Sunday best

I'm going to try and get to the blog first today because it is Sunday and so today was going to be a bit special.....  our visit to church.
We arrived at the Greater Joy Church at a little after 9am and as we walked in we could recognise the rows of chairs facing the pulpit and the congregation in their Sunday best.  Little else of what we saw or heard over the next hour was what any of us could recognise as a church service. Instead there was a 'praise team' of church volunteers leading the singing from the front in a lovely rhythmic and melodic way.
Now listening to Paul Simon's Graceland in 1986 doesn't make me an expert in southern African music but I can tell you that this small group of Chimwemwe volunteers really know how to knock out a banging hymn.
Jodie, our English director of Beyond Ourselves, then gave a lovely sermon which was simultaneously translated into Bemba by Angelina, our Zambian host and then Pastor Ospeck, Angelina's husband, spoke to the congregation, explained how the donations are going to be spent and thanked our students for their attendance and the work they will complete.
Highlight of my day?
Pastor Ospeck taking photos of his own congregation as they sang.
Sermon punctuated by Hallelujah's!!
The genuine joy of a group of people who respect their neighbours, their church and their Sundays.

I felt really welcomed by the community today. It was a fun, informal event which didn't compare to any of my experiences of a church service. I enjoyed the visit and all of our students seemed to leave the service with big smiles on their faces.