African timing!

This Sunday we had planned to be at Fred and Esther’s church, which they planted at the beginning of this year in a town about half an hour away, called Bungoma. Fred told us that normally they meet for the service between 8 and 10am, but because we are here (and probably not as accustomed to being at church at 8am!), they would change the service to 10-12. This sounded a good idea and we even thought we might have time to call at Gospel Springs church after to say goodbye to some dear people, especially little Levi! We set off about 9.30, which would have got us to church in reasonable time, had it not been for the police pulling us over on the way. This in itself was not unusual, as they regularly pull people of the road (by quickly pushing a mobile set of road spikes in front of you, so you’re not tempted to keep driving), then usually they just have a quick chat with Jose, look in the van to greet us and send us on our way. On this occasion however, a larger than life policewoman was not content with just a greeting, nor was she pacified by the fact that we were on our way to church. In fact she was quite determined to find fault with something and got Jose out of the van with all his paperwork and kept him for some time. She then came to us through the window and asked Hugh and Zeph why they were not wearing seatbelts, (the rest of us had had the good sense to quickly put them on when we spotted the police!). Hugh tried to pull out the British sense of humour card and charm his way out, but getting round this formidable African lady was not going to prove that easy. He then tried to play the law abiding card and put his seatbelt on, but she told him off, saying it was too late for that and said she was going to arrest him and take him to the police station, and asked him, ‘Do you accept the charge?’. Even Zeph’s youthful charm had no effect, (‘I’ve had my seatbelt on for the journey, I just took it off when we pulled in, to have a little stretch’)! At this point we started to wonder whether we would ever get to church at all, as Jose was still at the roadside for quite some time under her interrogation. She was likely looking for a bribe to get us off the hook, but thanks to Jose’s calm and gentle nature and absolute integrity, she eventually let us on our way.

So we eventually arrived at church about 10.30, but needn’t have worried about being late at all, as clearly the service was nowhere near starting, most people hadn’t arrived yet and Esther and some kind ladies were cooking lunch for everyone in huge pots under a tree behind the church. We were ushered to our seats anyway and a song called ‘Amen’ was playing on repeat. I started singing along and Zach asked if I knew it, I said I didn’t before but after a few runs through, it was getting quite familiar. (Little did we realise quite how many times through we would hear it and then subsequently actually sing along!)

After a while of sitting, Zeph, Caleb and Nathaniel decided to venture back outside and have some running races with Marlon, and a little girl called Rachel who took a liking to them. Zach and I followed out a few minutes later, as Hugh had disappeared on a wander with Fred, and it didn’t seem that the start of the service was nigh! In the end the service was from about 11.30-2.30, which even by African standards was a far cry from 10-12! We then enjoyed a few minutes of beautiful sunshine whilst the church was prepared for lunch. Thankfully we had just got back inside the building when an almighty hail storm descended suddenly upon us. With hailstones bouncing around outside and a sound like gunshots on the corrugated iron building, it was a definite conversation-stopper!

We were treated to a huge lunch of rice, ugali, meat, chapati and cabbage, with some 30 people being fed and more food to spare. The hail then stopped enough for Fred to announce that we would soon be starting our next service, which Hugh would be speaking at. The boys shot me an ‘I thought we were going home’ glance and I quickly whispered to Hugh that we really should get back to pack up in daylight ready for travelling to Uganda tomorrow. Hugh started his sermon explaining he would be brief as ‘my wife has said we need to pack, and in UK it is the wives who are the boss’.....hmmm, I’ll remember that when we’re home!

We did manage to ‘wrap it up’ and be on our way by 4.30 and were sent off with some kind greetings and offers to return and visit people again. We took some mixed tea when back at Number 70 guesthouse to give us a bit of energy for packing up the van, then Fred and Esther came and joined us for dinner (more food!) and to say goodbye.Read more