Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Rhythm and Hospitality

One day in, and I think the two words that best describe South Africa are rhythm and hospitality. I suspect the descriptions fit for most of the continent, as well.

We travelled to the township of Tsakane and All Souls Church for the opening service of the conference and were greeted by drums and bugles, waving clapping crowds lining the street. "Welcome! Welcome!" shouted to us as we made our way into the church.

I won't go into detail about the service itself, except to say that the choirs were everything I'd hoped they'd be. Amazing rhythms and harmonies. So energizing!

And after the 2-hour service? The women of the church had spend all day preparing a meal for all 350 of us! Chicken and beef and rice and pumpkin and a variety of potatoes and salads. All delicious, except for the African porridge, which I didn't much care for. But the work that went into all of this was just incredible.

Rhythm and hospitality to last a lifetime!



School girls in Tsakane greet us as we arrive.


Members of the Mothers' Union give us a warm welcome as we enter the church.

The young acolytes dance to the music of the choir and drums after the service. (I'm sure they were dancing for joy that it was over!)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great news, sis. I hope your whole journey is as inspirational for all the lives you touch as I'm sure it will be inspirational to you. Many prayers coming your way!
love, lil sis

Liz Hinds said...

I bet it's glorious! Can you get us a sound-clip?

MaryB said...

Thanks, Sis. This is an incredible place!

Liz, if I can figure out how to add audio, I will. I did manage to capture a bit of audio/video in addition to the still photos.

Bro, I'm on the look-out for lost toys as we speak . . . ;-)

Elsie said...

Joyful sound. I can almost hear it. Thanks for the wonderful photos.