Today we worshiped at Sukari again and it was my first time attending the Swahili service. In case you are wondering..... I didn’t understand a single word said except the Children’s Message that I did in English. For the second half of the Swahili service, I got to sit with the media team in the balcony so they could show me how the system works.
This afternoon following the two church services, we did more home visits. I've talked a lot about them before, but I've never really explained what all they entail so keep reading for more details.
First, we enter the house singing. Typically these are choruses in Swahili and Kikuyu. This alerts everyone in the home of our presence and lets them know to gather in the living room. Once everyone is gathered together, the Pastor calls on a deacon or elder to open with a word of prayer followed by the Lord’s Prayer in whatever language the family speaks in the home. After the prayer, the family welcomes the guests. This is a very important element do this culture. All important people are welcomed and acknowledged at any sort of church event. Each member of the family and all new visitors (aka usually just me) are introduced. Then, Pastor George or I will preach a lesson: Matthew 11:28-30. We use the same passage every time and since there are over 700 members of this Parish, it’s safe to say we’ve got the scripture and the lesson completely memorized from doing it so many times. After the lesson, each member of the Home shared prayer concerns and whichever person didn’t teach the lesson will pray for the family. Ideally we are in and out in 15 minutes. However, sometimes they take longer - especially if they offer tea and snacks (as is customary here). You are absolutely never allowed to turn down food from the hosts unless you are fasting that day (which is quite common).
While we walk to the next house the elder is in charge of notifying the district that we are doing visits and creating a walking route for the evenings. Districts tend to have around 20 families. Typically it takes two nights of visiting to get to every house. In a typical afternoon/evening of visitation, we do anywhere from 5-14 homes. These visits (as you’ve probably already picked up on in earlier posts) are life giving. It’s the hands-on, relational side of Pastoral care that I love! I always enjoy getting to know elders, deacons, and members of the congregation. I also usually get the opportunity to teach or pray in every visit. Even after a rough day, these visits never fail to remind me of exactly what I’m doing here.
~ Nell in Nairobi
Also, Happy Father’s Day to my sweet grandfathers, Grandaddy and Poppop!
