Whether you want to or not one of the first things that you learn as a pastor is that every 168 hours there is another Sunday morning worship service. And even when you travel to Moheto, Kenya Sunday morning worship comes. I woke up to the wonderful sound of rain falling, I say wonderful because it meant that the day would be cooler, and it is hot here. What I did not consider is that for a congregation that walks to worship, where the economy is based on agriculture, where rain changes every aspect of life, the sound of rain is not wonderful necessarily, it brings an added level of complication. On my way to First Moheto this morning Kennedy looked at me and said, “we will probably start late.” He explained that members of his congregation would not be able to make it on time, that the rain would slow them down and that we would be patient.

With all that said when we walked in the church there was music playing, a few members had arrived and everyone present was worshipping together. It was so fun. The music was upbeat and vibrant, and everyone was having fun. We waited for another 30-40 minutes before the formal worship service began. And when we began worship the singing, dancing, and praising didn’t stop. We sang for almost an hour with various aspects of liturgy integrated between songs; it was so much fun. Two things that I want to share from worship service. One, all age groups shared a couple of songs and Kennedy was telling me after that kids, youth, and adults share songs every week. Second, when it was time to take up the offering everyone in the congregation walked forward and put something into the offering plate. When I say everyone, I mean all the kids, adults, everyone. Every aspect of worship was full of participation.

Kennedy invited me to preach (as if they did not hear enough from me yesterday) and I shared from Philippians 4. I am so thankful for the ministry of First Moheto and the leadership of Kennedy. The church in Philippi was the first church in Europe and the gateway for Christianity to spread throughout Europe. While First UMC Moheto is not by any means the first church in Kenya, it is the first Reconciling church in all the continent of Africa. First Moheto stands for inclusion and sharing the love of God with all people, and I am so thankful that we are partners with First Moheto.

After worship we ate a quick lunch and then got in the car to travel part of the way to Naivasha, Kenya on our way to Nairobi. The total travel time was almost 7 hours, and it was so wonderful to see more of Kenya. When we passed Nakuru we saw fields of African tea as far as the eye could see. We traveled up and down and arrived in Naivasha about 8 PM. We ate dinner and went to bed.

As Kennedy and I shared dinner on Sunday evening we reflected upon the wonderful morning of worship and how it was so special for me to be in First Moheto. And in less than 168 hours our friends of First Moheto will be worshipping together again.

Peace,

Luke

PS: Sunday worship will be uploaded on the First UMC Moheto website by Friday January 19.