At 8:30 we are out the door and walking to church. 400 meters to the Valley Road roundabout and then another 600 meters down the hill to Valley Road Pentecostal Church (renamed Christ is the Answer Ministries or CITAM). Well, the cars and buses and pedestrians converging on the main gate was astounding, then as we got closer we found out why. There was a security detail of 3 uniformed officers with metal detectors checking each person entering and others checking vehicle under carriages with mirrors before they were allowed to enter the gates to park. We were 15 minutes early and just got a seat before the service began.
Get this. A 7 a.m service for the staff. A 9 o'clock public service that lasted til 11:15. It's like fighting your way upstream against the incoming crowd once the service is dismissed and the next crowd is coming in for the third service that starts at 11:30 and just as full. About 5000 in attendance filling the main floor and balcony to capacity while at the same time two other services are happening in other buildings, one for youth and another for young adults with 1000 in attendance at each. There was quite a traffic jamb in the parking lot AND on the side streets around the church that reminded me of PNE parking in Vancouver.
The music team was amazing, consisting of keyboard, drums, guitars, bass and a saxophone player. There was a lead singer and 3 or 4 singers and at least a 50 voice choir. Superb! The choir did a number featuring an amazing female vocalist that could have taken top marks in one of those "Got Talent" shows you see on TV.
After fighting our way out through the crowd, almost everyone we met was on their way to church and buses again were lined up and unloading passengers for church. This is one lively place on Sunday morning! Oh, that's not all, on Friday there is an all night worship from 9 pm to 6 am! It will include a songwriter and worship leader from Uganda. These people are fervent and dedicated. This church has sponsored a number of other churches in the area. One of the branch church pastors was on the platform and announced the dedication of another new church building. This group of churches numbers about 50,000 members.
We stopped in at our flat and then headed for the YaYa Center and the Masai Market and to get lunch. Just as we turned off the lane towards the market, a man came up to us wanting to sell us bunches of flowers. I wasn't interested, but he said he was just starting his new business. Guess what? I made an investment in his business of $5.75 for 21 red and white roses. Branden and I thought we could come up with 21 reasons to smile or the "21 Rose Mile". We began to give roses to every woman we met on our walk to the mall. Even reaching into cars with women inside that pulled in front of us from a side street to enter the main street, the lady begging in the shade of the fence, the 4 Muslim women who were surprised by the old guy and the handsome young guy, and then the last woman just outside the mall who was almost in tears at the gift saying, "You made my day"! We often asked the question of the ladies, "Can I make you smile"? And Branden tried to get a photo of their smile. The last one called me into the picture, too. All of them were grateful as we walked away without asking for anything in return. Well now, wasn't that fun? The 21 rose mile. Try it some time. Good therapy for the soul.
We found the Masai Market on the 3rd floor patio and browsed for quite awhile. It was difficult to get away from the vendors as they tried every trick in the book to part us from our money. We had only brought enough for lunch. An Ethiopian I had met the previous day wanted money for food as he hadn't eaten in 2 days. So we stopped in at a bakery where he selected 4 big kaiser rolls and a sweet bun. Branden and I ate a smaller lunch than we had planned, but somehow it felt like it was more than enough and we were satisfied.
Heading back to the flat, we had a vendor skillfully prepare a sugar cane stick for us, dicing it into a plastic bag. We couldn't eat all of that. You can chew and suck out the sweetness in the cane for a minute, but then you end up spitting fibers for another five minutes. The return trip became the Sugar Mile as we gave out samples to folks we met, with the last few cubes going to Joel, the gate keeper. That cost us a whole 60 cents!
We dozed while waiting for Bishop Stephen to come and get us for a visit to the orphanage and school. Once he arrived with his wife, Florence, we went and spent a couple hours with 64 children ranging in age from about 5 to 16. A lot of them are survivors from the election massacres or 2008. They sang a few welcome songs for us as we arrived and genuinely happy to see Bishop Stephen and his guests. We had a suitcase full of Tshirts and balls and skipping ropes and girly things and Canadian flags. You wouldn't believe how excited they were about the little flags! And could they skip? Oh, my! I saw skipping moves I'd never seen before. We had to inflate the soccer ball and left the pump with it (and a whistle) which the older boys used to get their version of keep-away going. There were balls bouncing, skipping ropes swinging, and a lot of smiles and laughter. The sound and activity was enough to crack your face and warm your heart. We had also left a good quantity of school supplies with the teacher to distribute as needed and also reserved some supplies for the other school. In order to integrate these kids into society, the orphanage accepts over 100 students from the community who come for classes at the orphanage school. Out of 1800 schools in Kenya, this school ranks in the top 100 in the standardized tests administered in the whole country.
Bishop Stephen has had a pretty hectic schedule with the recent conference and was flagging, so we left the orphanage for our base and visited with the staff here.
Here I must acknowledge the generous donations of school supplies and gifts from congregants at both the Church on the Hill in Logan Lake and Terrace Pentecostal Assembly where Branden comes from. YOU have been a genuine blessing. And the Bishop has invited you all to come for a visit.
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