Love God, Love People, and Change the World!

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

I am having such an amazing time here in Inanda Seminary in South Africa. I can’t believe it has already been three weeks! I have done so many things in these three weeks, but one of my favorite experiences was worshiping at Thafamasi Congregational Church the first Sunday I was in Durban! The service was interesting, different yet similar, simple, and most of all beautiful.

It was similar to what I’m used to in terms of how the worship service was set up. We sang songs and heard a great sermon from Rev. Scott Couper. There was offering and communion. However, despite the similarities it was also very different. The first thing is that, aside from Scott’s sermon and prayers, the service was almost entirely in Zulu. I obviously didn’t understand a word of it. However, that didn’t take away from the power of the service.

The singing was my favorite part. There was no choir or worship band. There was a bell, clapping, and the voices of the congregation. The songs were sung in Zulu. There was dancing and a real sense of joy. Sometimes worshiping at home you forget about what you are singing and the joy that accompanies the words. For me I often forget the weight behind the hymns as I just sing the familiar songs. That was not the case for this church! The joy was evident. The church sang many songs–including songs that I couldn’t understand and songs that I have never heard. However, I actually knew some of the songs even though they were in Zulu! They sang “It Is Well With My Soul” and “Rock of Ages!” How cool is that?

To me, hearing songs that I knew, but sung in Zulu, gave power to 1 Corinthians 12:20. We are all many members in one body. Yes we may look different. We sound different and speak different languages. We may come from differing backgrounds and have different ways of expressing things, but in the end we are all the many parts of a bigger body. We are all pieces in God’s plan. We really are all here for the same thing: Love God, Love People and Change the World.