Church on Sundays

Sundays are good people watching days. So many of the men, women and children are dressed up for church. The women's attire ranges from slacks and tailored suits to the more traditional colorful prints, often with matching head wraps. And each dress is styled differently, with scalloped necklines and puffed sleeves. The streets are always a visual treat, and that is especially true on Sundays.

For the past several Sundays I went to the Arusha Christian Church at the invitation of an Australian couple who volunteer at The School of St. Jude. The service was comfortable and the music was terrific. What was truly amazing, perhaps even surprising at first, was how international the congregation was. Just the visitors on one occasion came from Sweden, Uganda, the USA, Kenya, Canada, Norway, Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Korea, and Denmark. Talking to a few of them after the service was illuminating. One young man is teaching geography and history at an international school, and he had many Tanzanian students as well as local Indian students, all in addition to the children of people from many countries who chose to send their children to an international school. One woman is a court reporter for the United Nations, which has a court here where those accused of war crimes in Rwanda are on trial. One of my goals is to visit this Tribunal. All that is required is a passport. One woman works at a school called Peace House which is for secondary students who have been orphaned because of AIDS, and she is starting a library for them. The school does not charge the students, and provides for them. One woman was a part of an NGO that visited villages and collected data on education, health, income, etc., and then provided that data to government agencies and other NGOs. One man works for the Heifer Project. Remember the picture book, "Beatrice's Goat?" I asked him about Beatrice and he said that he knew her, and she was able to go to school in the United States, and she is back in East Africa and makes many appearances, promoting the Heifer Project.

While about 40% of Tanzanians are Christian, there are an equal number of Muslims in the country and, during the service, I heard the the call to prayer from the mosque that was practically next door. Tanzanians are proud of the way people of many ethnic and religious backgrounds live and work side by side.

This Sunday, my "Going Solo" day, I attended Christ Church Cathedral. I will readily admit to being very excited to be going to a church that is part of the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro. It still sounds so exotic to me. So distant, yet here I am.

The congregation was the same combination of locals and those from more distant lands. While the service I attended was in English, other services are conducted in Kiswahili. The sermon was in Kiswahili, and the priest apologized, saying that he was more comfortable in that language. Another priest translated for him, yet when he didn't get a word immediately, the preacher supplied it.

So many things are the same, but with a twist. What was so inspiring at this church was the music. There was an organist who played a beautiful organ, and a choir that sang hymns. Lots of hymns. And there was a Kiswahili choir, which was about half the size of the congregation, and it was accompanied by three electric guitarists and a keyboarder. They sang with choreography and had everyone swaying and clapping. Their first song was translated quickly when they had finished. "The song tells us of the many street children who have no home and no one to care for them. Please help us, Mama. Please help us, Mister. These children ask for your help. God wants us to help." I was glad that this choir sang so many songs. And the children sang a couple of songs as proud parents beamed before they left for Sunday School.

I have been made to feel welcome at these different churches, and I have been grateful for that.