All the Mozambique-ans that I've met are quite religious. The first question my host family asked me was whether or not I go to church. My new neighbors at least waited until the fourth or fifth question to ask about my religious affiliation. I tell them that No, I don't go to church. They lower their eyes, kick the ground and say "Oh". Going to church is important in these parts.
This is my awesome neighbor, Serge. On my first night in town he took me on a drive around town and showed me his church.
A few days after that (when we were making plans for that first, overwhelming, Big-City trip) he invited me to attend his baptism on the 23rd.
Kim and I went.
Serge attends the Presbyterian church. So, this is how it went:
Serge told me that we'd leave at 7:45 and pick Kim up at 8. True to form, Serge knocked on my door at 6:45 to make sure I was up and getting ready. We left at 7:45, picked up Kim then ran to the market and Serge bought some ice cream bars for all of us. I guess this is a normal pre-church snack. From there we drove to the church. It's a chapa-de-zinco (that means...metal sheets) building. (that means, it heats up like an oven. And it's summer). We sat in the car for about 40 minutes waiting for the Pastor to arrive from the Big City. Then it was on. We went into the church. We sat. The whole service was in Changana (the local language) so we didn't understand anything. I'm sure it was a very interesting service.
There was lots of singing, and lots of sitting and standing. There was a baptism.
It lasted 4 hours. I was prepared for the service to last at least 6 hours (I've heard horror stories), but was pleasantly surprised when we broke for snacks around the 4 hour mark. Honestly I might have died of heat stroke if it had gone any longer--and that would have ended the service anyway. Or, made it longer? I can't say for sure.
This is Serge's Family--and Kim! That building in the background is the new church that's under construction. I can't wait. Looks much cooler.
No comments:
Post a Comment