Hallelujah Church

We had a really powerful church service this morning which gave everybody a good lift at the end of the week. It's very easy to get so caught up in the practical parts of the work out here and to stop paying attention to the inspiration that brought us out here in the first place. One of the great things about being in Kenya is that most people around here will say that they are Christians and a great number of them really mean it. This means that there is a culture that really doesn't think the Bible a book of nonsense verses and is ready to devote time to worship. That said there are still a large number of traditional beliefs and practices which are completely opposed to the teaching of the Bible. Many people do not find it difficult to hold both sets of beliefs at the same time. Witchcraft sounds very medieval put is is a very real evil around here.

Back to church. Our congregation has a good number of men in it, many children and a lot of ladies. We are slightly unusual as we have our church service on Sunday (The Seventh Day Adventist Church which is most common in our area meets on a Saturday). In churches in the west a great deal of time and effort goes into making sure there is a good worship band, sound system and presentation equipment. This creates a great atmosphere and is very obviously culturally relevant. Our church, for obvious reasons, does not have any of these facilities. The church has got a dirt floor (admittedly well packed down now) and we bring benches to sit on from our classrooms. The style of singing is very traditional. We have a number of songs that get sung most weeks and the style is very repetitive. We have a 'praise and worship team' who lead the singing and the congregation joins in with a 'call and response' style very often. We sing the same line of the chorus many times. You'd think it would be deadly dull but it is very moving. When the whole church gets going it's an amazing sound to hear and be part of.

Our pastor Dorine was preaching today and was on great form. She is a very devoted lady and a very passionate speaker. She spoke today on Jesus being the light of the world and called on us all to walk in that light all the time – no more slipping in and out of the shadows. By the end of her address nearly all of us were on our knees in prayer, compelled by the simple truth in her message. For me Dorine's words were very poignant. It is marvelous being ministered to in a church made out corrugated iron and feeling the dirt on your hands and knees. It doesn't come very much more real.

I realise that the Christian faith does not sit well with everybody. That Christianity and the Bible are, for many, a cause of strife and division. I hope that we can agree to differ without falling out with one another. I really wish you could all have been in church with us this morning though. It was awesome.