Good Friday - Ijumaa Kuu

The Way of the Cross - Njia ya Msalaba

Following the Cross with the Kenya skyline in the backdrop.

Good Friday was yet another powerful experience this week. I walked in the mud through a slum, accompanying church members on the Way of the Cross. Fourteen times along the way, everyone stopped to remember a moment of Christ's suffering. A brief prayer was spoken over a portable loudspeaker. Kneeling down to just above the level of the mud, we bowed our heads and prayed before proceeding, singing along the way.

The Way of the Cross in the slums.
Gum boots are common during the rainy season.
John captured this image of my borrowed pair & silhouette in a mud puddle.

There was a man directing us from behind, and later I found that he had been chosen to watch over us, as visitors, and guide us so we wouldn't slip along the way. I cannot help but think of all the challenges that we people we joined yesterday encounter on their way, in their daily lives. Whether it be the mud, the lack of funds for their basic needs, or the many other challenges of living in a slum. And yet, they were watching out for me.

Arriving at the church for the final station.

Another Farewell

Good Friday brought a happy farewell for us - and an early Easter gift from Angela. She has been one of my friends at the hostel. Angela has been studying English, in preparation for going to Kampala University for a degree in counseling. She has been a joy and a great Swahili tutor. She was elated last night to be traveling back to her family in Tanzania for a month before her program starts in Uganda.