Tuesday June 19th

the church in Getherei>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tuesday the real work began. We headed to Getherei, which is a very poor neighborhood/town, to work alongside Calvary International Fellowship church. CIF is led by Ed and Kelly Compean, a couple from the States. As soon as we got off the Matatu we were surrounded by kids screaming "Mzungu! Mzungu" which means white person. They all ran up and tried to shake our hands, then they ask "How are you?! How are you?!" and when you answer them they don't know anymore English so they say it again. Kelly told us later that white people hardly ever come to Getherei. Needless to say, anywhere we went in Getherei we were surrounded by children.

We started the morning off with worship in English and Swahili at the church. It was neat to listen to God being worshipped in Swahili. Then we broke into groups and made house visits all throughout Getherei. One of the first ladies my group met invited us into our home and asked us to pray for her and her little girls. Then we went to another lady's house named Frida who had not come to church in awhile. We found her inside and when Kelly asked how she was doing she said she was very depressed because her husband would not let her see her eight year old son, Michael, because he had a different father. Michael was living with his Grandma. Frida said that her husband was not good to her or their three year old son Moses. We prayed for Frida and then invited her to come walk around with us and talk with her neighbors. She started translating for my group and we were able to meet tons of people in Getherei, pray for them, share the gospel with them, and invite them to the Bible study at CIF. By the end of the day Frida was so joyful and excited. The biggest thing I noticed during our time in Getherei was everyone's willingness to let us pray for them. Even though they had never met us, they would share the struggles and hardships and ask for prayer. They were all so genuine. I feel like in America everyone puts up a facade and pretends that everything is just dandy. When you ask people here how they are they are always "good" or "fine". In Kenya they would let you know if they were sad or angry or depressed. I think in America we are too prideful to ever admit that anything is wrong or that we are struggling. Later that day Frida invited my group to her house for lunch. I must say Kenyans win in the hospitality arena! She went out and bought us food and Coke, even though I knew she did not have much money. Then she invited us into her little house while she prepared the meal. In Kenya it is very rude to leave anything on your plate, and I have never been given so much food in my entire life. I'm not really sure what I was eating, but I finished it all! Praise Jesus!

After lunch my group went back early to do some things in the chuch. I stayed outside to play with all the kids. I had brought a toddler Bible with me and I think the kids made me read the entire Old Testament and some of the New Testament! I could hardly talk by the time Jesus fed the 5,000! Then they laughed at me when I tried to learn a Swahili song. We ended up playing with all the children for hours. They taught us the funniest dancing game that all the kids in Kenya know. Anywhere we went kids would play this game with us and they are the best dancers! Even the 3 and 4 year olds outdanced all the Americans.

Tuesday was a long, tiring day but I was so excited we were coming back Wednesday!