I wept. Again.

Church makes me cry, for some reason. We arent really attending a church regularly here in Kenya. Our drive to see as much countryside as possible during the weekends has kept us from picking one community with whom to celebrate on Sunday. This last weekend we attended the Mennonite Hymn Sing again. And it was great. And i wept. Again. I cant exactly put my finger on what i am overflowing with during a gathering of Saints, praising the One God with One voice: mourning church disagreements perhaps, mourning denominational misunderstandings, or simply overflowing with awe at the incredible unity that emanates from a group of people* who gather to sing hymns for the pure joy of it.

I had to smile when, after a few sad attempts at a song that few people knew, someone suggested having one person who knew the song to run it through first and then we'd all follow. Does that happen in any other fellowship than Mennonite? (i dont know, i'm asking) Like, "let's not give up on this song that we know could be so beautiful an offering of praise to our God. Let's forget our sad first attempts and allow someone to help us..." and then it was beautiful.

I also appreciate that every time i attend Mennonite Hymn Sing (the two times we've gone) they sing 606 at the finish (606, for those who dont sing it every family gathering, is the extended version of Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow). It's heavenly. Mostly because it reminds me so potently of my Reimer family... except that at Mennonite Hymn Sing they sing it terrr rrr iiiii bbbb lll yy sssslll oooooooooooowww lly! For almost every other song the song leader encourages us all not to let it drag... but then she allows 606 to drag on interminably. Bah! It's a PRAISE song for goodness sake! Praise is supposed to be lively, isnt it?!

After Hymn Sing we loiter around eating cake and drinking coffee and chatting with people. I happened to see a chap with a "CMU Blazers" t-shirt on. Since i used to work for CMU and the shirt put me back in the "meet and greet" mode, i struck up conversation with the guy and his buddies. Happens they are from Winkler. and the guy played hockey with my little brother this last winter. small world. Well, it sure is if you live in Kenya rather than Madagascar. (although i did meet one of my little brothers' friends in Madagascar too now that i remember... perhaps it's more that my little brother has a big world of friends ;-)

I'm looking forward to celebrating Sunday in Manitoba in a few weeks. We have made the decision for me and Judah to return to Canada straight from Kenya rather than route through Madagascar for 6+ weeks. Praise the Lord for that!! If everything works out with the ticketing, i hope to survive 16+ hours of flight time with my 3 year old without either of us getting lost sometime early-mid June. Haha! Jocelyn scores an almost full summer in Canada after all!! And Josh scores a weekend in the Kenyan game park sleeping in a tent with lions and leopards prowling around in the dark. I hope he wont need to use the loo in the night, is all i can say. :-) Josh will return to Madagascar mid-June and hopefully do a bit of flying prior to leaving for Canada at the end of July.




* and i dont think it's only Mennonites at the Mennonite Hymn Sing, they dont check your i.d. for your last name before you enter.