Thursday, July 3, 2008

First Day of Work Kimathi Church

         

We woke to exotic birds chirping and when I opened my window it was a beautiful site.  The hostel grounds were well kept and there were many bushes with flowers.  It was even cooler than last night.  It is winter in Kikuyu.  Temperatures were in the upper 40's in the mornings. We were still keyed up from the trip but somewhat rested.  We enjoyed breakfast and packed our bags.  We all squeezed into the two vehicles again and traveled the bumpy roads for two hrs.  We checked into the retreat center and headed out to the Kimathi church.

  

We arrived on the job site with a warm welcome of singing and praising God. These were the elderly church members.  They were happy to see us but we couldn’t quite tell what they were saying because we were not rehearsed in their language.  We accepted their songs of greeting and began our work.  We had mabati (corrugated tin) to put on the church and lots of painting.  We worked well together and we started to get used to the Kikuyu people.

  When we  took a break, we drank chi, fresh milk brought to a hot temperature. With an added tea bag the milk had a nice tea flavor. We worked a little more and had dinner.  We had goat meat with rice and vegetables. Many other items were available that I didn’t eat.   When we were ready to leave, we sang and danced to thank God for all he had done.

  

We drove to the retreat center where we would stay for a few days. It was very nice and each room had two beds and a bathroom.  I took a shower, had a quiet time and went to bed early.

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