sunday 7/22

Sunday-
The best laid plans are often redirected by God. Last night, Lawrence was telling me I should go to his church, and I told him that I grew up in a church where we just stood there, and that now I go to a church where we sometimes clap- and that’s even a stretch for me, so a dancing church might be a little overwhelming. My strategy was to go to the “solom” church, which was the catholic service. It was all working out too- Michele, Riley, Casey, Kendall, Forrest and I were last to leave because Michele and I were trying to get Levi some food. (more on that in a minute) So we were walking out with a different Lawrence to head to the catholic service. But along the way, we ran into Janet, who had no one going with her to church, and we had six, so Forrest and I went along with her to a Pentacostal Villiage church. The church was pretty far back off a path, so most of the people we saw weren’t ones that we’ve seen along our walks all week- there were many stares. That’s ok. The church itself was a big rectangular brick building, with 3 rows of wooden benches, and instead of benches for part of one of the rows there was grass mats where some women and many children were sitting on the ground. It was actually a pretty great experience. When we got there, the first two songs were in English, which went a long way to putting me at ease. Everything was spoken in two languages- English and either Addis (sp?) or Luganda. The songs picked up- which was fun. They asked for visitors to say something, but we weren’t really sure what we were supposed to say. So we stood up, and I introduced us, and said we were there to worship with them, and that we have come to visit the people from younglife here, and bless you in Jesus name. They all seemed like they thought that was the end (I just kept saying things until it seemed like they were satisfied) and so we sat down. At this point, one brave little girl came and sat next to me on the bench. Many many others were staring and giggling through the door right near us. After a while, another girl, who was a little bit bigger came over and sat next to the first girl, but wanted to get her out of the way. There was a bit of wrestling, and the bigger girl tried to throw the smaller one, but the smaller one wouldn’t be moved. Later in the service, the bigger girl was sitting next to me, and the smaller one came back to claim her rightful spot. The bigger girl wouldn’t move, so in the middle of prayer, the smaller girl wiggles her way in and starts throwing elbows into the bigger girls stomach. Yes, that’s right, it’s the first fight I have ever had to break up in the middle of prayer during church.

There may have been praying in tongues, however, it could have just been their own language. There was a sermon, and I am pretty sure the point was to step out in faith and the Lord will provide for you. There was more singing, and much dancing, and several more announcements. The service was about 2 and a half hours all said and done, which was pretty reasonable. On the way back, janet took us to the library to check our email. It was a slow process, but it was nice to connect, even if briefly.

At lunch we were talking about our experiences at church. Michele said that it was really apparent to her that the statistic of more than 50% of Uganda is under the age of 15 is true. Julie said that during the offering, there was a bag of rice and a bag of peanuts that got “auctioned” off, and so she asked grace what was happening, and grace said that some people don’t have money, and they brought those as their offering, so they are selling them. That’s pretty cool. Steve and Ari and Matt went on bike to a village church that was about 12 people in a grass hut.

I spent my Sabbath afternoon napping and reading. It was pretty great. And needed for this introvert.

At about 6 we started over to the younglife office for worship with the volunteers. It was really neat to hear Simons story, and to sing along side our African brothers and sisters. When we came back to the hotel, they had put together a barbeque out in a corner of the property, with a bon fire. It was pretty cool. And we had marshmallows that were brought for a club game, but not used, so we showed the hotel staff how to roast marshmallows.

Levi. Poor levi. The guy is sick. And he’s such a trooper. He was puking all night long last night, and so Michele had him start on cipro. Today he thought he felt better, but then he got a pretty bad fever. He’s having fitful sleep. Tonight we laid hands on him and prayed for healing. I hope he feels better soon. He really doesn’t want to stay in bed.