Wednesday After

OK so clearly I've given my sermon. I was well prepared but yet very nervous. The church was full and I was standing on an elevated pulpit so I was looking down on everyone there. I told the congregation at both services that they were the largest crowds I have ever preached in front of. They did laugh at the jokes I made from time to time in the sermon so I knew they were listening. Giving a sermon on stewardship is never an easy task, you know how much people do not want to hear anything to make them feel guilty about what they do with their money.

In both services there was an awkward transition after the sermon. I wasn't supposed to do anything but the elder that was supposed to call for the tithes and offerings didn't get up to do that for what seemed to be too long. During both services there was a wedding. In the first service we dedicated the team that visits the hospitals and during the second we welcomed new members and even had a new member be baptized. With all that was happening in both services I think everyone was glad it was the American preaching because my sermons are much shorter than the typical African sermon. They told me to preach for 20-25 minutes. I think I ended up coming very close to 20 minutes, maybe 18-19 minutes.

At the end of each service I walked out the center aisle and waited to greet the congregation. Not that I totally trust what people say to the preacher as they leave but the feedback was positive. I had mentioned in both services how nervous I was and many people told me that the sermon was good and that I shouldn't be nervous. Other said they would not have know how nervous I was if I hadn't said anything. They said I spoke with authority and even if I am nervous don't mention it to people. I checked with the moderator of St. Andrew's between services if he was happy with the sermon because I was preaching to his congregation, and he said he was very happy with the sermon. Mondays I don't work so yesterday was the first day back to the church and still people were telling me they want to hear another sermon from me. So, all this to say, the sermon went well, I still get so nervous. I thought the message was good and it seemed to be well received. Praise God that it's over!

So with my Monday off I went to customs to get a package from my parents. The Kenyan postal system did not impress me much. It took me over an hour to get the package. I had my slip which said Cindy Harris and when I showed my passport it said Cynthia Harris. They didn't believe me that Cindy is the short name for Cynthia so I had to go see someone extra to plead my case. After that they did give me the package to open and they took an inventory of the contents of my package. Then they stamped my slip and said leave the package and go to the customs supervisor. She looked at my slip, signed and stamped it and said to go back to the last person. I go back, that person then starts typing all these things into a calculator and writing on the back of my slip. She said to go back to the customs supervisor. This time the customs supervisor prints out an invoice of the taxes and duty charges that I owe. She tells me to go to the bank to pay my fees. She had to give me directions to the bank as I didn't know which one she meant. So I walk to the bank. I go in the the front door and they tell me all banking transactions happen in the back on the building. So I walk around the building and look for the window that deals with taxes. I wait in line there. I pay my 1588 Kenyan shillings of taxes and they stamp the invoice and I go back to the post office. Once back I go to the customs fees window and they give me a new slip as the one I came with is covered in stamps. I take the new slip to where my package is and they say have to pay 70 shillings in postal fees. After I pay that finally give me my package. I take the package to someone else who asks me to open the package again so she can write down what is in there. After that I go see a man who tells me that I can go but why carry the box and why don't I empty the contents into my backpack. So I do, put the box in a recycling pile and go. All that took over an hour.

I am happy to have the package as my parents sent snacks, vitamins, EmergenC, Echanacia Tea, a word search book, and a scarf. They Kenyans asked why I would need tea in a country that is always serving tea so I tried to explain this tea helps keep a person from getting sick. I don't think they understand and/or really prefer their own tea. So now I will share some of my snacks with my coworkers as they are really curious what sort of food my parents would send me.

It looks as if I will have a quiet week at work. I am so glad. I can use the rest.

The Saturday Before

So tomorrow I give my first sermon in the big church here. They have 4 services here every Sunday. Two in the new hall oriented towards the youth and two in the main sanctuary. I'm preaching in the sanctuary to about 1000 people before the day is done. That is a much bigger audience than my classmates in Preaching class. I also get to preach on every one's favorite topic, Stewardship. People live hearing about giving more of their time and money to the church. I'm going to take the approach that we are supposed to be responsible with the resources God has entrusted to us.

