Victory is Mine

I have won a victory in my on-going struggle to learn Kiswahili.

We arrived early at the church on Sunday and we had to wait for the people attending the first service to leave. Liz and I were standing with a few of the girls, who sang church songs in Kiswahili. When it was my turn to sing for them, I decided to teach them "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus". Imagine my surprise when Lillian asked me, "Do you know this song?" She then proceeded to sing the same song in Kiswahili. I love the way it sounded, so I asked her to teach me the words. Within five minutes, Liz and I were singing with Lillian in both languages.

The words are really simple to learn, which probably helped, although the last line holds the last syllable in the second word longer than we do in English. In case you were wondering, here are the words:

Nime a mua kumfata Yesu
Nime a mua kumfata Yesu
Nime a mua kumfata Yesu
Sita rudi
Sita rudi

Last night, the girls held the traditional welcoming ceremony for Lisa, our newest volunteer, and Lillian and I sang a duet in Kiswahili and English. I know it is not a great huge victory, given the fact that all I did was memorize two lines, but it was a victory nonetheless and if I had a manaical laugh like those supervillains in James Bond movies, I would laugh it right now.