So, this Sunday was the first "normal" one since we've been here. Normal referring to the fact that we were able to attend Ruthie's home church - Bahati Christian Center. It was the first real African service I had been to, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Because of the holiday season, they only had one service instead of the normal two (usually the first one is primarily in English, the second in Swahili). However, because there was only one service, it was a mixture of both. We did the entire worship set in Swahili, so I didn't have a clue what we were singing - just had the opportunity to witness how other cultures praise Jesus. It was fascinating to think that this was a taste of heaven. Jesus can be glorified in any language and culture, is being praised, and will be worshiped by every people in the world at the end of time!
Then the message was preached in English and translated into Swahili. It seems to be more easily done that way. But with both languages being preached the service was quite long. I think it was 2-2.5 hours long. But here in Africa, nobody minds long anything - services, visits, jobs, etc.
Another unique aspect of the service was that the special music was a rap done in Swahili. It was so amusing. There were two men up there just busting out a Kenyan rap with actions. The general superintendent of the Kenyan A/G (K.A.G.) was up on the platform just dancing away with the rest of the congregation. We also ended the entire service with another rap. They have a form of language here called Sweng (which is a mixture of Swahili and English), and they were using this in the songs. We also played a game as a congregation called, "Bible, Bible, Bible." We had to jump up and down while saying that phrase. Then the leader would yell out names, and if they were books of the Bible we jumped; if not, we didn't jump. It was quite fun - kind of like children's church all over again only with adults :)
In addition to the services being wonderfully African, I was able to experience the welcoming hospitality of the Kenyan Christians. They were such a family. Everyone here in this country (and probably the continent) is relational so you never feel alone here. Everything revolved around your family and your relation to others. I was greeted by more people than I can count. Oh, and their greeting is unique too. They shake right hands and then pull you in to one side of their face (more like over one shoulder), then back away and pull you to the other side. Definitely something I could get used to!
After the church service, we headed over to one of the best Ethiopian restaurants ever (according to the Lowenbergs who actually lived in Ethiopia). We met up with another family, and ended up at a table outside in a cute little nook of the garden. There were also huts we could have eaten in, but we wanted a breeze. The food was amazing - I'm not even sure I could tell you what we ate, but we had injera (a sour, spongy type of bread), shiro (chick peas), doro (chicken), tibs (meat), and vegetables. It was delicious! We ate with our hands and by the end we were extremely messy but happy.
The rest of the afternoon was spent resting before Ruthie and I headed over to her high school (Rosslyn) for an alumni and senior class reunion. I was a little hesitant that I might feel out of place because all the students had history with each other, but I didn't need to give it a second thought. Everyone was so welcoming and easy-going. I'm pretty sure as international students that you have to learn to be friends with people quickly or else you won't have any friends at all. They have the same thing in common with everyone else: they understand moving into a town and then moving on.
We spent the evening chatting with other students, watching the football (soccer) game, hanging around the pool, listening to belated Christmas music, and having dinner. It was wonderful to finally meet some of Ruthie's friends that she talks about. They were all people worth meeting :)
After all of the amazing things we did, the evening ended with yet another great - watching White Christmas. We had a great day filled with wonderful memories.
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