Church

Christianity is the cornerstone of rural life in South Africa; most of the churches are of Christian denomination. Some of the nicest buildings in the villages are churches, however, some church services are held in school classrooms and family living rooms. Although the main church services occur between 9:00 am and 2:00 pm on Sunday, there are also services held every evening and midnight services approximately once a month. Our family hosted a midnight service during our stay that lasted from 8:00 pm to 1:00 am. We have attended a few Sunday church services (one held at our house and one in a school classroom) and they are truly a cultural experience. The family starts preparing for the day early in the morning so that everything is finished before the start of the church service. Breakfast is eaten, clothes are ironed, shoes are washed, lunch is prepared and dishes are washed in preparation. The church services we attended consisted of lots of impromptu singing, started by whoever was moved to sing at that moment, group praying, and a sermon, all in a variety of languages. Praying involved kneeling on the floor and resting our arms on our chairs while speaking one’s individual prayer out loud. Our family also prayed in this manner before going to bed. The meld of loud and soft voices in a variety of languages was beautiful. It sounded like a stew slowly coming to boil. The praying would go on for an extended period of time and after which voices would start to fade out from the symphony finally punctuated with one gogo’s loud wails. We had to explain to our family afterwards that we are used to praying silently and are a bit uncomfortable about praying out loud. The congregations were always excited to have guest and went out of their way to make us feel welcomed. Our brother Jan (who does not usually attend church) translated one of the sermons for us and we were given an English bible for another sermon. Church is followed by a large lunch which is much appreciated since we are all very hungry after sitting through a 3-4 hour service! A sample lunch consists of fried chicken, beets, carrot salad, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, baked beans with mayonnaise and lots of rice. The rest of the day is devoted to relaxing (the teenagers love to watch American professional wrestling!) and spending time with the family.

pictures: Laiza using her golden voice to lead a hymn at church, So cute!, The congregation outside the school used for church, Typical Sunday lunch