Alleluia!

1/9/2012  

Fish woke me up this morning at about 7 to go to the gym.  I came back, showered (though it did not do much… you just kind of get used to having a layer of sweat on yourself at all times), and went to work.  Two interns from Pietermaritzburg came for their first time today.  They will be coming every day for the next three months.  They are both my age and it is a required part of their university program to have experience working in fundraising so that have been placed here.  I helped get them started on some projects they can be working on and then continued working on mine for the remainder of the day.

I finished work, came back to my room, and made myself a sandwich at about 17:00.  After dinner when I was sitting in my room reading a book, I heard some loud joyous perfectly harmonized gospel music.  I thought someone was blasting the radio, so I didn’t think much of it.  But then I listened carefully and it really sounded live.  I got up and in the room directly across from my bedroom door was a huge group of black people dancing with their hands in the air, belting out prayer music.  So I put my book down and asked if I could join them and they welcomed me with open arms… literally.  I was the only non-black person there.  Since there was never a break in song, I was brought into the room full of singing, dancing people by a young lady who escorted me to the front and center, which is where I ended up spending the following two hours.  I sat next to one of the pastors, who kindly shared her Bible with me and who was glad to answer any questions I had.  The event was a prayer service that signified the beginning of a fourteen-day fasting period.  One of the main lessons taught from the Bible during the service was that instead of turning around and around and being able to see only the enemies in our lives, we must stand still so that we can face those enemies and see the glory of God.  During the first hour, the room was filled with strong, proud voices.  Over and over again I was blown away by the increasing exertion of passion and energy.  Just when I thought these people couldn’t get any more enthusiastic, they did.  People were shouting, clapping, dancing, sweating profusely and some were literally on the floor in worship.  Then the music stopped and people started shouting prayers and chanting while the pastor repeatedly shouted “Thank you Lord!” and “Thank you Jesus!” and “Praise the Lord!” into the microphone for about fifteen minutes.  Then we sat and everyone got their Bibles out and the pastor read from the Bible, interpreting it in his own words along the way, all the while people in the audience were shouting “Praise the Lord!” “Alleluia!” “Amen!” “Mmmmmmhm!” “That’s right!”  I didn’t join in this practice in fear that they would think I was mocking them… it is not quite as natural for a white suburban Midwestern woman to belt out in prayer as it is for one who belongs to the African culture.  However, I did throw in a few “Amens” and “Alleluias” while throwing my hands up – being around all of that energy, I just couldn’t help myself!  Before I had gone in, I asked if I could take a video and they declined, so thankfully I had already secretly taken one (no real visual, but the audio is fantastic). 

I returned to my room and about half an hour later I heard a soft voice outside my door in a beautiful South African accent, “Shan-non, I am here!”  I opened the door to the two street kids that live outside the sports center.  They were making sure that I was planning on playing soccer with them tomorrow morning.  I assured them that I would be there. 

Phew! After all this energy, I am SO ready for a good night’s sleep.