Everything Except a Wedding and a Funeral - The “Grand Finale” Worship Service at Holy Cross

Holy Cross congregation waving “hello” to their brothers and sisters in Christ in America.

Sunday was the “Grand Finale” worship service at Holy Cross Lutheran Church on the campus of Emmaus School. By m count there were approx. 50 people squeezed into the small church building. More than half of the congregation was children, a good number of whom are students at the school. Several of the school teachers attended as well.  

Entrance to the church building.

We packed so much into the worship service that Pastor Gurath and I joked that we had everything but a wedding and a funeral! Allow me to show and tell you…

Baptism of baby Nancy.

Installation of Jasper (in the glasses and tan pastoral robe) as assistant pastor and and Elvis (blue jacket) as acolyte.

Pastor Gurath preached the sermon.
I preached the children’s sermon (the 30 or so children fully filled up the center aisle and front of the church). Mary Sagala did the translating into Swahili.

Pastor Gurath and Jasper distributed the Lord’s Supper.

During the offering the congregation sang a hymn called, “At Calvary.” Pastor Samson (seated next to me in the front of church) said the prayers for the service and also led in the singing of the hymns to “practice” for the service as we waited for people to come.

Near the end of the service Pastor Calvin from St. Peter’s in Kitale was asked to say a few words and he presented Mama Anna Sagala with a “Women of Faith” headscarf from their women’s group. Anna wore it proudly the rest of the day. 

At the end of the service Pastor Gurath conducted a dedication of the well that had recently been constructed on the property.

Mary Sagala commissioned a plaque for the well dedication.

After the well dedication we went back into the church for some cake and sodas. Pastor Gurath and I also passed out “sweets” (candy) to the children (and to all the “older children”—aka, adults 🙂).

We ended the day of worship by singing “Rock of Ages” in Swahili.

I had to get a picture of cute baby Nancy after the service.

24 Swahili catechisms with explanation were passed out to families after the worship service
(this was the last half of the shipment that we had picked up from the Lutheran Heritage Foundation on one of our first days in Kenya).

After the church service Mary took a number of us to a restaurant in Moi’s Bridge that has a big open pit BBQ on which they grill goat meat. The meat was perfectly done and the seasoning was so tasty. Probably my favorite meal I’ve had in Kenya. We all ate way too much!

Vocabulary I learned at the restaurant:

Mbuzi = goat

Choma = grill, BBQ

Nimeshiba - “I am satisfied!” (“I am full.”)

Nimeshiba sana - “I am very satisfied!” 

Me, Pastor Gurath, Martin (Anna’s grandson), Mary, and Anna Sagala in front of the gate to Mary’s home.

We went back to Mary’s house to pick up several large bags of avocados to take to driver Dan’s family and Jamima Sagala’s family in Nairobi. I think they were trying to fill our vehicle so full that we wouldn’t be able to fit ourselves in it and would have to stay! 

They thanked us both for making the long trip and for serving the church and school while we were here (and said special thank you’s to our families for being willing to have us gone for so long). They also wanted us to express their greetings, love, and prayers to all of you in America. 

After a very long “Lutheran goodbye” filled with profuse amounts of “Asante sana” (“thank you so much”) from us to both Mary and Anna for their care and hospitality to both of us—and for all they do for thr people they serve so selflessly here in the Moi’s Bridge area—we went back to our hotel for the night. We were both quite tired from all the day’s events, but also very happy and praising God for His strength and safekeeping as we completed the 3 weeks of work we had come to do. Bwana asifiwe! (“Praise the Lord!”)