This is a Church Service!

Sunday is the sabbath, sabbatical, saba and our last day of peace and quiet. We attended Kihesa Lutheran Church just a couple of miles east of our apartments. This church holds about 500 inside and a few more outside on plastic chairs. The partner church in the U.S. is St Marks in Maplewood, MN and they have supported this church for years. Attached to the church is a conference center with meeting rooms and a small dormitory. When the Fish Lake group came in 2007, we stayed in this dorm.

The 7:00 AM service was just wrapping up when we arrived at 10:00 AM. The congregation streamed out about 10:20 and the pastor made one last blessing on the front steps. Then the next group moved in and took their seats. We sat a few rows back from the front and enjoyed the preamble music. Eventually, plastic seats were brought in to fill the alter area and we were invited up along with about 1 dozen children to fill the space behind the alter rail. We could sit or stand up but not both (we shuffled chairs as we stood to give others enough room to stand). The service was a special one for children and included 3 adult choirs, at least 3 children choirs, a 20 minute skit by the children about faith, 2 offerings (one for the children and one for the church) and numerous welcomes, announcements (including welcoming every visitor by name) and prayers. We introduced ourselves and told of our plan to stay for 3 months to teach. The service lasted 3 hours and the audience was sort of dynamic. Folks arrived as the service got underway and after the sermon, folks slowly trickled out. Except for the children! There were 5 rows of 20 or so children right up front and they wiggled and smiled but were there for the entire 3 hours.

Now I have to make a special note about the music. Since LaDonna Olson is on the bus between here and Dar Es Salaam right now, she can't read this so I am safe. A Yamaha Synthesizer accompanies all of the music. The musician was amazing and just played from the hymn/worship book which only has the words--not the notes. During announcements, he played a little rift like you hear at a hockey game. He has sampled the vocalization of the high pitched wail used to express approval. Whenever something was good, we had 1000 watts (from a floor to ceiling pile of speakers next to our seats) of wailing. I expected him to break out in a version of "Take Me Out to The Ballgame!" after the second hour. Additionally, the children sang and danced and put on a great show. They passed the wireless mike around and belted out solos for most of the songs. Hopefully, some of the videos Dale Stiles took will give you some idea of the great music there.

After church, the congregation streamed out to the plaza in front for one more blessing and treats for the kids. I was handed a popsicle (I think) but passed it on to one of the kids as I had no idea how to eat this rapidly sublimating sugar thing. The 200 or so kids that sat thru this 3 hour service went running back in to the sanctuary for more treats and songs.

We attempted to go to another restaurant for lunch -- the Hasty Tasty (I doubt both!). It was closed so we scurried back to the apartment to work on left overs. With 9 people and a small refrigerator it will be a challenge to keep any order to the tupperware treasures. We had an assortment of beans, rice, bread, and other stuff and made a serious dent on the fridge.

The evening event was Annica's 11th birthday party. We made individual pizzas on split rolls and Carrie made a chocolate cake. We had 10 candles and a match to light the cake with mix and frosting brought all the way from the New World. That was a treat. Her thoughtful parents brought a Fashionista Barbie, some books from other Stiles and crafts from others. Included were hand made cards from Tobie and Caleb, though I think Caleb's card looked like a potato with candles on it he claimed it was a cake!

This was Dan McIntyre's last day in Iringa so many of his students and teachers from the various schools stopped by. Amazing that these folks would take time to travel from the out lying schools to get help from Dan and say good bye.

As we hit the sack we heard that our Fish Lake group landed safely in Dar Es Salaam and was waiting for the bus to their hotel. We are planning a king's welcome when they arrive here after a 500 km bus ride on Monday.