At the church

Today, I am planning to go to church with Beatrice. The church is near the house, so we go there on foot. The service is supposed to start at 9:30 am, as I was told, but we arrive there past 10 am. It doesn’t matter. A choir is singing a song as we arrive and we just take our seats on an empty bench at the right side. The church looks nice inside and actually reminds me of our church at home except for here, they have a balcony inside. It is a big room with rows of benches arranged in a u-form. In the middle of this semicircle a few steps lead to a simple altar and pulpit. Two big bouquets of flowers decorate this elevated part of the room. The walls are painted in a soft beige that makes the room bright. On the wall behind the altar is a plain, small wooden cross, flanked by two pieces of blue cloth with the symbol of the white dove holding the green branch in its beak. The window glasses are coloured in the Rwandan colours green, yellow and blue. All in all, the room radiates a very friendly atmosphere. 

The choir has stopped singing. It is youth week at the moment, so the service was organised by them and not the usual church leaders who now just sit in the front row. Different choirs perform, even a children’s choir and the attendant parishioners sing as well. Of course, a sermon is delivered as well, but it is not too long. Beatrice explains what it is about. You should pray regularly and be serious about the prayers. Instead of showing off and be loud about it, find a quiet room to be alone with your God. Also, if you ask God repeatedly and don’t stop asking, he will respond to your wish. Offerings are given and then it is time for ‘thanksgiving’. Several attendants tell a story of how God helped them with something, thanking him. One girl for example tells how her sister was pregnant for over nine months and they prayed for her and the baby to survive the birth and they did. Even when nobody is singing, background music is played on a piano and a guitar. It didn’t feel like a very long time when the service ends. Outside we shake hands with various persons, the pastor and friends of Beatrice. Beatrice points out a smaller simple building next to the church and explains that this was the former church, before they built the new bigger one.