We went to the largest non-white Lutheran Church in the world today. It is located in Katatura, Namibia. Four of my buddies and I decided to try our best at hailing our own taxi to take us to the church, but found that we only knew the name of the church, not the location. After first winding up at the wrong church, we hailed another taxi (you get better at this the more times you do it!) and made it to Macedonia Lutheran Church. The church was pretty large, but the inside was packed with people. We were told that the service would be around 2 hours… from about 11:00am-1:00pm. We made our way out of the service at around 2:15 (so much for 2 hour services!)
Even though this was by far the longest Lutheran service I have ever been to (and maybe the longest one that I will ever go to), and the first Lutheran church service that was not in English, I found my experience quite interesting. During the service, I did not understand all of the words spoken (or any for that matter) but the spirit that brought us all together and the same God whom we were all praising was alive and well. I was really excited to recognize the tunes of many of the hymns they sang, as well! This church was amazing because there was no piano or organ, just the loud and beautiful voices of the congregation. During what seemed to be random silences to me, one person in the congregation would start singing a hymn in one of the Namibian native languages, and before we knew it, many had joined in.
My four friends and I were the only whites in the congregation, so we did stand out a bit. During the announcement part of the service, the pastor invited us up to the front to introduce ourselves and share what brought us to the congregation. Even though it seemed as though many of the congregation members were timid around us before the service, we found that at this moment they warmly welcomed us. Then during the sermon portion of the sermon, one of the pastors who wasn’t preaching came and joined our pew (we barely all could fit in it together, but we squished tightly!) so that he could interpret the sermon for us into English. What an incredible sign of hospitality and unity of believers!
After the service, various members of the congregation and some of the elders came and greeted us and I found myself smiling from ear to ear to be in such a beautiful community! We befriended a young woman, Loraine, who is from Namibia, but studies in the UK, and she took us to her home for a few minutes before walking us to the market so that we could have lunch in the Katatura market.
Random thoughts:
Wouldn’t it be crazy if we always tried to greet strangers with such hospitality?
Hymns sung a cappela by a church full of Namibians are beautiful!
I haven’t eaten any ox tongue lately, and I’m okay with that!
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2 comments:
kim, it was lovely reading about the namibian church you attended. how inspiring. i'll be thinking of this congregation next week when i'm in the pew. it's wonderful to know that there is a connection thant is so profound. keep the stories coming! i love reading about your adventures. you're in all of our prayers. hope your days are getting better and better
Kimma,
I love reading your account of Namibia and especially this Lutheran worship service. I admire your courage and your witness. I remember worshiping at the Chinese Christian church, hearing the Word translated into English, hearing the familiar tunes with unfamiliar words and acknowledging how broad a reach Christ has. I'm praying for you daily-- for safety, stamina and new friendships.
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