Sunday morning dawned upon Eldoret, finding us well rested
and more prepared to take on the day that was before us.
Eating a bit of leftover food from the night
before and drinking perhaps a gallon of tea each, we set out for the
church.
Service began at 9:30, when we
arrived, and we were met with more singing and rejoicing.
Jackson
had been called upon to lead the Sunday School portion and he did so, talking
about forsaking fear and its effects.
After he finished I suppose the regular service, as it was called,
began.
More singing came in which one of
the ladies leading the procession began shaking violently.
I am not certain what she was accomplishing
but everyone seemed okay with it so I went along with things.
After a bit of singing the young children came in, singing
songs that were distinctly Western.
Their first selection was Soon and Very Soon We Are Going to See The
King.
I wondered if that was one they
practiced because an English speaking fellow was coming to the church.
Whatever the case, it was delightful to hear
them all join in unison to sing a song that I have never before heard in
Africa.
Following
them was more singing and more shaking and then the call for me to come and
address the crowd.
Far more people had gathered than from the previous day as
the number of fifteen had been left in the distance.
With a packed room I began preaching on the
imminent return of Jesus Christ and the need for urgency to complete His work
among the church.
I gave all I could,
making sure my last time speaking with them was up to par.
Jackson
told me we would have the Sunday morning service and that was all.
So I finished, ready for a bit of a break and
maybe some time to see a bit more of Eldoret that I may know where I was.
The pastor stood and through a translator I understood lunch
was coming and then we would reconvene for the last session.
He said they would all be in anticipation
until then to hear what I would close our time together with.
Woops.
I missed that somehow in the translation earlier or, in true African
fashion, it just wasn’t mentioned.
So we
went to a lunch of more slaughtered chicken and I was thinking about what the
Lord would have us talk about.
In my
mind a few things were bouncing around and I was getting more set to give it
one more go.
When we came back after lunch the singing cranked back up
and the shaking lady went into her antics once again.
The people were getting more and more wound
up and after about a half an hour I heard a great commotion behind me.
Out of my periphery I saw this gal waving
violently about and some ladies trying to get a hold of her.
My immediate thought was that she was demon
possessed, which would certainly change the course of the service as we would
then need some sort of deliverance message.
However, once again no one seemed to be worried so it appeared that her
thrashing and tearing off through the chairs was also a scene of normalcy.
Rain had started its pitter patter outside and as we were
winding down with worship it began gaining in strength.
I was introduced once again, this time the PA
system fighting with the loud clamor of the rain.
By the time I stepped up front, the rain had
turned into a roar upon the metal roof and it was all the one speaker could do
to magnify my voice and the translators above its din.
Nevertheless, I lit into preaching on the
topic of spiritual armor and warfare in the kingdom.
No more than twenty minutes into the progression of speaking
the power went out which means I lost both the light and the PA system.
The black clouds did their job blocking out
enough light that I couldn’t read the Bible in that dark hall and now it was me
fighting with the rain’s yell.
Fortunately the Lord birthed in me a rather loud mouth, which I was
often chided over in my formative years.
Moreover, He brought to my mind the remembrance of His Word so we were
able to continue without skipping a beat.
By 6:00 we finished our time there, having educated and exhorted the
people as much as possible.
The rain
eventually surrendered and the power even came back on as we were leaving the
church.
The members were delightful and
very kind in their regards and blessings.
Upon finishing we went back to
Paris’ house for, you guessed it, more chai
and some fellowship.
Some opportunistic
pastors cornered us in the house seeking money and several weeks of our time to
spend in the area going to their churches.
Unfortunately we had neither to give them and they left with seemingly
frustrated looks on their faces.
The
entire time they were there, those three ducks that lived in the house were
fighting under the couch.
Occasionally
one would bite me in the ankle whereby I would return his gesture with a kick
in the head.
I am still not sure if they
were pets or being fattened up for a future meal.
Either way they were not going to make it
long if they continued their behavior.
The 9:00 hour rolled around and we boarded our bus, having
one more cup of chai and bidding our new friends farewell.
We had the
same
bus driver as we had on the way to Eldoret, who did not know the way nor how to
avoid large potholes.
However, by great
fortune we had no drunk people harassing the passengers and we made it back in
only seven hours.
So, in less than 50
hours we had gone to Eldoret, held a revival and made it back to
Nairobi in one
piece.
Heading back to our house at 4:30
in the morning a verse from 1 Peter 4:11 was coursing through my mind, “If
anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all
things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”
I was overjoyed to be reminded we are doing
the work of the Lord and with His energy, so I only play a small part in that
equation.
This was a good feeling to
know that He did His work and I got to go along for the very quick but
fulfilling ride!
