Kasibi Village

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with tambourine and dancing; praise him with the strings and flute,
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord
Psalm 150: 1-2, 4, and 6

We were invited to attend church at the Kasibi Church of Christ. Leonard and his family are members of the Kasibi village. Our caravan journey began at 8:30am. We started down the road that leads us to The Haven everyday. We eventually turned onto a long, narrow, bumpy, road (we would call it a two wheel path in the US) that we have become very accustomed to. Once again the weeds on either side of the road were taller than our faithful Khaki Jacki, but of course she pulled us through. There in the middle of nowhere was the Kasibi Church of Christ. We were greeted by Leonard and his wonderful smile. There were only a few people present when we arrived. Soon after a Deacon rang the church bell and the congregation started to arrive. The wooden benches started to fill so the service was moved outside. Harold, Leonard’s son, was the worship leader. After the sermon, the Kasibi Church of Christ singers sang several selections. They were wonderful and the harmony was great. The visitor’s were then asked to render three songs. This really excited Mrs. McLain, she had prepared us well, but visitors from TX and OK joined us so it was not the same. Once church was dismissed, the congregation had a fellowship. African American and Africans define fellowship as ‘lining up to shake hands with everyone in the congregation.’

Leonard cooked and invited the entire congregation to his farm to eat. He just so happened to have cooked my favorite African meal: Nshima with soup on it, relish (cabbage), rice, and chicken. If you are a loyal follower you know we had dessert. Today it was a chocolate cake labeled Kasibi Church of Christ cake. Lunch, of course, was wonderful.

There was also great after lunch entertainment. There was a band, singing and dancing. Brittany, Meredith and Jessica were so overjoyed that they joined the dancing circle. Oh I failed to mention that circle also included a mother dancing while nursing her baby. I even thought B Weave was about to join the circle, she had a little sway going and there was a twinkle in her eye that I had never seen. I even caught Sara moving her feet to the beat with a little short Zambian (Jason). We had a marvelous time but like everything else it had to end.

I think I can speak for everyone by saying “WE ARE GOING TO MISS LEONARD!”

Mary Cat