Church in Uganda
In Uganda, I have been going to the same church since I was a baby, and I call it Pastor Eric’s church. We walk to his church from my house in like five minutes. It’s a nice walk, and there are a lot of other people walking to church with us! There are also goats and cows beside the church, and sometimes they might just walk inside! It is a brick church with plastic seats and mats in the front for all the kids to sit on, there are a lot of kids at church. We start with worship songs, but they are very different than at home, even in the main sanctuary, almost all the songs are action songs! There is a lot of jumping, clapping and, of course, dancing. I feel like this is the best part of the church service because of how much joy you see on everyone’s face here, and the dance moves are entertaining as well.
After praise and worship, there is special music, if you want to perform, you tell one of the church leaders, and about 3 or 4 members of the church will do a special song or dance. Then people give praise and testimonies, everyone dances to the front of the church with their offering, and then the sermon begins.
There are many languages in Uganda, so the sermon is spoken in English, but there is also a Luganda translator, which makes this part of the church service long, it’s generally one hour of speaking.
After all the singing and dancing, the kids leave though for their own service, they start their own class with more singing and dancing before a bible lesson or story is taught to them.
In Canada I go to a church called Village Church in Langley, and it would be about a 20-minute drive from my house. The services also start with music, but it’s not the same kind of vibe as in Uganda. This feels much more like a concert, it is well-rehearsed and a lot shorter. There is often media shown afterwards for announcements or news to share with the church, and then even the message is often on a tv screen and not always a live preacher. The sermon is rarely more than 40 minutes long. After the preacher has finished, we sing a couple more songs at the end of the service and there is a time for prayer.
The kids are not in the service at my church in Canada, they go straight into their own service with music and teaching, a service that is totally geared for them.
Now comparing the two, I will say yes, the overall feel of these two services is quite different. One of the biggest differences I noticed, aside from the goats, chickens and crying babies, was that in Uganda, people leave right after church, they have to walk home, and cooking meals take a long time, so they are in a more of a hurry to get back home. In Canada, there is a lot of people hanging out for quite a while in the lobby and then you hear people talking about going out for lunch together, so lots of social time that just isn’t afforded to people in the village where I live in Uganda.
But despite the big differences, I would say there are also a lot of similarities, especially in the overall feel. The goal is the same, to meet with fellow believers, to have your pastor teach you and get to know you, to be in community with other people. That part is the same. Feeling the presence of God when you are at church, that is the same.
Fellowship Meal
The idea of eating together, and being in community, those things feel the same whether I’m in Uganda or Canada. The main differences would be in the food we eat, and in Uganda, all get-togethers have a dance party! There is always lots of music and they are always a lot of fun! I think in Canada a big part of fellowship for us is about the food, we eat so many types of food in Canada, you never know what you might be having at a get-together! It’s not abnormal to have mexican, sushi, a barbecue or even sometimes a pot luck where everyone brings a different dish! In Uganda, we are always having the same meal with just a few variations; but there is rice, beans, peanut sauce, chicken, sweet potato, matooke, fruit and there is always soda! The food in Uganda is a lot of carbs and is very mild in flavour. It is also traditional here to eat with your hands, not with utensils. It is also customary to not converse when you are eating in Uganda, you would be social before and after, but while actually eating people are generally silent. After eating though, it is quite loud and fun!!
Acts of Service
Seeing how service activities are done, I would is where I see the most differences between Uganda and Canada. Here in Uganda, I participated with our Primary School in their month of Outreach. The students in every grade would choose a family in need, and then each class would spend one morning helping a family out. That might mean making repairs on their home, digging in their gardens, doing the laundry or going to fetch water. The students would bring some food or clothes from home to donate as well. I think this sounds very similar to outreach in Canada, but the difference is, all the students that are helping, that are giving away a few fruits or vegetables from their yard, giving away a t-shirt or a basin, have as little themselves as the people that they are caring for. It is incredibly beautiful to be part of this act of service, where the giving of things is so much more about the gift of their time, and of their actions, because that is really all they have to give.
In Canada, I see people volunteer at soup kitchens or with single-mom ministries, but they generally do not have the same economic background as the people they are helping, they are not helping their own peers. We think of service to those that are less fortunate, or to people that are vulnerable. In Uganda everyone in this village is vulnerable, but they are still helping their neighbour, and I’d say it’s actually a lot more common here.
-2.jpg)
Having tea with Gerinah
I decided to have tea with one of my very favourite people, Gerinah! She has known me for 15 years; I think she knows me better than any other friends or staff in Uganda. She is one of the happiest, most joy-filled people that I have ever met. She said she grew up going to church and that she is so thankful that she has known Jesus from a very young age. The most important thing to her is the unconditional love she knows she has from Jesus. That is what gives her joy.
Gerinah grew up in Kibaale, and her family did not have much as far as material items go, going to school was a struggle, and even having meals every day was not easy for her family. This situation helped her to rely on God from a young age, and she had a lot of prayers answered! In high school, she got a sponsor so that she could finish, and then she got a job and was able to pay for university, she became a social worker, which was her dream!
Gerinah did talk about one time in her life when she started to have less faith, she was praying to have a baby and was struggling to get pregnant. She knew that God was real and that God wanted His best for her, but she had such a strong desire to be a Mom, and it was hard not to have doubts. God kept showing up for her, though, by providing funds so that she could have fertility testing and treatments done and was giving her and her husband peace and comfort when they needed it most.
She then got so emotional as she started to tell me a story about my mom. When Gerinah was having infertility issues, we were fostering a baby that needed extra help, and Gerinah knew about this and would hang out with us and the baby. She asked my mom if adoption was something that she could do. My mom was able to introduce her to people that helped her understand the whole process, and they adopted a beautiful baby girl eight years ago!
Gerinah said if I want to become a great young lady, I will have to pray and read my bible and take time to make a good relationship with God. She said I should also be humble and look around at all the blessings He has already given me, that was a timely message for me.
I look up to Gerinah because she is a very strong, independent woman, she also is always looking to help other people in the community, makes friends easily and has so much joy! She inspires me not only because of her hard work ethic and caring personality, but how she truly puts God above all else. She is so passionate and talks about Jesus so often, I really hope to be like Gerinah when I grow up.
School Chapel
A Spiritual Discipline that I enjoy the most in Uganda is going to school chapel. Every Wednesday each school here, Primary, Upper Primary and Secondary, have their own chapel services. I love going to all of them! The younger kids are so cute, I love doing the action songs with them and seeing how they love to worship God. The Upper Primary students are starting to take on more leadership, they help out with the worship, they give testimonies and devotionals with the help of their teachers and classmates, I learn so much from what they say but also from their courage! The secondary students are my friends, my peers, and this chapel is special because we form small groups, I am able to talk about what we learned with a group of people my own age. Even though there are a lot differences for us, there is also a lot that is the same. Having problems with parents, or friends, wanting to encourage each other to read our bibles and pray, to have accountability with someone, that is very special . I love this time on Wednesdays when I get to be part of chapel service because it encourages me and my own relationship with Jesus so much!
Comments
Post a Comment