Worship

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.  Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in Heaven.”       Lamentations 3:40-41a

The most glorious worship can be found in the most unlikely places – a tin building with a dirt floor or a tent next to a garbage dump.  When I read the story of Job I always wonder if I would still praise God if everything was stripped away.  Many of my Kenyan brothers and sisters in Christ can answer with a confident “Yes”.  They lift their hands and their voices to praise the Most High God from rented buildings that would only qualify as sheds in America.  They sing and sway while standing on uneven concrete floors or dirt ones.  They listen intently from uncomfortable wooden benches or rented plastic chairs.  And they bring an offering despite the fact that lunch will likely consist of greens and baked cornmeal or nothing at all.  They worship God because He is God.  He has given them life and breath and salvation through His son.

A portion of a popular Christian song comes to mind.   “When the music fades, all is stripped away and I simply come, wanting just to bring something that’s of worth.”  For most of the worshipers in Kenya the only music is the melody of their voices and the rhythm of their hands.  Everything else has already been stripped away.  Yet I know their worship drifts up as a sweet fragrance to the Lord.  Can the same be said of me?

I was back in my home church in Memphis today.  I felt homesick in a way I cannot explain - in a way that seems irrational.  I exchanged little more than passing greetings with most of the people I met in Kenya.  Yet I miss being there as if I had known them a lifetime.  I miss the sweet fellowship and worship I experienced there.  I don’t mean to imply that there are no true worshipers in the church I attend.  I know there are many.  But frankly, there are a lot of people there for other reasons.  I know I have often been guilty of filling a seat rather than truly worshiping God. 

Thankfully I learned from the example of my Kenyan friends that worship is about God, not about what or who is around me.  So I worshiped God because He is God.  He has given me life and breath and salvation through His son.  He has given me the promise of heaven where I will spend eternity in worship even more glorious than what I experienced in Kenya.  Maybe that homesick feeling isn’t so irrational after all.

One of the churches in the Mt. Elgon area.

Women's conference at a church in Nairobi.  The ladies are learning to crochet sleeping mats, handbags and baskets from discarded plastic bags. The plastic chairs are rented because a former landlady has locked up the ones the church owns.   She began seeing dollar signs when she found out that they received support from an American organization.  

This church meets in the dinning hall of a feeding station in Kipsonga, which is a poor community near Kitalie.  The church members are parents and grandparents (mostly grandparents) of children who are served by the feeding station.  They were drawn to Jesus by the love and care shown to their children at the feeding station which also doubles as a school.   Notice the small benches the congregation is sitting on in the background. 

The children come in and out during the service.  Mostly they play outside. They are taught about God and His son Jesus at the feeding station all through the week.  The little girl on my right with the beautiful smile spoke excellent English and helped me communicate with the younger kids.

Outside the Seeds Ministry tent church in Kitalie. You can see the public dump in front of the church.  Services are held every weekday at noon in addition to the regular Sunday service.

Inside the tent church during one of the noon weekday meetings.