November 13
We had morning breakfast at 7:30 and left for worship at Kijota
at 8:30. Arrived at Kijota and greeted
once again by Grace Sima with a full breakfast prepared. Walked to the church after the meal where we
met with Pastor Sarah and our translators for the worship service. The translators were girls from Vivian
Gulleen. 
All of us were seated in chairs
around the altar, so we were very much front and center. There were nearly 500 people at the worship
service, made up of the Kijota congregation along with two sub-congregations of
Kijota Lutheran. There were six choirs
that performed during the worship service and they all had wonderful
voices. The liturgy was also very
beautiful with the pastor singing and the congregation responding in song. Pastor Sarah has a wonderful singing voice,
as does the congregation. It was simply
awe-inspiring. Bishop Sima introduced us
to the congregation and each of us gave a few words of greetings, love and
encouragement from Mt Olive and discussed the purpose of our trip. Pastor Laura was asked to give the sermon for
the worship service, with Bishop Sima providing translation. She did an outstanding job and was very well
received by the congregation. We then received
gifts of African wraps (clothing) and very nice painted gourds. We announced our gift of a computer for their
congregation for Pastor Sarah to use, and Pastor Laura presented paraments, a
cross for Pastor Sarah, and a leather bound version of the ELW hymnal. At the conclusion of the service, everyone
went outside and proceeded to auction off items and goods that people gave
for their offering (eggs, live chicken,
onions, etc.). We shared greetings with
many of the congregation after the service, especially the children.
After this, we were invited to Pastor Sarah’s house for
lunch. Then we had a small meeting with
Bishop and Grace Sima, Pastor Sarah and some women from the Kijota-Mt Olive
partnership committee. We discussed thoughts
and ideas for future partnership. There
were some very exciting ideas passed around that we will explore with Mt Olive
when we return. Pastor Sarah is excited
about being able to communicate with us using the new laptop that we
provided.
Al
