The Pips, Sailing, and Laughter

        Today has been a glorious day. I went with the doctor and his wife to a local church this morning. This particular church is Baptist, and is on the side of town that is 90% Muslim, and surrounded by many mosques. We passed at least 13 on the way. We parked at the top of a hill where the road stopped and walked down the dusty path, accompanied by a crowd of cheerful, polite, adorable kids. These are the kids you see in everybody’s picture… beautiful smiles, giggling, shy, and eager to touch you. The polite greeting is accompanied by a handshake here, meaning 2 year olds were running up to shake my hand then run away. A great many of the little girls were dressed in what we would consider Easter or Christmas church dresses in the states, which was absolutely adorable. I really, really wish I had the opportunity to take pictures. The church itself is four brick walls and a roof. The floor was dirt, but not packed dirt, it was very loose and dusty. Wood is very expensive here, so the seating consists of benches. Benches meaning 2 thin slats of wood, braced by 3 thin upright pieces. They wobble. Small children fall off, cry, and climb back on. Since we were guests they made us sit in the front row in plastic chairs. Normally I would hate to have the attention, but since the likelihood of me falling off the bench was high, given my history, I was grateful.

Now. Let me try to explain to you the amazing worship service and why I had the giggles the entire time.

First, the singing here is so marvelous. If you have ever heard an African children’s choir, it sounded so much better. There is no inhibition: they sing their hearts out and dance and move and shout and it’s amazing. The volume coming out of these people was impressive. So that was just the congregation singing. Then the choir stands up and then it really gets going. Well. Eventually. The choir has a CD background. Whoever the guy in charge of it starts flipping through songs so we hear the beginning of several, then he picks one, lets it play for a minute, then starts it over. The choir begins to shuffle their feet, then move their arms, then they start singing. The sound was so pure and joyful, I loved it. Now, remember the floor is loose dirt. So after about 2 minutes of the vigorous shuffling, the sneezing begins. A poor girl in front of me was sneezing about every 4^th word, which gave me the giggles. I look away to compose myself, and focus on the back row of the choir, which is the men. What I had failed to notice originally were the 3 small boys on the end. Y’all. They looked like The Pips in miniature. I have never wanted to video anything more. If you don’t know who The Pips are, you are missing out on some rockin dance moves that need to be added to your collection. They were dressed in little button downs and slacks, completely covered in dirt, and trying so hard to keep up with the men.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSXLOQPozOc

 

When they finished singing I finally composed myself and we had a lovely message from Ezekiel 33 and Luke 15 saying that if we say we are of God, but continue to live in sin, then we are not truly of God. However, if we repent, God is gracious and merciful and will forgive us and clean us from our sin. That’s what I got from my translator, anyways.

After an hour of singing and an hour of announcements and preaching, the service ends and we make our way back to the car, again accompanied by a crowd of youths… this time, however, they start piling in the car with us. Apparently the entire community around the church is Muslim and all the church members live quite a bit away. We only fit 19 in the 5 seater today, they said their record is 21. A few adults, some teenagers, mostly little kiddos, and a few itty bitty babies. Tell you what, you don’t get jostled on the roads when you’re packed in like that. Perhaps a bit more warm and the dirt and sweat on the kids leaves mud on you, but I was going to do laundry today anyways.

This afternoon was just as glorious and just as laughter-filled. I’m sitting here, studying Swahili, and a car pulls down the driveway… the doctor’s wife goes out for a few minutes, then sticks her head back in, “Want to go sailing?” Why yes, yes I do. Turns out, a middle-aged British gentleman owns the catamaran that is parked on the beach and had brought a friend to go sailing. They were absolutely hilarious. They did not stop their banter the entire time and were so delightfully British. “I say ol’ chap, would you toss me that line there?” “What, you brought me along just to work, did you? I thought I was supposed to be all posh and enjoying myself!” “What, and leave this young girl and me ol bones to do all the heavy lifting? You’re mad, my dear fellow.”

“I’ve only been out here twice this year, so I’m not sure which bits go where, you know? I think we’ll muddle through, though. What could go wrong?” “I thought you had some kind of certification.” “I do, I have Master’s. But I also have a touch of Alzheimer’s, so I don’t really remember any of it. Don’t you have a certification?” “No, never reached such dizzying heights as a Master’s.”

“Well, you lot take the life vests, and if you lose me, you chaps just go on without me. I’ve lived a good life.” “If we lose you we won’t be able to get back! You’ve got these ropes so muddled so as no one else could ever get them sorted!”

We set it all up, drag it in the water, we go through how we’re going to get in and who’s on what side and whatnot, we get in and somehow I end up with the ropes in my hand as well as the tiller. “Oh, there we are, I got in the wrong side, didn’t I? Mm. Well, you’ve got to learn somehow, m’dear, carry on.” “You might want to tell her how to steer it, mate.” “Oh, righto, must be posh about it. Erm, so push it that way, you go that way, push it this way, you go the other way. That’s about all there is to boating.”

The view was majestic and the sailing was so much fun. I laughed so hard the entire time and think we all need some more Brits in our lives.

Tomorrow is back to the hospital for another week. My goal tomorrow is to get every pediatric patient weighed. Provided the scale isn’t lost. Please pray that I will be useful, use what Swahili I have and learn more, and for me to be listening to God closely. I’m very grateful for this refreshing weekend and grateful for all of you!

-K