church in Karima (day 3)

Our team woke up this morning and went to 5 different churches in Karima.

Crystal, Tiffany and I all went to the KAG in Karima which started back in 2007. it was very different and interesting for sure. and LONG... i've been too used to Ridge Church only being 65 minutes and out. we were there for a good 4 hours or so!

it sounds like the church in Karima that Keith and Amy (from our Ridge team) went to may have been the coolest experience. It was the GOA (Glory or Gospel Outreach Assembly?). They had some cool stories for sure.

my experience at the KAG church was awesome too. they had us come up and greet everyone and talk a little bit. i tried to talk in mostly Swahili. they love it. they all talk about how perfect my pronunciation is = (thanks to my trusty iPhone app which has a Kenyan lady speaking each word.)
They crack up laughing with HUGE smiles every time i bust out some Swahili... i ask them if they're laughing at me because i'm saying the words wrong, but they say no, they laugh because it's so unexpected for me, a mozungu, to speak Swahili.

This is me & the Pastor of the KAG - Bernard.

we sang & danced at church for forever! i would have sat down and taken a rest, BUT the lady who was the "worship leader" came and grabbed my hand and jumped and danced with me in a death grip for a really long time. seemed like an hour! maybe 20 minutes? They got Crystal and Tiffany dancing up there too.

at the end they were planning a "small group" gathering for some men and they needed a bunch of stuff and everyone was donating something... so i kicked in some cooking fat (just 100 shillings). too bad i'll miss the small group shindig.

There seemed to be maybe 3 or 4 sermons during the service? kind of interesting... and the translator and the person preaching like randomly switched languages at different times. crazy to try to follow.

There were lots of awesome kids at this church too.
We hung out with some of the children of the village later on too... they absolutely grab your heart and don't let go.

1 thing is for sure! = God was worshipped in Karima, Kenya today and in Charlotte, NC. + in all kinds of people groups all over the world. a beautiful thought.