Sunday, Oyugis Church

Douglas, director of Mission to the Fatherless, Oyugis, is pastor of a church that grew out of the orphanage ministry. It is located in the bush, about 6 km from the orphanage. The roads were surprisingly good. Some bumps, but nothing like the "paved" road to Lake Victoria. We went in two Toyota vans. I was unable to count how many in all, but there are over twenty kids at this orphanage, and 9 of us.

The church is a rectangular brick structure. The walls are 2 ft high; the floor is red dirt. Poles reach the rest of the way to support the corrugated metal roof. Plastic patio chairs were available for the guests, plain wooden benches filled the back part of the church. It was a beautiful place to worship. You might say that the "view from the pew" was amazing (except there were no real pews). There were goats grazing past the front of the church (no stained glass to get in the way), and a cow was mooing somewhere behind. Chickens roamed about freely. About 60 people were in attendance; our vans were the only vehicles.

After some teaching and singing, the group from Kakamega (and America) were asked to present their numbers. David, Kayla, and I played "We Delight in Your Shabbat." People sang along on the chorus. Then the rest of our group joined us and we sang "How Deep the Father's Love For Us," and "Open the Eyes of My Heart." On the last Holy, Holy, ... Holy, I want to see You, we sang in Swahili: mtaka tifu, nataka kuona. It was great fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Herb preached. He also gave some money to the widows in the church after the service ended.

After the service, people wanted to play David's dulcimer. Then we were invited to have lunch at Monica's home nearby. They had chicken, rice, greens, and the biggest mountain of ugali I have ever seen. Mangos from the trees around the church were available for dessert.

On the way home, one of the widows from the church flagged down our van. She gave us a huge basket of avocados, about 40 of them. Large ripe ones, not like the ones we get at Acme. In Kenya, the poorest people are often the most generous. The rest of the trip was filled with singing children. They had latched onto the We Delight in Your Shabbat chorus, but they all really liked the last word, Shabbat, so it was pretty much shouted.

Almost everyone took a nap when we got back. Some of our group went to town. I stayed behind and played guitar and sang in front of the home. It attracted quite a crowd of children. The kids at the school next door were peering through the barbed wire fence as well. I sang for about 2 hours, stopping to talk about what some of the songs meant, or teach a few Hebrew words.

After supper, Sarah and Lisa taught the children some songs, and they shared some of their traditional Luo songs and dances. They also had arm wrestling matches.

Tomorrow we return to Kakamega. On the way, we hope to claim the wheelchair that was lost baggage on Evey's flight. It was sent to Mission to the Fatherless by courier service, and should be at an office that Charles knows in Kakamega.