Choir song: Just a sample of what the choir’s up to at Engaruka Juu.

Engaruka Lutheran Parish is a single parish composed of six congregations. The main congregation is at the church building in Engaruka Juu. The five satellite congregations are spread across the countryside to minister to those who live too far from Engaruka Juu to walk to church. Three of the satellite congregation opened between 2005 and 2007, showing the need and mission of the church to minister to rural areas.

The congregations are each led by an evangelist who reports to Pastor Lekojja. They meet occasionally to coordinate their messages and talk about challenges and solutions. Due to the distances between settlements in this arid landscape, and to the lack of phone reception, communication is difficult between congregations. Some of the congregations are more than 40 kilometers apart.

The ‘extracurricular’ activites are the women’s department, the evangelism team, and the various choirs. The choirs in Engaruka Juu and Engaruka Chini meet twice a week to practice their songs and dance moves for the Sunday service. They occasionally go to choir competitions with other Lutheran church choirs in the diocese. An Engaruka choir was a finalist in the diocese-wide annual choir competition in 2009.

The evangelism group members spend their Sunday afternoons going to bomas (Maasai homesteads) in the bush to minister. It's a joyous time for singing and dancing. They walk for hours to reach their destinations — a testimony to their love of their neighbors and their understanding of the importance of sharing the Gospel with non-believers.

The church service at Engaruka Juu on Sunday morning begins around 10 a.m. By the time the church bell rings, the women inside have already been singing for some time. The pastor enters the church, flanked by two other white-robed men. The service follows the order of worship found in the Swahili version of the Lutheran Book of Worship, which is called Mwimbieni Bwana (Sing ye to the Lord). The service weaves between the national language, Swahili, and the local language, Kimaasai. It is a bilingual time of singing and dancing, praising and worshipping. 

The small church is filled mostly with women. Many are wearing traditional Maasai wear. Others are wearing tired second-hand t-shirts and old khangas, the Swahili-style cloth that women across Africa wear like a skirt around their hips and legs. Some of the women are carrying babies or toting young children with them. There are a few older children and a few men among the worshippers.

Lekojja’s story: How I came to Engaruka. English translation.

Evangelism story: Daudi narrates his walk with the team. Transcript.