I feel like a bit of a hypocrite however as within 4 days I had money stolen from me twice. First incident happened while I was on a mission trip with the college students in Kitui. Kitui is in Akamba area and the Akamba people are known for practicing witchcraft. They believe in curses and being possessed by demons. Now most everything happened in Kswahili so I rarely knew what was happening but I'm told we did exorcisms and many people gave their lives to Christ. While we were there I became the object of desire of a couple of the guys who went. As flattering as it is to have two guys fighting over you I can't be sure if it was my winning personality, my pale skin color, or my nationality that was the attracting factor. One did profess his deep love for me and said God told him in prayer that his job for the rest of his life is to take care of me and to be where ever I am. That is very sweet. One big hang up for me is this guy is 24 and I don't know how much we really have in common. So at the end of the week when my money was stolen out of my wallet, which was in my bag on the church bus, these two guys were the prime suspects. Everyone was searched and the money was not found. One of the trip leaders also had his cell phone stolen. So that was last Saturday.

One Wednesday I finally managed to get out to see the Compass School in Kikuyu. Evans, a classmate of mine at SFTS, worked in Kenya for a year and spent some time at this school. I have been trying to go see the school and meet the people there since I arrived in Kenya. So someone from the school came to Nairobi to ride back to Kikuyu on a matatu with me. Matatus are vans that work as public transportation around here. They manage to squeeze 14 people into them so it is a very tight fit. While riding the matatu I was pickpocketted and this time I lost my entire wallet. So they got cash, my atm card, a credit card, my driver's license, my school id, and my insurance cards. The guy who rode with my also had his cell phone stolen. So once we figured it out we went to a cyber cafe so I could cancel my cards. No purchases were made so really it was just a huge inconvenience to me. Now I've ordered new cards and my parents are going to send them to me so I can have access to money again. Thankfully I kept some American money in my room and I simply exchanged that so I can eat and such in the mean time.

So right now I don't feel like a good steward of my money. God is most definitely humbling me before this sermon. I have no written out a transcript for this sermon. I have my main points on a single sheet of paper. This sermon is supposed to be between 20 and 25 minutes. I have never preached for that long but I am a good talker so I hope that helps me take up the time. I will also have to speak slower than normal because of the language differences. Yes we all speak English but my accent is different and I want to be sure I am understood. Mostly I am just praying that God takes over and the words are all His anyways. I do not feel like I can say anything on stewardship based on my week so God will have to do the talking.

So that's about it for now. I'll write next about how the sermon went.

Wednesday Week Three

I'm still enjoying a quiet week at the church. Quiet is always relative. They do keep me rather busy around here. Dr. Mungiriria gave me two books to read (Concepts of God in Africa by John Mbiti and African Religions and Philosophy by the same author) and wanted me to finish one by this Thursday. I managed to finish Concepts of God in Africa but it was a very difficult read. The concepts are generally new to me and the tribes are almost all completely new to me. The few tribes I knew I had not spent much time thinking about their religion. I read every word in the book but I can't say I've retained every word in the book. I will definitely have to read t again if I want to speak with any authority on religion in Africa. I did get a better picture of traditional religions here and how God related to their daily lives. I hope this second book will help me understand more.

Tuesdays are turning into meeting days. There is staff worship in the morning from 8:15-9:30. Then the Youth Office Weekly Boardroom Meeting from 10:00 until about 2:00. After that I end up with one of the monthly Session Meetings in the Evenings. Yesterday was the Kirk Session. Other weeks there is Pastoral Session, Board Meeting of the Church, and the Finance Meeting.

I've already been to a 3 hour meeting this morning about the Swift Service for the high school kids. I missed a rehearsal (because no one told me about it) for the staff who are supposed to sing at the 8:15 Service this weekend. There is a bible study at 3 for kids out of high school but waiting to know if their scores are high enough to get into college.

Thankfully tonight I am going to have a little fun. Nkatha is coming by after 5 and we'll walk to town for coffee or something. We haven't seen each other in nearly a month and a look forward to catching up with her. I have also already asked where I should go for an American meal on Friday. I maybe in Kenya but I still want to celebrate the 4th of July. I asked but was said I would not be able to set off fireworks. I could get some but the noise would make the police think I was shooting off a gun or a bomb or something. I would rather not have an encounter with the police while I am in Kenya (or even in the US for that matter).

So there's not too much to report. But a small snapshot of my life here, I'm in meetings, reading emails, or reading about African Theology during the day, I get a little fun from time to time at night.

I hope you all are well. I am feeling much better. I have a bit of a husky voice, which apparently has been a bit appealing to some, but much better. I miss you you and think of you often.