How many languages does it take to have a church service?

Last Saturday a Maasai friend of mine named Daniel invited me to go to the local church of Kimana. Considering that my previous experience with religion at West Nairobi Missionary School was the opposite of ideal, I was quite hesitant to go near anything that had to do with evangelical Christians. “But there will be lots of singing and dancing!” he told me. Singing and dancing with Kenyans? How could I resist.

As we drove up I noticed that the church was nothing more than a tiny, plain cement building, but was clearly bursting with energy and music. I immediately noticed that the music was not the typical hallelujah either – it was up beat Kenyan music with a 90’s pop beat in the background along with a keyboard that sounded like an African instrument. As I walked in (already smiling and swaying to the music) I noticed that all the Maasai women were at the front, the men were in the middle and all the children were standing in the back. Everyone had their hands in the air and were swinging their hips and bobbing their heads. Africans are incredible dancers!! Their fluid motions make westerners look like chickens when we dance. Different women traded off at the microphone and sang a variety of songs, all which had incredible beats and made it impossible to not dance.

Eventually a young pastor dressed in a mismatching worn out suit got up in front of the church and started to speak in Swahili. He practically yelled into the microphone, which then blasted out of the speaker that was right next to him. It was completely unnecessary for the tiny room, but made me fully alert. Daniel got up with another microphone and started translating everything he said into English (just as loudly). Sometimes the pastor switched over to English for part of a sentence and Daniel would translate that part of the sentence into Swahili. Occasionally they would go between English or Maasai or Swahili or Maasai. It was extremely confusing, but quite entertaining to watch the two men bounce languages off each other while speaking as fast as possible. There wasn’t a split second of silence for the next hour. I had a hard time following the sermon but it had something to do with the difference between wisdom and knowledge and what it takes to be a wise man (all the Maasai women continually nodded their heads in approval).

After the sermon all the kids got up and did an unbelievable choreographed dance to the same up-beat music. Kids as young as three years old were already incredible at moving their hips and shoulders and bobbing their heads. I could have watched them dance all day it was so entertaining. Afterwards a group of adults squeezed into the front of the room and sang a song while dancing.

I was actually very disappointed when I looked down at my watch and realized that three hours had already gone by and that I had to go head back for lunch. The service was certainly not going to be over anytime soon. It was slightly bizarre to see native Maasai people practicing Christianity but I was amazed at the cheerfulness and energy that radiated throughout the church. People obviously loved being together and singing and dancing and it was impossible to leave in a bad mood.