Thursday, 16 September 2010
Church
Having asked James whether he went to church, he replied saying ‘have you never been to an African church before?’. We tentatively replied ‘no’ not knowing what we had let ourselves in for.
Church for James in Kenema is the Faith Assembly of God Church, an evangelical, all-singing, all-dancing affair. Whatever we had envisaged, it was triple the atmosphere. It began at 11am with Onward Christian Soldiers (which we missed cos we were late and it turned out to be the only hymn!). Following this there were lots of welcomes, introductions, explanations (it was a special service of thanksgiving to a young adult group) and lots of fanning (no a/c). Then the singing really started, crescendoing from significantly loud to deafening, but it was all good fun. Some of the songs were in Mende (local dialect), Creole (local dialect) and English (West African accent style). We managed to nod along, did some clapping, a few bum wiggles and the odd hum/moan/grunt from Caz as she tried to join in.
An hour later, very hot, we resumed seating for the magical unveiling of the flower-strewn pulpit/lectern. This was a gift in celebration of the young adult group. The ceremony involved various sets of donations from the congregation, for which you received a flower on a pin. After 3 or 4 layers of flower-covered cloth, the pulpit was finally revealed in all its glory. Much thanks was given and it was christened by one of the longest/loudest sermons we have ever heard. With hindsight, perhaps sitting next to the speaker was a mistake. Already 2 ½ hours in to the service, none of us were expecting what followed. The pastor in question was a big man with a booming voice who had come all the way from the sister church in Freetown for this special day. The essence of his talk was about being good Christians which was such a good message that it took half an hour to summarise, having taken 45 minutes already to get to the point. So involved in his lecture he was (some of which he screamed, some he shouted and some he simply spat) that I think he barely noticed the very helpful assistant who mopped up the streaming sweat from his face halfway through. Lots of ‘hallelujah’s, ‘young adults on fire for Jesus’s, ‘make some noise for the Lord’s and praying later, he sat down.
You’d think by this stage everyone would be exhausted and need a Sunday roast, but no. It continued. More messages/announcements/welcomes/thank yous were needed. There was more praying, singing and crying and after 4 hours of devotion we were presented with a sardine sandwich and a coke. Which tasted like heaven.
What more could you need?! It was such a privilege to be part of and we met some lovely people. However next time (strangely we want to go back) we may take a seat cushion, a glucose drip and put ourselves near the door (not the speaker).
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