There is nothing more beautiful –magical, really- than
hearing African music rising to the clouds throughout your neighborhood as you
play with your child inside your lush yard walls.
And there is nothing more unsettling –terrifying, really-
than hearing a thousand voices screaming non-understandable words in unison so
loudly that the earth under your feet shakes.
Such is our weekly experience with the faithful in our
African city.
Church is a very cultural thing, as any person who has ever
traveled will tell you. Though people
across the world may share the same religion, chances are their cultural habits
also affect how they show their practices of worship in uniquely different
ways. Though there are many churches in
Africa, of a variety of religions and sizes, the most visible way faith is
present in our country looks like this:
(please pardon the bad photography that happens when your husband never slows down for pictures...)
You can call these communal churches. You can call these cults. You can call these small worships. But beyond being referred to in a variety of
ways, almost each of these gatherings is unique in its particular
practices. Animation is a common partner
with Christianity in many places in Southern Africa; beliefs in personified
pieces of nature, places, or animals go hand in hand with a male-led
Christianity that literally varies from street to street and field to
field. Idol worship and ancestral
tradition is often present, and the sexes are often separated for most, if not
all, of the service time.
Times of worship vary from group to group, but most
practices call followers to gather on Saturdays or Sundays. No matter whether the sun is just rising or
nearly setting, whether it is pouring or painfully hot, groups of worshipers
wearing their distinct colors are always out and about. Add in some extra enthusiasm during Christmas,
Easter, New Years, and special revival weekends, and there is rarely a day you
will not pass the prayers of the faithful as you drive along farms and fields.
When we first moved to Harare, I spent our first month
thinking we lived near a stadium. Loud
speakers, shouting, and roars of a crowd filled our yard constantly. Sometimes it was beautiful. And sometimes it was so powerful it was
unsettling, as though the chanting was out of control. We came to learn that the sounds we hear
every Saturday, and sometimes on other special days, is a church that gathers
on a field over a kilometer away.
It was actually surprising for us to learn just how many of
my husband’s students attend church every weekend. Though church-going statistics are high, you would
never know it from the small amount of formal churches to be found throughout
our neighborhoods. The church
communities that do gather inside an enclosure for worship often gather in
rented or borrowed places such as schools, libraries, and other public
buildings.
Our son Jonas has become obsessed with the churches we have
found here in Africa. There is something
about them he loves so much that he almost always screams for us to back up or
to get the camera when we pass one. Hence,
here are a few sweet little churches I can share with you:
Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Johannesburg, South Africa
This
was the sweetest looking building in a worn down neighborhood in Johannesburg,
South Africa. This teeny shack no bigger than half my living room sat in the
midst of a dirty mechanic and a razor-wired parking lot.
Mount Pleasant, Zimbabwe
JoBerg, South Africa: I took this picture haphazardly with my camera out the window just seconds before a man tried to mug us. Sort of spoiled the moment.