Eric's trip to Yala

I went out of town Sunday accompanied by Pastor Henry. We dedicated a new church building and spoke to the 80 people in the congregation. The building, not yet finished, had a dirt floor, mud walls and a metal roof. It was about 20x30, and was very crowded. But very much alive. They laughed and sang and gave speeches and then I spoke about various things relating to the church. One thing I noticed was that when they worshipped they went from being happy with lots of smiles, to intensely praying with no smiles and with their eyes tightly shut. I pointed out that they smiled when they greeted each other, but then got very intense and sad when they greeted God. So I asked if they'd like to smile and open their eyes when they were worshipping. They really loved it. Later Pastor Henry told me that early missionaries in Kenya had told the Kenyans they should be sad when they worshipped because Jesus suffered on the cross. We finished with a big African lunch of ugali, sukuma wiki, and kuku (maize meal, collard greens, and chicken). I always enjoy these excursions out. People are so eager to learn new things.