These past few days have been really busy, but good. On Friday we all helped with a kids program at the church during the morning and into the afternoon. We probably had 50+ kids there from all over the surrounding neighborhood. We sang songs and played games with them, and then the pastor’s daughter spoke for a few minutes.
That afternoon I walked to town with some of the girls and Eugene, one of the Pastor’s sons. While the girls were in the cyber café Eugene and I walked around the market for a while and then he took me to the local stadium. Walking in the stadium was one of the first times I really felt out of place. Right when we turned the corner to walk in it was like you could hear a pen drop. Everyone in there just stopped and looked right at me. There had to have been 200 or more people in there playing games or practicing soccer. Then a few kids ran up to me and wanted to shake my, and all the sudden the soccer coach started blowing his whistle and walking our way. I just knew I had done something wrong. I looked at Eugene as if to say “what the heck should I do!” But he just stood there. As the coach got near us he stuck out his hand just like a little kid. He seemed so excited to see me. Right then, I felt much more at peace and not so out of place. The kids asked if I would stay and watch their practice, so we watched for a few minutes before we went to go back and get the girls.
Yesterday was our first Sunday here in Siaya. We arrived at the church in time for the youth service which started at 8. Pastor Joseph wanted us to attend both services so we could meet some of the people. We then spent the next five hours in church; praying, singing, listening to the message and praying some more. It was quite a bit longer than I am used to but not all that bad, it was a good change. After church we all went back to the Pastor’s house to relax while many people from the church came by to greet us. There was even one little girl named Joyce who wanted to be with the Mzungus (that’s what they call white people here) so bad that she spent the night.
I want to thank everyone for your prayers. I will keep you all up dated on how our ministry goes this coming week and try to get some pictures up.
