Day 4

Wow. I cannot even begin to describe how awesome that church service was. It is so cool to worship with these people in different languages and in different ways but all under the same God. Their passion for church and the Lord were absolutely indescribable. The power of the prayers and the preaching were so great. I did not know what they were saying, but oh how the presence of God was apparent. He was there in every aspect of the churst. We started with prayer and speaking which turned to powerful worship. The songs were very lengthy and the people sang with such pride, truly and genuinely worshiping the Father. After the pastor had spoken, Eric was given the chance to preach. He spoke about Joseph and how he was sold into slavery by his brothers. They then asked if any of us wanted to share anything. I volunteered to speak and told them of how my life before I met Christ was broken and I was alone, but God gave me life. I read Isaiah 41:10. It was so very encouraging to see the people respond to me with claps and smiles. All of the others in my group spoke a little and we closed our talks with singing the Asante Sana Yesu (Thank you, Thank you Jesus) song and It is well with my soul. Two more of the villagers spoke and we prayed, sang more songs and took the offering. As we closed, one of the women of the church rose to share with us how we and 410 bridge had helped change her life. One thing i remember most was her telling us that she was so blessed by us and she felt we deserved the best water she had. They walk miles to retrieve water for their families and some days, they have to go without water, but she wanted to give us the best of what she had. That was so humbling to hear her say. She also wished to bring us ornaments and gifts for the next time we visited. They are poor, they do not have much at all, yet she wanted to bless us with everything that she could. I was speechless.

We ended church with greeting all of the Kenyans and taking group photos. Many of the children were scared to death of the white people, while other children loved playing with us. I am still so amazed by how much God was present in that room. The spirit of God surrounds us EVERYWHERE. That was very apparent today. At one point the pastor was praying and he continued to get louder and lower to the ground, until he was on his knees shouting before the Lord. Just imagine if churches in America had that passion. What would happen if we brought that fire to America?

We ate lunch in a random field far away from the people and then we headed to the village of TuTu to be apart of the church crusade. The children are so loving. Upon arrival i had many hands touching and seeking after me. There were 5 preachers there to talk to the village people, plus all of the people on our team. They shared the gospel and the worship team led in song and dance. The children are so respectful during all of this. They were so quiet, patient and modest, such a difference from American kids. One little girl, Hannah held on to me the entire time we were there. She was very shy, but made it known she was not letting go of me for anything. I made sure to tell as many children that i could that God loved them (Mungu anakupenda) and also, that I loved them. It was so cool to talk to them in my broken swahili. I did a very poor job, but i managed to hold conversations.

Earlier today, I kept feeling bad because I wasn't sad. I always that coming to Kenya would be emotional and make me feel very sad and depressed, but being here has brought me such joy. I feel bad that these people lack education and health care, but as far as im concerned, they are better off than us when it comes to joy and happiness.