4/22/07 - morning
Having successfully negiotiated the time change -- now I know how a baby feels after it is born and has days and nights switched, no wonder they are cranky -- we are ready for the first part of our adventure.
Sunday morning was church in Nairobi - we went to the largest Baptist church in town -- Nairobi Baptist Church (NBC). We arrived early and had our choice of seats (s0 we thought) but it turned out that just like in the States, people sit in the same place week after week and were a little miffed that we had filled up an entire row with white folks! People were nice however, and we were welcomed and introduced.
The service wasn't much different than in a large church at home -- lots of singing, announcements, preaching and so on. We really enjoyed the singing -- many of the songs were familiar to us, old praise tunes from the 80's, with one major difference...some of the songs were in Swahili! Fortunately, Swahili is fairly easy to pronounce, they had the words on slides and we sang along merrily with the rest of the congregation -- the church was full by the time the service started. What a wonderful experience. I think this was a little piece of heaven...
The lay leader shared a story I felt was worth passing on.
The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. "There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.""One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand.""Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil.""Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.""Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside.""And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.
Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be. One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person. Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make. Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.
I loved this story. Afterwards the pastor preached on Philemon, on faith expressed in love. The two together were a perfect message for us before we left to see our children in Masii.
Having successfully negiotiated the time change -- now I know how a baby feels after it is born and has days and nights switched, no wonder they are cranky -- we are ready for the first part of our adventure.
Sunday morning was church in Nairobi - we went to the largest Baptist church in town -- Nairobi Baptist Church (NBC). We arrived early and had our choice of seats (s0 we thought) but it turned out that just like in the States, people sit in the same place week after week and were a little miffed that we had filled up an entire row with white folks! People were nice however, and we were welcomed and introduced.
The service wasn't much different than in a large church at home -- lots of singing, announcements, preaching and so on. We really enjoyed the singing -- many of the songs were familiar to us, old praise tunes from the 80's, with one major difference...some of the songs were in Swahili! Fortunately, Swahili is fairly easy to pronounce, they had the words on slides and we sang along merrily with the rest of the congregation -- the church was full by the time the service started. What a wonderful experience. I think this was a little piece of heaven...
The lay leader shared a story I felt was worth passing on.
The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. "There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.""One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand.""Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil.""Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.""Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside.""And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.
Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be. One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person. Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make. Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.
I loved this story. Afterwards the pastor preached on Philemon, on faith expressed in love. The two together were a perfect message for us before we left to see our children in Masii.
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