Church Life in Kamulu

It was Sunday morning, April 26. As Darlene and I walked to the morning Bible class, it started to rain.  Brian Ochieng, a responsible 16-year-old and one of our students, had already begun setting up the chairs outside for church, which meets in the patio of the Learning Center.  As we started class and our study of Ephesians 5:1-7, it began to rain hard.  Since they could hardly hear a discussion, I broke the 31 people up into small groups and gave them a topic to discuss.  

Brian hurriedly began to get the song books and chairs inside, and I went out to help him, along with another student who arrived.  We set up to have the church meet in the largest inside space we have available.  After class it continued to rain a little, and people dribbled in to worship.  After a few minutes of singing, there were so many people they couldn't fit in the room, so we decided to move outside, since the rain was stopping.  

The boys wanted to sweep all the water away, so the movement of chairs and people was a dance for a while.  Finally we all settled down; there were 104 present in the assembly. The communion leader gave us a challenge: "will you stand by the road and claim Jesus?  Or will you be afraid in this time of opposition to faith by many?"  The one who led the collections of money for the regular "sadaka" (offering) and for the building fund told a story about 3 men who were drinking in a bar, were given free rounds by someone they didn't know who left his briefcase, and whose motivations and greed led to great trouble for all 3.  Interesting!  

After worship, Robin told me his Sunday school class was "full of kids."  His room holds about 45 kids squeezed together on our small chairs.  It was fellowship Sunday, so everyone stayed around for a cup of tea and conversation.