St Andrew's in Voi

​I asked at my lodgings if there was a church they recommended nearby for Sunday morning. Already I'd heard loud music, speaking in tongues, Muslim calls to prayer, and more from where I was staying. With open-air pavilion-style meeting places, sound carries far and wide. My favorite staff person, Neema, seemed to suggest St. Andrew's. 
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I arrived around 11, interrupting the service, thanks to the usher who led me near the front of the meeting space. The Anglican priest switched from Swahili to English, stating the obvious, "We have a guest today..." I was welcomed and had the opportunity to share a few words to introduce myself. Then I was assigned an interpreter named Kaipha to sit next to me. If I understood him correctly, he also has connections with Compassion and was eager to meet with me afterwards. I then also met Grace, a director of, I forget what.

Back to the service - I was just in time for a couple of numbers from the choir of nearly 20 voices with rich multi-part harmony. It was worth being there just for that. Then a praise team of 7 led some more music with everyone standing. 
A young woman intern gave the message based on Daniel, the brave man thrown in the fire for not worshipping the local gods. She seemed like a gifted preacher, though the decimals were at the top of my threshold for tolerance. 

The offering was unlike any I've seen. People filed to the front, dropping in a wooden box identical, wallet-like envelopes of shillings (or M-Pesa - kind of a national Venmo?) The ushers, as you can see, wore reflective vests and were all business, following various protocols of putting the box in a bag afterwards, etc. It was fascinating.

I thought of PMC, eleven time zones behind us here, and was warmed by the anticipation of when we'll worship together again. I also felt the spiritual abundance and diversity of the church worldwide. I'm very blessed to experience it in Voi, Kenya.