A Prayer Answered

Today our group went to Nairobi Chapel for a refreshing worship experience. The service was held in an old auditorium, and the congregation was actually holding its last worship there before moving to a large tent across town. The place was packed with a mixture of Kenyans and foreigners, with all types of skin tones represented. They used PowerPoint to display the song lyrics, and a marvelous praise band led us from one praise to the next. Many people prayed out loud and led us in dancing, singing and praising. Afterwards, the head minister shared some announcements, tying them directly into scripture. Then a guest pastor spoke, and later the head pastor asked him some more direct and pointed questions about his sermon in order to clarify and bring out some of the more important pieces of the message. The whole thing last about two hours and yet did not seem that long at all.

This Sunday was an answer to prayer. I had decided that morning that I would fast. I had been struggling with what I wanted to do in Kenya; what I wanted to accomplish. I kept looking to my job, or my site-coordinator, or all the friends and people I was meeting to give me purpose and direction. I even had the notion to train and run in the Nairobi Marathon on October 23rd – anything to give me some sort of reason to be here. I emerged from the service refreshed, having fully relaxed into God’s love for me and those around me. I no longer felt like I needed to accomplish something. Rather, I felt enraptured in God’s redeeming grace, set free to live a life of love and gratitude.

That afternoon I went to see Cinderella Man and bawled my eyes out. No longer was I caught up in trying to find purpose or being aware of my surroundings in order to decide how to react. Instead, I was a man freed by grace to be moved by God’s spirit, whether it be in worship or in a movie or walking the streets of Nairobi. Wherever I roam, so does the Spirit, and I amgrateful to have a cleansed heart and renewed perspective.