Sunday School Christmas Party

This morning we went to church with the Bonvallats. They go to a small church that is a little drive from here. It feels like it is in the “bush” but it is still within the city limits. There are more gardens in the area and less modernization. We assume the houses had electricity and some may have had indoor plumbing but that’s not always a given. One house had a cistern with gutters on the roof to fill the cistern with rain water. The people in the area are definitely poorer than those living in our neighborhood. In fact, the church is too poor to pay for the pastor full time so he has a construction job in addition to being the pastor.

The church meets in a temporary building that is made with long boards stuck in the ground and a roof. They put tarps around 3 of the sides as walls. It was kind of like a pole barn but made with boards instead of poles. That’s not a very good description but Mark said it wasn’t a typical type of structure . The service was conducted in Kinyarwanda but I understood one or two more words this week than I did last. There were 3 choirs: a kids’ choir, a youth choir and a young adult choir. They were all accompanied by only a drum. Each group had their own drummer but they all shared the same drum. It was quite large: about 2 feet high and 2 – 2 ½ feet in diameter. The one playing it sat on a bench and straddled it. They played it with one open hand and the other hand had a stick. They were quite good at getting several different sounds out of it. The choirs each sang several numbers. They were good but not nearly as energetic as the choirs from the Friends church last week.

Besides the typical announcements, offering, welcoming of visitors, etc., they also opened it up for testimonies and 3 or 4 people stood up and read scripture or said something. The one main testimony was from the pastor who has been gone for 3 months or so. He had been in the hospital for a couple of months with a sciatic nerve problem. This was his first Sunday back. He didn’t preach and he sat most of the time. He was the only one with a chair with a back on it! We all sat on wooden benches. The sermon was given by a young man who said it was his first time preaching. The assistant pastor sat by Mark and interpreted, but it was hard for Mark to follow. The assistant pastor got up after the sermon and talked for 5 minutes or so and then 4 people went forward to pray. I’m guessing there was some kind of altar call.

During the sermon, the Bonvallats and some of the church members took the kids outside for their Sunday School. It was a special day for Christmas. They sang songs, told a story, were given a piece of banana/passion fruit bread and were given goodie bags with candies and stickers. Emily had helped make the bread earlier in the week and so she wanted to go help hand out the goodies. They had made 60 bags (they normally have 30 in S.S.) and there were 65 kids! Some of the siblings shared. The kids were all happy but Emily didn’t understand what any of them said.

In the afternoon the Bonvallats went swimming and invited Emily to go along. She always enjoys getting in the water!