We Went Grocery Shopping At Church Today

Last night Dorcus Chemingich telephoned us to let us know that there would be a special combined Thanksgiving service at St. Lukes Anglican Church this morning. So we altered our plans and arrived on time. Once in the service (which was about 90% in Swahili), we learned that it was a Thanksgiving service for the bean harvest which has just been completed. At the offering near the end of the service many of us gave cash, but there were quite a few people who brought the first fruits of their harvest. We saw beans, maize, eggs, potatoes, greens, a live chicken, a live goat and a live sheep. The animals aren't in this picture - they were kept outside.

Then it got interesting. One gentleman whom we've met before took over as a combination M.C. and auctioneer, and began taking bids on the produce from the congregation. Our friend and boss Emmanuel Chemingich explained that the church was converting the produce into cash which would be credited as donations for the people who contributed the produce. The MC/Auctioneer was really good and kept things moving along. In the picture he is moving a bag of potatoes. It was a lot of fun to watch, and eventually we got drawn in.


So, we got some quality produce at church today - in the picture you can see that we got some potatoes, some avocados, some bananas and some beans. We also got a small bag of eggs. It was quite an experience and once again took us back to what Thanksgiving services might have looked like one hundred years ago in small towns all across America.

Now all we have to do is figure out how to cook the beans!