The Celebration Service~

February 23, 2019

The Trip to Kenya

Kent & I are still on jet lag and up very early on Sunday morning.  This being the first day where we are not on an airplane.  It was very nice to just sit down and have a cup of coffee and some fellowship. We have no idea what today holds.  Our information is we leave at 8 for a church service. I'm very excited about this Church service, because I met Bishop Patroba on the last trip and didn't get to talk to him.  He has quite a testimony - his church was stolen from him & he was put in jail.  The congregation, including the children, fasted and prayed till he was released.  He built another church twice the size of the first one. He never retaliated or said anything about the person who stole the church for many years.

Bishop Patroba & Linus~

 We left at 8 and of course we had the 40-miles of bad roads.  They don't need sleeping police men (speed bumps) - this road has enough hazards of it's own. When you travel in Kenya, you learn what it's like to be a bobble head!  You just go with the flow.  After over an hour of travel, Dennis said;  “They will be coming to get you.” I didn't know what this meant, until I got out of the car.  Still several hundred feet away from the church, I saw a parade of people.

Bishop Patroba and His Church coming to greet us when we arrived

They were singing, dancing, whooping, hollering and bringing gifts. They had lays to put around our necks & surrounded us.  The group lead the way, bringing us to the church in celebration.  

Parade from Patroba's church to greet us. 

The sign below gave the name of the church - Saboti Abundant. I'm sure it has a Swahili meaning. The church attendees started their praise and worship, while we went to the office and took pictures.

The name of Bishop Patroba's Church~

The Celebration Service itself continued on for 3 ½ hours with singing, dancing and most of all, the teaching of The Word. The word PARTY comes to mind with this service, everyone was having so much fun.  I decided to change my message, to the story of how I began in the ministry.  Many people relate to this episode of my life and how imperfect I was for the ministry.  In my imperfectness, I became perfect for the Ministry. It is called the Grace of God.

Bishop Patroba, Dennis (Our guide, friend and interpreter), myself, District Director Obed and Kent Coates, my friend, and traveling companion

After the service, we went back to the office to have another meal with the leaders of the church. Patroba, Dennis and Obed knew many of the leaders.  They were in their best fellowship with the leaders of the church.  At day's end, Kent & I had a long nap on the way back to Kitali, rough roads & all.

Once home, we again caught up on our sleep.  Kent slept most of the afternoon, while I called Kay and tried to tell her about the Service. She was under 6 more inches of snow and blizzard conditions.  I'm having the time of my life, so I understand if she doesn't seem enthused.

Mike called and asked how things were going? I told him about the celebration service and he already knew it would be like that he has been there many times and he and Patroba are very good friends.  Mike seemed so refreshed, I miss him and Pat being on the trip but I'm glad they didn't have to spend hours on bad roads. I hope our time here is a time of refreshing for Mike and Pat - without the worry of babysitting Kent & I.