church

- went to a pentacostal church in a psuedo-slum outside nairobi. still trying to digest it. we got brought by nicodumas, one of the security guards weve befriended at kenyatta u (side note: everyone from nairobi u looks down at kenyatta u, sort of a stanford-berkeley relationship since kenyatta u is mostly kids on gov scholarships). we had to walk through a half market half slum to get to it, in which i think i stepped beyond trash and other stuff to actual dirt zero times.

blood of christ ministries is about a 100 people large in a shoe-box shaped hole-in-the-wall. it is run by prophet elijah, who apparently predicted the rise of a "black king" in america as well as the financial crisis. given teh number of prophecies he offered in the 3 and 1/2 hour long services, im not suprised.

the services included three long-winded (but very passionate) speeches focusing on very simple religious themes (you reap what you sew, raise the roof for jesus, and the miracles of proph elijah) in which we raised up to sing and dance and "give a hand for jesus" every 5 minutes or so. some folks convulsed and spoke in toungues but we had a really good time singing, dancing, and being yelled at about the dangers of non-submission.

the services were in swahili though they had a translator just for me and the three others i came with. we were also called up on stage and shown off (nicodumas was very proud) -- awkward moment came when each of us was asked if we were born again.

we also got to be miracle workers. in one of the segments in which prophet elijah talked about the prophecies he had made / was making and the miracles he had either witnessed or caused, he brought up two folks and asked them if they wanted to see a miracle (obvi yes). the miracle, apparently, was getting to shake a white persons hand for the first time in the life, somthing i (somewhat awkwardly) obliged.

we were also brought into the pastor's office after the event and told to keep in contact and not to stray to any other minstries.

im not really sure what to make of the whole experience (other than, without a good sound system, 3 and 1/2 hours is a bit long for services). on one hand, its hard for me to judge somthing everyone seemed really into and excited about, it seemed like a great community building venture, and folks in need appeard to be getting a lot of support. on the other, prophet elijah and other leaders appeared the only well-fed folks in the church (besides the "white visitors" as we were called), and when met face to face, he didnt actually seem that prophetic. it would be an interesting thing to study more in depth, i think.