Confirmation

We have become really close to our house girl. She not only cleans our house but also watches Neema three days a week...we love her! This Sunday her son was confirmed in their church and she graciously invited us to come. It was all in kiswahili so much of it had to be translated for me but at one point, 4 or 5 people started going up on stage. I asked her daughter Esther if they were being honored for something. Well, it turns out they had for whatever reason been "kicked out" out of church for the last two weeks and this week the church was welcoming them back. I don't know why they had been asked to 'take a break' but it seemed the church all knew. I was thinking to myself...wow that is pretty intense. In my head, I was thinking I probably would never come back to a church if I got kicked out and the whole congregation knew why...But then the coolest thing happened...some of the church elders surrounded the people and the pastor asked the whole church to pray for them. And for about 5 minutes I looked around and watched in awe as the entire church audibly lifted their voices to God on behalf of these people. To see the grace and love on their faces as they prayed and their hands lifted in reverence to a holy and merciful king it was actually really amazing. By the end of it, I wanted to go to the front of the stage and have them all praying for me! Even though I couldnt understand everything, I love African church! The singing, the dancing, the pure worship.....Afterward, we went back to Jemima's house to celebrate Benjamin's big day. She made traditional celebration dish of pilau and veggies...with soda!!! It was a lovely day and I love taking part in the African culture. Congratulations to you Benjamin! :)