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The first Sunday we were at Kihesa, Pastor Don Fultz preached, in English. Pastor Muro is translating his sermon to Kiswahili.

On our first Sunday, there was a concert in the afternoon. Here Jeff is talking to the gathering and Pastor Muro is translating. Note the Kihesa Tshirt that Pastor Muro and Jeff are wearing. We will be having these for sale one of these days.

Pastor Muro. Behind him is Kihesa church. The workers are in line getting their lunch. Jane and Amanda are handing out pop, a real treat. After the first day, our group realized that the parishioners who showed up every day were not taking breaks or eating anything. We arranged through Pastor Muro to buy, cook and serve food to everyone who came to work and the children. This was not exactly like calling up Subway for takeout. It meant things like having 100 lb. bags of rice delivered on bicycle to Pastor Muro's house, so another group of the women from the church can cook this along with vegetables to feed the 100+ people who came to work everyday plus children. Cooking is done over wood fires outside.

This is the entrance to the Preaching Point church at Mtwivila. Note the bell hanging in the tree to call the people to church.

This shows the front of the sanctuary in the Kihesa church. Pastor Muro is reading from the Bible.

One evening we were invited to the home of one of the choir directors, Robert. He is the nephew of one of the elders, Linus. Linus also owns a neighborhood store/restaurant. He invited our whole group and the other elders of the Kihesa congregation, and the youth group in his neighborhood. There was much dancing and singing, talking and laughing. Here Jeff and Muro are talking/ translating at the meeting we had before we ate.

Preaching Points are the satellite churches connected to the Mother church. Kihesa has at least 10 preaching points. We were able to visit one of them. It is in the little village of Mtwivila about 5 miles from Kihesa. When the bus finally lurched to a stop, all the people came through the cornfield to greet us. They were singing and dancing. Then we all came into their church, where they had brought in living room sofa and chairs and tables for us to sit on. This is the view that we had of the congregation as we were sitting in front facing them. They had singing groups for us, a drama in which 3 teenagers performed a skit about sharing, all in English. We found out later that the kids didn't really know English that well, but had written the skit, translated it and then memorized it in English. The inside of this church was so beautiful and colorful, as are the people. (You can see the sunlight shining through the roof and sides of the building).

The second Sunday we worshipped at Kihesa, was also the day for the laying of the cornerstone for the Youth Life Skills Center. After the second service the ceremony took place. Aren't the colors just magnificent?