AIC

This morning a group of us from IU house went to church at the African Inland Church. It was pretty fun. (Despite the fact that we were up until about 3am this morning at Spree. I just can't do that anymore. Those days have flown).

The church itself was very big, and as the service went on, more and more people kept showing up. By the time the service was over, people were packed into every pew and aisle. There were even quite a few people standing outside. One of our Kenyan friends told us that churches here tend to be like that anyway, as over 80% of the population is Christian. But today it was a little worse, as we had 3 special guest speakers at the end of the service. These were 3 men who are currently running for Kenyan president, so they were there basically drumming up support for their campaigns. One of the men was the clear favorite, and our Kenyan friend told us that he is the most powerful member of Parliament right now. He's who most people hope will win, I guess, because he stands the greatest chance of ending government corruption.

I'm usually one that tends to shy away from such blatant mixing of politics and religion, but at least there were multiple candidates there instead of just presenting one viewpoint. More importantly, in a place like Kenya where many people don't own TVs or buy newspapers, campaigning at churches is the easiest way to reach the most amount of people. The sermon was appropriate too -- it was about the wisdom of Solomon and how political leaders need to emulate him.

The service iteself was in English, though they did sing a few songs in Swahili. They do 2 English services and 1 Swahili service every Sunday -- I think it would be fun to go to a Swahili service at some point. It "started" at 9:00, though the doors the church didn't open until about 9:15 or so. And, it "ended" at 10:30, which really means 11:15 in KT (or, Kenyan Time, as we like to call it). The choir was very good, and overal we had a good time.

Then it was time to cook Sunday Brunch with the crew at IU house -- we made omlettes and chai. Very tasty! And now, now it is time to nap. Then Swahili lesson and gearing up for another weak on the Nyayo Wards.

Kwa Herini!