was a very helpful overview and another way to help process all that we have witnessed.

Since we are leaving tomorrow we all had to try to get some laundry done today and just when we were ready to get at it the power went out.......apparently that is typical for weekends in Nairobi. It also meant that I couldn't get online so I was technology challenged - what a good lesson for a Sunday afternoon. So I took time to read, relax and enjoy the beauty of this wonderful oasis!!

I have been reading a book called The Prayer of Jesus, can't remember the author's name right now but it is a very good book.....I will include the author and a little more about it in another blog, but the quote that I took with me today is........
"The point of prayer is not to get what you want, but to receive what you need."

Today, has been a rich day - good worship, fellowship and connecting!
I am grateful........