Day 8: Church in Gatamuiyu and Lunch at Mama Leah's

 

 On Sunday, we were told we were going to be making the 3 mile hike back up the mountain to Gatamuiyu... except dressed in our Sunday best. We all considered this factor and decided to drive half the way and walk the rest. It was bearable in dresses and tennis shoes. As we walked, congregation members and the Hovingh's staff met us for the walk up. After about 40 minutes, we approached a tin building with turquoise colored doors. This was a different church than the one we visited on Thursday.

This church seemed more conservative; members were dressed in their best and the service was very organized. We had a time of singing and then many different groups did some specials for us, the honored guests. We had a ladies group come up and sing with all their soul to the beat of a drum. Some mothers had their babies on their hip singing along. A group of men came and sang a few songs as well as a group of children. It was like a showcase of the ages and genders demonstrating their talents yet very unlike a talent show, it was clear their songs were all very focused on worshiping and honoring the Lord. After some time, the church had a time of prayer. Lisa whispered to us during that time and explained that this was a gospel church that believed in praying in tongues. Having grown up in the Assembly of God church, this was a familiar aspect of the service. Later, we got up to sing some familiar songs, some we knew and others they could sing in Swahili. 

The pastor gave a brief version of the announcements due to our time schedule. We were lunch guests at a near by church members house and we had a soccer game to attend in the afternoon. So, the pastor mentioned several times that were only had 2 hours to be with them when church would continue on for at least 2 hours after we left. They made great adjustments to their order of service to accommodate us. Matt and John, two from our team shared a message for the morning. Then the assistant pastor spoke as it was translated for us.

 

We left at our appointed time and walked to our lunch destination. Mama Leah was the woman's house we were going to. Her name is Monica and she is Rehab's (the cook in Naivasha) sister. So it was nice to get to know one of the family. Monica and Charles welcomed us in. They had a beautiful garden on the hill. The hillside was quite steep and seemed to be challenging for Monica to harvest and plant. However, she personified Proverbs 31, she worked hard for her task and rose early before the family to prepare for the day. 

Charles, her husband, didn't want her to keep a garden because it is very hard and dangerous work. One day, Monica was coming back from gathering some vegetables and on the road she met a buffalo. Buffalo are very dangerous animals and if you don't run, you had better! She ran so fast while holding her basket of vegetation. She hadn't thought to throw basket in order to run faster, she kept it safe and sound. When she got home, she realized that she had rubbed some skin off of her hands and wrists from the basket's force. It was cute to see how  

Charles and Monica interacted as a married couple while telling this story. You could see their love as well as their feisty-ness.

We had arrow root, sweet potato, beans and chicken for lunch. We also chapati, a favorite among Kenyan's. If you ask the kids what they want for Christmas, they all say chapati! I would too! It's like a salty fried pancake. Very good with stew or meat.

As we said our thanks and goodbyes, we headed back down to Naivasha. When we got there, we were pretty much exhausted so the ladies stayed behind and let the guys go off the play in the soccer game.
We had our afternoon Chai and played a few games. Dinner that night went late as we recapped the day's events and prepared for our 'Hillbilly Safari' the next day.