Sunday Services in Muzuzu

They say a new broom sweeps clean - and after yesterday's/Saturday's efforts I can see why. We were down at the new mission visitors' house - the one I should have been staying in, but they are still building. They are now decorating the walls. But before putting the paint on, we needed to sweep out the plaster. As there is no electricity yet, we needed a broom - the old type of broom, made of broom (or the local equivalent). And when you see an old broom, and a new broom, you can see why the new one sweeps so much cleaner. Then it was painting walls in white undercoat. It will certainly fill in any spare time!

Today/Sunday was a day for worship. The 8 o'clock service was advertised as one and a half hours. This was the English service - to be followed at 10 by the service in Tambuka - the local language. When the service began, the church was quite empty - but slowly it filled up, until there was standing room only. Although the sermon was only twenty or so minutes, we had to leave before the end (at about 10 - the Tambuka service was going to be late) to attend another service. The main reason for the length of the service was the choirs - five of them. One was visiting from a daughter congregation, but the others were home grown - with another set ready to take the Tambuka service. They covered the whole range of African music - male, female, mixed, acapala, call and response - it was very good. The other reason for the timing was the intimations - notices that went on for at least fifteen minutes. Mind, I took up a couple of those minutes. They introduced the visitors and asked us to say a few words about why we were here - so I was able to bring greetings from Llanwenarth.

We were whisked away to go to the local Guild district meeting. In our terms, this was the Association gathering of the Ladies' Meetings - only much, much bigger. About a thousand ladies from all over Muzuzu gathered together in their distinctive clothing. We were promised a two hour service. Four and a half hours later we were finally free to have lunch! In truth, I enjoyed the service. It was in Tambuka - so I did not understand a word, but the singing and the atmosphere were great. Again, the visitors were introduced - so I wished them bore da (as it still was - just).

The service was so long because the Guild Co-ordinator was standing down after twenty year' service - and so there were gifts and thanks and songs. But they were nothing like British versions of those events. First, the Guild as a whole brought in a whole three piece suit - parading it down the aisle, held head high. But that was not the end - after that, each individual church Guild brought their own gifts - sacks of maize, frying pans, even a whole chicken. And as they came down the isle, they sang their own Guild's song. The now ex-co-ordinator was overwhelmed. By the end of the service the Guild had provided enough to re-furnish her house, and to feed the family for the next couple of weeks.


And, of course, as with any Ladies' Meeting, there was food to follow - and by 2.30 we were all ready to eat. This was cooking on a grand scale - goat, beef and chicken stews cooked in five gallon pots; stewed cabbage; rice and seema - something rather like polenta. As ministers and guests, we were sat at table. The others were scattered around the church compound, eating in groups and enjoying the company. They had clearly had a good time over the weekend, and now was the time of parting as they prepared to return home.

So it was a good start to the week that lies ahead. Tomorrow we are going further north, to Ekwendeni to see the hospital and the orphanage, while on Wednesday I will be at the theological college. It certainly is a great privilege to be here, even if I am not too sure what lies ahead.