My Bible study with the women who sell vegetables is going pretty well. I’m not too sure what they think of what I present, but they enjoy getting together and each week there has been at least one new face! I thought I would give you a picture of what it’s like.

The women begin gathering outside our house around 1:00. They have been selling vegetables on campus since 7:30 or 8:00 and are very tired. Even the older women start out with loads of around 20kg (which is about 40 lbs.) and some carry much, much more. I arrive about 1:45, after I’ve had “library” with the first graders. Grace already has the chai going, and I bake brownies or something the night before.

We have chai together after praying, then it’s time to sing. The women love to sing and always accompany themselves with a drum. Last week I asked them to teach me one of their Kikuyu songs. After laughing and smiling big they decided I should learn Amazing Grace in Kikuyu. I really had a non-translated, original song in mind, but they think that is too far beyond me (I later asked Grace why they all laughed when I wanted to learn a song in Kikuyu. She replied that Wazungu sound so funny trying to speak Kikuyu! As I reflected, I realized that we hear non-native English speakers speaking English all the time so we don’t think a lot about accents. Very few missionaries learn Kikuyu anymore because they can use English or Swahili to communicate, so they hear very few non-native speakers of Kikuyu try it!).

Well, Grace wrote out the words and we sang the first stanza twice. Then Grace says to me, “Now you sing.” Yikes! I begged off because I my voice wasn’t all there after being sick. But I knew I could only get one week’s reprieve. This week I had to do my solo. They all clapped after I sang and didn’t laugh, just big, big smiles! So now the Peifer family has sung publicly and I have, for the first time in my life, sung a solo before a gathering of more than my immediate family! Being a missionary stretches you! In case you are curious, here are the words:

Utgi wa magegania.
Ni wa honokiria.
Riria ndari mutu mumu.
Gi hinguka mothai.

After we sing, I share for about 10 minutes. Steve was asking me about how they like it and I said, “Well, it puts them right to sleep.” He laughed, but I told him I was serious. Actually it’s only the 3 oldest women who sleep, but they ALWAYS do! (The woman who led the study before me warned me this happened. But if I had carried 50-100 pounds on my back and picked it up and put it down innumerable times, then finally got to sit with a full tummy, I would sleep too!)

After the study, we share prayer needs and praises. Recurring prayer needs are for school fees, health concerns, rain, and work for husbands and/or children. If we don’t get rain pretty soon, the crops that had been growing well, especially the maize, will be lost once again.

Then we pray, shake hands all around and the pick up their burdens and walk home-anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour of walking.

They are remarkable women. I’ve wanted to take a photo of their feet because their feet tell eloquent stories about their lives. When you think of it pray for them. There are 2 Hannahs, 2 Marys, Miriam, Zipporah, Jane, Salome, Ruth, Becky, Florence, Teresia, Esther, Elizabeth, Margaret and Grace.

Blessings to you. I look forward to seeing you in July. But, no, I’m not going to sing a solo! I’ll leave my singing career in Africa.

Nancy