It is Sunday! So it is our first church experience. Well, other than the past two days which were both spent in worship. I should say it is our first Sunday service and it is quite the celebration. Today we are spending the day at another Masaai village on the other side of a very Muslim village. Luka and Moreto are coming with us. Oh, for those of you who haven't been here Luka is an evangelist and builder. He and Hafermann aare very close. Moreto is a student here. He has a fiance in the first village we visited (I think it is spelled Twatwatwa-i never saw it written out), everyone says she is very tall. They are so wonderful at helping us through these visits. We know nothing of the language and very little of the culture. Pastor Hafermann is always busy so having Luka and Moreto along is such a blessing.
The blessing is very evident when Luka takes over driving from Pr. Hafermann. He is a little gentler with our sore bodies after hours in the car. Driving to these places has not been easy so it is no wonder the evangelists did not make it out here until recently. This again shows the evangelists’ devotion as they go through very much in order to spread the good news. There is no cheap grace here. This and many other good works radiate off the believers like light from fire.
The day began again with “hurry up and wait.” There were many people coming to celebrate the return of Pr. Hafermann among other things and we of course had to wait for all to arrive. As visitors, we were instantly treated very well and greeted by all of the people, many of whom were very important. There was the bishop’s wife, a professor, an architect and the head of the traffic police. These were all from one of the three choirs. One was very well to do from Morogoro, the second was from Chalinze and also had many business people and the third was the local Masaai choir. Pr. Hafermann was somewhat worried about the multitudes of people. They can be overwhelming and really too much for the hospitality of the poor host community. Fortunately, they proved to be very helpful and raised a lot of money for the community.
When the service finally started we all stood at the cornerstone and waited for the pastors to enter. The service followed he same Lutheran liturgy as any Lutheran service. The only difference is that it
lasted for three hours and we all wanted to be here. Many people were eager to hear the good news and even non Christians gathered around. 287 people were in attendance with only 88 communing Christians. This is the epitome of the seeker church. It is amazing. The people love religion and are thirsty for grace.
What I really enjoyed seeing was the attitude of the church toward children. The kids are allowed to wander and walk around as they please. A couple spent most of the service standing next to the speaking Pastor. Steve pointed out that they probably hear more of the message when they are allowed freedom. Stifling them in uncomfortable seating does not lend itself to strong listening skills.
The offering was also interesting. Pr. Hafermann told us that he often has to settle the offering down as they sometimes do it multiple times and push very hard. This is not building up for seekers at the service. He did have to settle the gatherer down a little so that the many non-Christians would not get the wrong impression. But the money was going to a new building for the village.
Afterward, to raise more money there was an auction. Most of the items were from villagers. Luka ran over when he saw it begin so he could guide us through it. I was a little too nervous to buy this tim but I hope to purchase some gifts at auction later on.
Since we weren’t buying we were allowed to play with the kids. Steve brought some bubbles which they really enjoyed. They also love having their pictures taken. The Evangelist’s son was especially excited to play with us. He developed this game called punch Tim’s hand. It was way fun. We wrestled around a little. He is rather strong for a five year old. I really enjoy being around the kids as they, like the adults, treat us very well. We are treated like guests always. This is especially true of the kids as they could care less if we spoke to them. I wish adult relationships could be formed by blowing bubbles at each other and punching the hand of another grown man. The world would be much easier. Bubbles and punching are like international language. Way better than Esperanto.
1 comment:
mchungaji is a decent driver, but i remember we all were a little grateful every time they switched and luka took the the wheel. i can't wait til you guys start purchasing livestock during auctions. oh and watch out, mchungaji will escalate the price up whenever you get into the betting.
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