afterwards, as we were trying to leave, we were besieged by students wanting addresses and photos - it was endless. some were after our details in the hope we would send them money. one guy even gave me his bank account details!
when we finally got away, we all went back to the women's flat to have tea and cake that their next-door neighbour had baked. it was good just to sit around and laugh and talk with one another and eat yummy cake.
this morning we left st andrew's and headed out to our various churches to preach. paul and i went to st john's with rev simon. we got there just after 9am and joined the large sunday school class of about 60 children, to say hello and tell them something about ourselves. then we went into the service for a local boarding school where paul was asked to preach a short, impromptu sermon.
and then the main service started at about 1015hrs. this was the one i was due to preach at. the service was held in the kikuyu language as most people who come are of the dominant kikuyu tribe in the area. consequently, paul and i could not understand or join in much. but we did get the gist of what was going on for the most part. we did notice that there were some significant departures from the traditional english form of the anglican liturgy.
there was a thanksgiving offering that was given with much singing and dancing. the offering consisted of things like eggs, milk, sugar cane, chickens, fruit, and a cow. these were auctioned later in the service. the cow went for 6000ksh. at one point, there was a raffle being held, that would be drawn later that afternoon at a jumble sale.
the mothers' union were presentd with new robes that a parishioner had made for them. so they went outside, put them on, and processed back into the church amodst much singing and dancing.
the choir got up and led a bunch of songs. then the offering was taken. they have a system whereby everybody comes to the front and places their offering in a large plate as they sing joyfully. they also have a large box beside the plate for the tithe - the 10% offering from their income.
as this was going on, i remarked to rev simon that our way is to pass the plate around the pews. he said they used to do that but he changed it to the current system and their giving went up substantially. i think the way they do it is far more biblical, and is obviously more effective.
then i finally got up to preach at about 1230! rev simon accompanied me to the pulpit to act as my interpreter. i preached from john 5 - the healing of the man at the pool - and spoke about the power and grace of jesus that changes lives. essentially, i gave my testimony to them. it seemed to go down really well, and as justus was sitting in the congregation, i asked him later whether rev simon had interpreted me faithfully, and he said that he had.
i'd also made a throw-away comment about how i supposed some of the 400 odd people there had come because they were curious about the mzungu. justus said that was spot on, as many were there to hear for themselves what we were like after reading about us in the media. justus said that we had done really well, because by the end of the service people were very happy. we were happy too!
so the service finished about 1330hrs, and they didn't do communion because they knew we had to get away to get back to nairobi. after the service we had a quick lunch in the vestry before heading off to pick up the others.
we stopped into thika again on the way back, so that some could buy some more souvenirs. after dinner, we had a meeting for briefing about tomorrow, debriefing what the week was like, and tidying up a few bits and pieces. and now its time for bed. a very big day tomorrow with our overnight flight back to heathrow.
