We went to Gladys' church in Belfast today. An amazing experience.
The church was a small shack about twice the size of our playroom, built with slats of wood from packing crates with a tin roof on top. We filed into the back of the church and sat on benches.
There were about 40 people including children. The men sat front left, the children sat front right and the women sat at the back.
There was a lot of talking with Hallelujah at the end and whenever the person at the front said Hallelujah, everyone waved and said Amen. However, the Hallelujahs came at the end of every sentence so we were kept on our toes!
Then the singing started. What seemed a random lady or girl would start singing and then everyone else would join in, usually answering whatever she was singing. I learnt later in the week that if you have a good voice you are a leader and will be expected to start singing. The singing blew us away. They sing such amazing harmonies.
Our favourite song went:
Oh, oh, oh, oh my God is goodo, Oh, oh, oh, oh my God is goodo,
Everything is double, double Lord, is double, double Lord.
The leader of the church who looked about 18 came over and shook all our hands and told us how welcome we were and asked us to sing a song. We were NOT prepared for this!!! We'd heard they might randomly ask one of us to preach but NOT sing! So what to sing? Don't ask me why we ended up singing this but we ended up singing Phatfish's Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Er hem ok to start with but we forgot the words half way through and trailed off into a dead end as we forgot that it didn't really have an ending. The congregation all looked at us blankly as if they'd heard nothing like it before, well, lets face it they hadn't! And as for our singing!!! We were pretty strong singers but it was SOOOO bland compared with their beautiful harmonies. It was all we could do to hold the tune together let alone harmonize!! You'll be so sad that I don't have a sound clip of us singing!
In attempt to pre-empt them, Mark thought he'd share what we would have said if they asked us to preach. He did a sterling job and we then all shuffled back to our seats grateful that the ordeal was over. The guy in charge politely thanked us and requested that the first person bought the Word.
What followed was a series of people standing up reading from the Bible and then repeating what it said in their own words. It was all so simple and yet effective. Most humbling was the passage on giving. The lady speaking, re-emphasised the importance of giving descretely so that we weren't proud or boastful. What on earth could these people have to give each other?
The guy at the front then announced that Pastor Mike and Pastor Paul would bring the word. We're all nodding politely and then realised he ment Mark & Pete from our group. H E L P ! ! ! (I couldn't help feeling releaved to be a girl at that moment, they didn't seem to need to pick on us!). Pete also did a fantastic job sharing from Ephesians. I did realise though thought that actually it wasn't a pressurised thing, all they wanted was to listen to the Bible and hear someone emphasis what it meant to them.
The offering came next. We all filed up to the fronts to put offering in different plates based on what areas we wanted to give to - building fund, youth etc. Then a different guy got up the front and asked us not to laugh at his poor English but he had something important he wanted to say to us. He said that they loved us but more than that they adored us. He wanted to a word which meant more than love to express how grateful they were to us for coming to support their community.
It was so humbling, we had interupted their service and yet they just went on and on about how blessed they were that we were there.
They are so spiritually rich. They accept God, beleive ferverantly in him. Shout and sing words of praise. Whenever they prayed they ALL prayed at the same time out loud. This was normal. We are so bound up in our doubts, feelings and self-centredness. I totally envied them at that point.
At the end people came over and shock our hands, thanking us for coming. They were so courteous and welcoming. It was such an honour.
I found it really emotional. Why would these people think we were so special. We can't change their situation and yet they're not asking us to. They don't sit worrying for themselves. They worry for people poorer than them. We sit at home with our hangups, worrying about EVERYTHING. They just accept life and all that it throws at them.
The church was a small shack about twice the size of our playroom, built with slats of wood from packing crates with a tin roof on top. We filed into the back of the church and sat on benches.
There were about 40 people including children. The men sat front left, the children sat front right and the women sat at the back.
There was a lot of talking with Hallelujah at the end and whenever the person at the front said Hallelujah, everyone waved and said Amen. However, the Hallelujahs came at the end of every sentence so we were kept on our toes!
Then the singing started. What seemed a random lady or girl would start singing and then everyone else would join in, usually answering whatever she was singing. I learnt later in the week that if you have a good voice you are a leader and will be expected to start singing. The singing blew us away. They sing such amazing harmonies.
Our favourite song went:
Oh, oh, oh, oh my God is goodo, Oh, oh, oh, oh my God is goodo,
Everything is double, double Lord, is double, double Lord.
The leader of the church who looked about 18 came over and shook all our hands and told us how welcome we were and asked us to sing a song. We were NOT prepared for this!!! We'd heard they might randomly ask one of us to preach but NOT sing! So what to sing? Don't ask me why we ended up singing this but we ended up singing Phatfish's Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Er hem ok to start with but we forgot the words half way through and trailed off into a dead end as we forgot that it didn't really have an ending. The congregation all looked at us blankly as if they'd heard nothing like it before, well, lets face it they hadn't! And as for our singing!!! We were pretty strong singers but it was SOOOO bland compared with their beautiful harmonies. It was all we could do to hold the tune together let alone harmonize!! You'll be so sad that I don't have a sound clip of us singing!
In attempt to pre-empt them, Mark thought he'd share what we would have said if they asked us to preach. He did a sterling job and we then all shuffled back to our seats grateful that the ordeal was over. The guy in charge politely thanked us and requested that the first person bought the Word.
What followed was a series of people standing up reading from the Bible and then repeating what it said in their own words. It was all so simple and yet effective. Most humbling was the passage on giving. The lady speaking, re-emphasised the importance of giving descretely so that we weren't proud or boastful. What on earth could these people have to give each other?
The guy at the front then announced that Pastor Mike and Pastor Paul would bring the word. We're all nodding politely and then realised he ment Mark & Pete from our group. H E L P ! ! ! (I couldn't help feeling releaved to be a girl at that moment, they didn't seem to need to pick on us!). Pete also did a fantastic job sharing from Ephesians. I did realise though thought that actually it wasn't a pressurised thing, all they wanted was to listen to the Bible and hear someone emphasis what it meant to them.
The offering came next. We all filed up to the fronts to put offering in different plates based on what areas we wanted to give to - building fund, youth etc. Then a different guy got up the front and asked us not to laugh at his poor English but he had something important he wanted to say to us. He said that they loved us but more than that they adored us. He wanted to a word which meant more than love to express how grateful they were to us for coming to support their community.
It was so humbling, we had interupted their service and yet they just went on and on about how blessed they were that we were there.
They are so spiritually rich. They accept God, beleive ferverantly in him. Shout and sing words of praise. Whenever they prayed they ALL prayed at the same time out loud. This was normal. We are so bound up in our doubts, feelings and self-centredness. I totally envied them at that point.
At the end people came over and shock our hands, thanking us for coming. They were so courteous and welcoming. It was such an honour.
I found it really emotional. Why would these people think we were so special. We can't change their situation and yet they're not asking us to. They don't sit worrying for themselves. They worry for people poorer than them. We sit at home with our hangups, worrying about EVERYTHING. They just accept life and all that it throws at them.
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