Sunday, May 31: Gambogi and the Matatu

Sunday morning we got up early to go to Pastor Timothy's church in Gambogi. Gambogi is about an hour south of Kakamega. Timothy arrived at 8:15 with a matatu. He had told the driver he had a group to pick up at Mission to the Fatherless, so they brought the van right into the compound. He had already negotiated the price at 120 shillings per seat. We tied the wheelchair on the roof, piled the guitars and dulcimer in the back seat, and got in. Then the conductor told Timothy he wanted 150 shillings per seat. When he saw we were mazungas, he thought he could charge more. Timothy held firm, and we started off. Negotiations continued for part of the drive.

We arrived at the Gambogi Fellowship Centre at 9:30. There was a childrens church going on. Lisa and Sarah had brought along a lesson and activity, and the teacher allowed them to do that with the children.

Inside, the musicians were trying to get the amplifier and keyboard to work. The electricty was out, and they were using a small petrol powwered generator. It successfully lit a light bulb, but when they added in the amplifier, everything died out. They fiddled for a while and managed to get some amplification with a lot of static, and then it went dead again. The service started without amplification. Christine was leading the song service, and asked me to play guitar. Fortunately, she started singing in the key of C; unfortunately all of the songs were completely new to me; fortunately they were very simple and repetitive, so I could pick out the chords pretty easily.

After singing and prayer, David, Kayla, Gail and I played and sang a few songs, then I preached on Psalm 34.

There is a saying among the farmers where Gail grew up - the corn is doing great if it is "knee high by the fourth of July. Here is a picture of the corn next to the church on the last day of May. They usually have three corn crops a year.

When the service was over, we went to Pastor Timothy's house for tea and mendazies. Timothy was trying to call the matatu driver that we had used in the morning. He had worked out an agreement that they would stop on their return trip from Kisumu. But I think they decided to ignore the calls as they did not get their jacked up price. Timothy eventually got another matatu. We ran out to jumpo in. The side door was open, and it was already full of people. Well, not quite. There were 5 seats left (one is used by the conductor). We all squeezed in! Only one guitar did not fit. They shoved it in the front seat between the legs of another passenger. The body of the guitar was in front of his face.

About a kilometer further, we picked up another passenger. There were 24 people, two guitars, a hammere dulcimer and wooden sstand, and a chicken in that matatu. They could not cklose the side door, so the conductor put his arm around the old woman who was leaning into the van with her head over the seat and held onto the door. All this while careening along at 80 kph on bumpy roads, swerving left and right to avoid potholes. This is a ride I will never fotget. Keep in mind this is a Toyota van designed for 14 passengers (that means there are 4 rows of 3 seats each, and room for two more passengers in the front with the driver.

We got back to MTTF in less than an hour (this was a fast driver), thanked Timothy, gave him money to pay our bill (120 shillings each) and he returned home on the now empty matatu (I am sure they picked up mor passengers on the way out of town).

About an hour later, Bishop Peter James Onguko picked up Gail, Evey, Wendy, and I to go to his house for dinner. Peter James lives on the outskirts of Kakamega. It was a bumpy ride, but his home is in a lovely spot. His wife, Susan, cooked a wonderful dinner and the CHai she made later was really good. She adds secret spices: marsala and cinnamon. Oops! the secret is out. Oh... we were the first guests at Peter James' house to enjoy their new electric lights. They just got electricity this month. Peter James drove us back home around 8:30. This was the first time I had been out much at night in Kakamega. All along the road were little groups of people standing or sitting around small kerosene lamps. We drove through the market area which is usually crowded with people. There was no one there. All the little wooden booths were completely empty. Quite a contrast from the daylight hours.

Back at MTTF, we met two of the members of the MTTF board in Kakamega, Dr. Kennedy and David, the schoolmaster. Evey set up a time to visit Dr Kennedy's clinic on Monday. We laso learned that the kids have mastered the Hava Nagila dance... after practicing it all morning on their own.

Rain!!! Great. The water tanks were all empty, so this is a real blessing. Soon we can flush again. Night night.