Sue giving gifts to the Women's GroupJuly 26
It was cool this AM and foggy – not something I expected in Africa – but after the fog lifted it became very hot and then showered – it is not muggy and partly cloudy.
Today was our first experience in attending a church service, or rather two services – the first was traditional in English and was very recognizable as we used the blue book. The second service was in Zande with a translator standing next to Pastor Nicholas to convey the message in Arabic. Most of the population here is Zande but some only speak Arabic.
The services are quite long – the liturgical portions of the service strike me as more traditional than ours however the musical portions are lively and typically led by the youth – today was Youth Sunday so there were 5 or 6 songs with very elegantly choreographed dancing by the younger and older students, event their exiting and reentering the pews was part of the dance – the end of the services was also differentiated by Pastor Nicholas as had been in Khartoum and Juba for the past month and so he provided a lengthy update about the trip and its results.
Our faces appear to becoming more familiar to the group – however we are typically the center of attention and they remain curious about our every move. It is very interesting as their mannerisms are a bit different then ours and so interpreting facial expressions is a bit challenging – it could be my perception but women tend to be more reserved but open up when approached.
The darkness of the skin is quite variable but I find all their eyes very engaging given the contrast. Our time spend living across from the 17 seminarians has also given us time to get to know them and today was family day so we were able to meet their wives and children.
We have been fortunate to all be well and unaffected during our trip and hope and pray it continues so. All the best to those at home – it is hard to believe that next week this time we will be with you at OSLC.
- Bob
