It is Monday morning and the sun is shining brightly. The rains of the weekend were a true answer to prayer. The crops were watered and we were able to get out of the back of the pickup Friday before the first drops fell. An added bonus will be not having to travel in the dust on our way to Ziwa. Saturday morning my lesson from Genesis 24 featured a review of the life of Abraham using class members as the characters and walking through his 175 years in about 25 minutes. The application came from the summary in Hebrews and was to walk by faith and when you find your faith failing get back to Bethel and call on the name of The Lord. Worship time is led by age groups. Adults children and youth all take a turn. Two western groups were added. Ann led the children in a song in English and Ryan led us in "Lord You Are More Precious..." Some of the Bible school students came up and led with us. Ryan's powerful sermon from Psalm 29 elicited many amen's and was warmly received. We had lunch at Mary's with some of the church members. Silas and Gladys had some other church members over to their house for lunch. The conversation at Mary's was very interesting. We talked a lot about the sermon and some of the men gave a history of their families religious beliefs. We learned a lot about issues in the Kenyan church and were able to offer encouragement. Later in the afternoon we came back to Silas'. The people he had over for lunch were leaders in the Bible college. We met for a couple hours with them discussing the future plans for progress. We were seeking ways that we could help without being an interference. My conclusion was that it was a very productive day.
On Sunday I slept in. We did not eat breakfast until about nine. Ann and Andrea had planned to make banana bread for the college students who were coming over in the afternoon. This meant getting the charcoal into the oven and getting it heated while they were mixing the recipe. Silas' Betty Crocker cookbook had ingredients for the banana bread which were not available. The creative ladies decided to use the zucchini recipe instead. They just substituted the bananas, made a few other adjustments and were on their way. I must admit I had some doubts but loaves came out looking very very good. The students began arriving about 3:00 PM. Immediately a volleyball game began It started to rain about a half hour later I came inside and started to do a few things but no one else did. Soon I was out standing under the shed roof watching the game continue in this in the drizzle. Two hours later the very damp competitors were still fielding teams while some of the spectators who had been under a tree gradually all shifted to the lean to shed area. It was getting very chilly so I came in for a heavier sweatshirt and began helping Silas and Gladys. Silas summoned the last of the dye hards to the sitting room where Ryan led in almost an hour of songs and prayer. The supper buffet began with a huge pan of white rice. Next to that was an equally large pan of beans. That was followed by another rice dish with herbs and a large lot of mashed potatoes. Smaller pots of greens completed to presentation. The plates used here are of the shallow wider cereal bowl design. Foods are piled high and usually consumed with the aid of a cereal spoon. Seconds and thirds are expected so we start with somewhat smaller portions. When most had had their fill and Gladys was ready to serve piping hot Kenyan tea from a large blue thermos bottle she asked me to serve the banana bread. The mashed potatoes and the "dessert" were an intentional westernization of the meal. There were six loaves of bread which I cut into 8 slices each. After serving everyone a slice I cut the remaining slices in half and started around again. No one refused a second portion even if as in a few instances they had not finished the first. There were also several requests for the recipe. The kids were totally delighted and could hardly wait till breakfast to devour the last existing crumbs. Discussion of Bible classes followed as I fought drowsiness on a couch back in the corner. The evening came to a close near eleven o'clock with most of the group having kilometers to walk home along dark slippery rain drenched red clay roads. A few steps to our room and I was fast asleep.
Answers to a few we questions:
We are offered bottled water when we visit. Silas has it available here. We supplement with water we treat with a UV wand that is rechargeable.
Silas' mom milks the cows twice daily and sells milk to a vender. Some of it is pasteurized on site for drinking and also used in the Kenyan tea.
Menu items not mentioned: fresh pineapple, avocado, oranges,eggs hard boiled and scrambled, ugaly, a cross between corn meal mush and corn bread, pancakes, a fried dough that the kids love called mangazi. It has a pocket I love to open and drizzle in generous amounts of local honey. Green bananas cooked to a potato consistency often in a gravy with potatoes and peas (a personal favorite).
It is almost lunch time and that means time to get cleaned up for the trip to Ziwa to get everything charged and do some printing for Ann.
God's blessings on you all.
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