Old Moshi, Day four (July 12, 2008)

Sunday, our final day in Kikarara. The day started early, as the church bell is rung at 5 AM on Sunday morning. Most of us managed to get a few more minutes of sleep before getting up and getting ready for Church. Kikarara has two Sunday services, at 7:30 and 10:00 AM. We attended both – the first is a very traditional Lutheran Service, in Swahili. The second service is what we might call blended – a guitar band leading part of the service, but the choir also sang a capella. This service is in Chagga, or whatever the Chagga tribe calls its native tongue. We were just as fluent in Chagga as we were in Swahili...

There are some notable differences compared to our service. The first is that they have two offerings per service, and you all file past a plate or basket to deposit the offering. The first offering is your usual pledge, and the second is called a "Thanks Offering". One of the Kolili High School math teachers sat next to me during the second service and interpreted, so I had a better idea of what was going on.

We were all introduced to the congregation during each service, and Pastor Rick gave the sermon, while Godbless translated.

The second big difference from our services occurs right after the service. We all file out the back of the church, and gather around the back steps for the Auction. Some parishioners contribute goods instead of cash, so the bananas or eggs or other fruits & vegetables are auctioned off, and the cash goes to the offering. The Math teacher asked if we did this in Cupertino, and I had to explain that we did not. Several of the items were purchased in our name; we had some fabulous fresh bananas and something called a Jackfruit, which had the texture of a green bell pepper but tasted something like an apple.

We had some time available after church, which we spent organizing our luggage, repacking and giving out some of the gifts we brought for the parish. We had a late lunch, which overlapped with our intended departure time, so our farewells were a bit rushed. We rode our tour bus down to the Keys Hotel, where the Kilimanjaro group is staying overnight, said some more goodbyes, and headed to the airport.

As I write this, Elaine, Lois, Sharon, Terre and myself are in Amsterdam, awaiting our connecting flight home.

I expect to have some summary thoughts later, after I've had a chance to catch up on my sleep and figure out what time zone I'm living in. Stay tuned.