Church in Kenya

We have finally managed to get some sort of internet connection at SABACH. While a lot has happened,  I know some of you would like to know about my first church experience, so I will post about that first and send updates on other stuff later.

Church in Kenya was everything I expected, plus so much more. We visited New Creation in Nakuru with Irene on Sunday. The church was situated in a fairly rural area, just outside Nakuru and the service started at 9.30am. Although the singing went for about 1.5 hours, the music was great! There was a band and the song leader was also the pianist. Most of the time the projector was not working so it helped knowing some of the songs. We also sang some Swahili songs: Hakuna munga kame wewe! (There is no one like Jesus).

There was roughly 300 people in the service and the sound of the singing was tremendous. As expected everyone was really in to the singing and dancing. Yes, dancing! The idea of dancing at church seems very foreign, but you just can't help but move and shake a little. Of course, it seemed awkward at first especially seeing how great Kenyans can move, but there was nothing that was going to stop these people from worshipping. They did not fail to miss a beat even when the power went out.

Half way through the singing, the preacher took out a snake-like trumpet and started blowing on it. It was really random, but again another reminder that I was in Kenya! So the singing went on for a little longer that I was used to, but all in all a wonderful experience.

The singing was followed by a sermon and some announcements, during which we were asked to stand up and introduce ourselves. After this, there was another sermon by a guest speaker. By the time we finished up it was 1.00pm. Yes, a 3.5 hour church service!