On Sunday a group of us from the Tenwek Eye Unit were invited to attend one of the eye worker's church for a fundraising event. Apparently, when Kenyan churches want to raise money for a new building, they invite several other surrounding churches to join them for the event to raise money. A group of 6 of us from the eye team agreed to go. The whole experience of going to church took about 8 hours! Let me tell you about the adventure :)...
We started off by driving about 20-30 minutes down a highway and then down a long dirt road. We were instructed to stop by a building along the road and then were told that we needed to walk the rest of the way. Well, walk actually meant HIKE. The site of the church service was on top of a high mountain. I was wearing a long dress and mary jane shoes (without knowing what was ahead :) ). The hike started along a dirt donkey path that was slanted on the sides, where the slopes met at a narrow base full of deep mud and manure. We were successful at walking along the slanted sides of the path. As we continued, the path went almost straight up the mountain. The path eventually ended along the grassy side of the mountain, where we climbed up over small boulders and avoided prickly bushes. We eventually made it up to the summit, where the church was. The scenery was amazing!
When we arrived, many people had already gathered. They escorted us to some chairs that were positioned under a tent-like area (the roof made of feed sacks and flour bags stitched together). Well, people starting pouring into the grassy area on top of the mountain, many sitting on the grass under trees. The service started with singing and traditional dancing and then progressed to the time of offering. They also counted the people there, and they counted over 325 people present! Then a dynamic preacher gave a message (with a translator who was just as charismatic). The two went from English to Kipsigis and vice versa, preaching with great enthusiasm. At one point, the preacher threw off his coat to make an illustration, and the translator did as well!
After the sermon, there was a weird 45 minute or so lull--where kids from all over the mountaintop formed a circle around us 3 white people and just stared at us. It was hilarious! I started practicing Swahili with them, and they practiced English. We made faces at each other; we took many pictures of them so that they could see their faces on our cameras. Then, it was time for the fundraising event. People formed a line and began bringing their offerings for the new church--but these offerings were not just money. Some brought live roosters, sugar cane poles, small trees, kale, wood blocks, and pumpkins. These items were going to be auctioned off to help raise money for the church. Just as they started bringing in the gifts, it started to rain. The rain soon became a torrential downpour! People tried to find cover under the feed sack roof. There was a small structure about the size of an American bedroom that was their existing church. We starting piling into that structure to find a safe, dry place. It felt like sardines--there were probably 200 people in that tiny structure--for about an hour, as we waited out the rain.
As the rain subsided by about 4:30 pm, we were led down from the summit to a person' home, where they served us lunch. It consisted of a mass of dough (flour and water mixed together and pounded into a lump), beans, goat meat, and warm milk. I know it was a sacrifice for them to serve us, and we appreciated their hospitality. The next (and final) part of our adventure was getting DOWN the moutain in the MUD! It was crazy! The first part along the grass and rocky area was not so bad. When we descended to the donkey path (the majority of the hike down), it was terribly muddy, slippery, and steep. A pack of little girls were running beside me, laughing so hard at me and my awkward descent--I felt like I was on the verge of falling almost the whole way down. They thought it was hilarious to watch me scream and slip and slide through the mud in my dress and shoes. There was often nowhere to grab on since the path was lined mostly with thorns and barbed wire, so you can imagine how crazy it was to balance on a steep, slanted, and muddy path. At one point I slid into the gross part at the bottom of the donkey path, and my feet became REALLY gross--oh well! I was SO thankful to make it to the bottom of the hill without falling. I'm posting pictures of our shoes and of the kids who helped us down the hill. We loved the Kenyan adventure but were SO happy to get back to the guesthouse to get clean!
The view from Mt. Motigo: you can see the Tenwek buildings off in the distance.
The church gathering at the top of the mountain
We were surrounded by kids who looked onto us with curiosity.
Some beautiful smiles!
Our muddy shoes after the crazy hike down the mountain.
The cute girls who laughed their way down the mountain with me.
