Sunday Worship in Nairobi June 1, 2025

 After we were picked up at Little Daughters for church, it took nearly 2 hours to get there due to it being our first time in that slum and getting the van stuck in a large mud puddle as we were navigating the slum. About 12 local guys came and tried to help, they had a shovel and a stout rope. Try as they would, the van would not move and it was so muddy that Samuel, our driver, didn't want us getting out to lighten the load. I have seen scams like this before, sometimes someone pretends to drop a motorcycle in the middle of the road and a mud puddle perfect for getting stuck is pre-planned to trap the next victim. We finally got the van going again when it turned out 2 of the guys had grown up with Samuel. They tried to shake him down for about $40, but he agreed to $10 and banked on his relationships to come through. He was right. It gave everyone in the van an adventure, but this wasn't my first rodeo, I just took it all in. We arrived at the church at 12pm and Pastor Simba had several choirs sing, he gave a beautiful sermon wrapped around Jesus' High Priestly prayer and we got to introduce ourselves to the congregation. I said a few words about all of our travel travails and how we had come to see it as the Devil trying to get in our way and how we were redoubling our efforts. A few more choirs sang, they asked us to sing for them, so we did the Doxology, and they liked it. They fed us lunch which consisted of some beef, ugali with broth (a corn meal food a little thicker than mashed potatoes that really sticks to your ribs), kale, and another vegetable.  I thought the clinic would be at a public building, but it will be in their corrugated sanctuary. Ken and I walked the grounds and figured out a workable layout with the leaders of the church. We drove back to Little Daughters for a bathroom break, and it took about 40 minutes. Rush hour during the week will be much worse.

We went to a nearby mall to purchase snacks for the week, water and clinic supplies including glass cleaner, hand sanitizer, paper towels, toilet paper, etc. I was able to shower when we were done and it felt great. My suitcase had arrived around 8am and it was nice to have a change of clothes, deodorant and get a shave. You really miss simple things when they've become more difficult. 

Time for bed. I took cell phone pictures during the service and Arron got some great video, especially of one little guy, maybe 2 years old, who kept shaking our hands and touching our arms. He probably had never seen a muzungu (white person) before. This is a common reaction and is always cute. My Internet signal is week tonight and I can't get the pictures from my phone into the laptop, that for another time. Blessings, everybody!

Dave