Church in Kenya

We have been blessed to attend the same church (Tigoni Baptist) for the past two Sundays. As you can imagine, church here can be very exciting. Our first time to the church, as soon as KG walked through the doors, she got so excited and began clapping her hands. I definitely think she will fit in. She also has the "Amen" down (sometimes she'll yell it out at less appropriate times, like in the middle of a prayer). The service goes from about 10am to 12:30pm (which is not too long for an african church service). We were told in school that culturally they are not "task" oriented like we are in the West, but more "Event" oriented. In other words, there's no rush to get through things or trying to catch up if things take to long. It is customary for all first time visitors to stand up (one at a time) and introduce themselves (and say a few words).... as we had been learning our introduction at school in Kiswahili, we were preparing for our first "test" to see how well we would do in introducing ourselves. We were both very nervous, but God helped us say everything (and then some) to properly introduce ourselves and where we are from. Everyone clapped and you could tell they were blessed that we were speaking to them in Kiswahili. After service we were encouraged by some of the church members that we spoke very well and to keep it up. They were sooo encouraging. Today we didn't have to introduce ourselves as it was our second time, so we were less nervous. It was fun to hear more words this week than we did our first week, as we have picked up several more vocabulary words at school throughout this past week. Even though we are only able to pick up 5-10% of what is being said during the songs and message, we still leave blessed to know that we were worshiping our Lord together with our African brothers and sisters. Today KG was being entertained by a couple birds that were flying around in the church building (I was wondering if they would dive bomb us for our cheerios). Last week we came to church with our housemates (who have a car) and so our travels to and from church were much easier... today they had to go into Nairobi for church and so they dropped us off on their way, and now we are going to be walking back (it's normally about a 35 min brisk walk... we'll see how long it takes with a stroller and a very tired girl). We are praising Jesus for all that we are getting to learn and take in here. Sometimes I'll be laying in bed and all the sudden it will dawn on me that I'm not in Cayucos, but in Limuru... I'll chuckle to myself and thank God for taking us on this amazing adventure. Please be praying for us this week as we look at finalizing our car purchase (if everything goes smoothly), and also pray for our paper work for the student visas to come through so that they can clear our crate from Customs in Mombasa (the coastal town where all imports via boat come). We praise the Lord for His faithfulness and helping us into this new season of life here! Bwana Asafiwe! - Matt for the P3