Church – Ugandan Style

Today we attended church at Bulolelo, located right behind Lulwanda Children’s Home. Morgan and Phillip joined Pastor David sitting at the front of the church while the rest of the group joined the village people and Lulwanda children on the wooden benches. The women had beautiful dresses on; it is typical for them to wear their best clothes to church every Sunday. The worship was very involved, both in Ugandan and in English. Singing, dancing, and clapping were a part of every song. We were blessed to be invited to sing our much-practiced song “Love” by Chris Tomlin in front of the whole church. After an hour of authentic, energetic worship, the children were released for Sunday school.

Sunday school was held outside under the blazing sun. Maureen planned and organized all of the fun activities that the children participated in. Sunday school involved telling a story while cutting pictures out of paper to illustrate it. The stories included “Creation”, “The Fall of Man”, and “Sampson and Jonah”. The other team members acted out the stories as they were being told. The children also got to “cut and tell” the stories themselves. The Sampson wig was a big hit! The children got to go “fishing”, catching paper fish and gum (aka “sweets”). The provision of the crafts and the time spent planning the activities were appreciated by the children and the staff; we could really see this by all the laughter and the joy in their smiling faces. They all had an attitude of gratitude, good manners, and joy!

Meanwhile, back in “big church”, Morgan and Phillip were each given the opportunity to share a message with the congregation. Phillip spoke first and shared Ecclesiastes 3; God makes everything beautiful in its own time. The congregation was very engaged, and some villagers even asked questions for Phillip to answer at the end of his sermon. The people were so hungry to understand the Word in an in-depth way. Morgan taught on Philippians, and he talked about the importance of having a steadfast life for Christ. They both did such an awesome job, and God clearly spoke through them.

After a powerful and exhausting four hour church service, we ate lunch at Lulwanda with the children and staff. It was so impressive to witness the manners of the children; all 90 of them waited to eat until everyone was served. They also ate in almost complete silence, a respectful tradition in their culture. The children are always grateful for whatever food they get even though the meals are very similar every day. After we finished eating, we loaded into the vans and headed back to Mt. Elgon Hotel for a few extra hours of rest before dinner.

Overall, it was a wonderful day and a unique experience in the Ugandan culture. It was neat to watch and engage in the worship service and to lead the Sunday school.

Maureen Hiller and Phillip Arneson, on behalf of the team