Happy Easter to each of you. We just returned from Ashers where all the Americans and one British lady had Easter dinner together. This consisted of Tom & Karen Asher, Bethany Morse RN, missionary with Global Partners, Meredith Thornton RN, Volunteer who is here for several months, five 4th year medical students from West Virginia (Phillip, Angela, Jenny, Stephanie, and Allison), Zoe from an NGO out of England, and Bud & me. It was fun to get together.
The Ashers and Bud & I went to Kamakwie Wesleyan Mother Church this morning, and I would like to share with you about this unusual (for us) service. First of all, it started at 10:00 am and ended at 12:45 pm. People were dressed in their fine clothes, several of the men with suits and many of the women with fine clothes from polished cotton, satin brocade, eyelet, and various other types of cloth. Many of the little girls had dozens of braids in their hair with multiple colored beads making for very colorful hairdos. The choir wore their satin robes with hats and the pastor wore his robe.
The service started with about an hour of singing and dancing…there seemed to be a lot more dancing than hand clapping this morning because they were singing praises to the risen Lord. Much of it was in Limba so we were not able to understand, but one could easily see from their faces and general body language that they were truly praising God. Pastor Alusine Murphy preached an excellent message in Krio, most of which we were able to understandJ, and then it was turned to Limba. When he started talking about the empty tomb, the place erupted in praises and hand clapping! After that he went on to talk about seven different scriptures which tell the Christian how to live each day. It made each of us think and evaluate our own lives.
After the message, they had a baby dedication, then took in 14 new members and then served communion. We thought church would be over by then; however, they had announcements, a few of which were given from the pulpit and then the mic was carried to several of the congregational members for further announcements. After that, they did something we did not totally understand (nor did the Ashers). They brought a woman and her three children up front; it was unclear if she had been gone for quite a while and just returned or if it was something different, but they had special prayer for her.
When they served communion, they invited the board members and missionaries first and then had two additional large groups come forward. We were a bit surprised when we drank from the cup to find it was actually wine…we were somewhat comforted in the fact it was not something made from contaminated water J. That’s always a dilemma when taking communion!
A side note from Bud: With the temperature about 95-100 degrees outside and the body heat of 200 - 250 plus people singing and dancing, Judy and I each consumed five hundred ml. of water and sweat out about 750 ml. (at least it felt that way!) Our clothes were wet and we probably did not smell so good either. We were not alone in that department. Such is life in Sierra Leone in the dry season!!
Until next time….
