Church

Dear Aunt Alice,

While sitting in church today (Sunday, February 06, 2011), I couldn’t help but think how much you would love to see Kikaonde churches!! Church here differs drastically from home (as I imagined it would). The building has concrete walls and a tin roof. You have to walk quite a ways down a dirt path to get there, but many of the women still wear high heels (I have no idea how they manage – the path is not at all easy to maneuver). There are no fans or A/C, no lights and the only instrument I’ve seen there is a drum. The pews are backless wooden benches, arranged in a bit of a half circle. There are two choirs and they sit on the right and left sides of the half circle. There are two pulpits situated between the choirs. When it is time for the sermon, two of the church men come forward and stand in the pulpits, one preaching and the other translating.

The church service consists of a great deal of singing. Though the songs are announced in English, the congregation sings in Kikaonde, so I only know what I’m singing if it’s a translation of a hymn that I know (this morning we sang, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus” in Kikaonde). I absolutely LOVE the multi-part harmonies!! Clapping tends to be much more intricate than it is at home (it can be a rhythm of three short claps followed by two longer ones or something along those lines) and I can only keep up with the clapping if I’m not singing!!