 |
Post #10 Blair's Blog -- I'm With The Band!
Mission Report Sat Feb 16, 2008, 3:41 pm by Blair Ritchey
|
|
1) We knew today was going to be a difficult day -- outdoor concert from 10 AM to 4:00 PM -- sunny summer day in Swaziland. There are reasons why we don't schedule outdoor concerts in Texas in August. Remember that sermon on perseverance? We lived that one today. I was so proud of our team. Talk about over and above the call of duty! Somebody was praying for us -- we were carried on the wings of those prayers. Swazi's love music and it was after 5:00 PM before the last verse of WOW marked the end of the 3-day Indvumiso Celebration. Throughout the day we were able to introduce a lot of people to the ministry of a new Wesleyan Church here in Manzini and celebrate that the Kingdom of God has invaded the Kingdom of Swaziland!
2) We were buoyed this morning with the news that during yesterday's concert, two of the Bible College students who were working the crowd led 2 people to Christ! The layout of the park made it difficult to do a more traditional altar call. So the idea of having workers work the crowd was really effective. Our team had agreed to leave the outcomes to God but we all knew that if 1 person's eternity was changed, the trip would be worth it all. Yea, God for what we will learn in eternity about the fruit of this trip.
3) Africans love to worship and they are much more comfortable with using their bodies in worship than most westerners. The church I grew up in viewed clapping as inappropriate for church. Africans rarely clap but that's because their bodies are too busy doing other things that express their praise to God. They do it with such grace and rhythm, which is probably why most westerners don't do it -- we don't have much grace and rhythm! Our concerts were a mixture of Collin Creek worship and Seswati worship. They loved our music but they really love their own music. During several of the Seswati songs today, "Congo lines" of women and even a few men spontaneously came out of the crowd down onto the stage level and brought participative worship to a new level! Rumors that white Wesleyan pastors were caught with happy feet will be denied vociferously -- especially if I get a hold of the video!
4) One of the treats for the Swazi's was to have a band of accomplished musicians perform for them. Our band really rocked today. Hit 117 on the decibel meter -- hey, it was an outdoor concert!!!! Mark Spalding had a few guitar solos that brought the house down. Ryan Lipman on bass even did a rare bass guitar solo -- make sure you ask to see ALL the pictures of the band! The Swazi's have a name for our drummer Matt Tinonga: He is now MANDLA, which is Swazi for "POWER." We are trying not to let this go to Matt's head. But during intermission today a man who is a drummer at a nearby church came with his pastor's little boy to the stage. When Matt gave the man his set of drumsticks, the man acted like he had been given a treasure. He even asked Matt to sign them. The pastor's little boy also is an aspiring drummer, so when he got to sit in Matt's seat and bang the drum, you could tell it was a memory for this little boy. Maybe Matt won't need humbling after all! These Swazi's really touched his heart.
5) Edith Toga is the wife of the principal here at the Bible College. She is also an enthusiastic worshiper and the leader of the WOW cult. Unfortunately she is not a very lucky woman, because though we gave away a bunch of CD's, her name was never called. But Edith is also an excellent cook and we were treated one night to her specialty of curry chicken rice and the most wonderful chicken balls on earth. So our resourceful team made her day when we bartered 2 CD's for her recipes! Maybe it is better to be good than lucky!
6) Before we left the States, our missionary Rick Cox asked a couple of us to get an international driver's license. So Branden and I ventured over to AAA and for got an IDL. We didn't have to take a test or anything -- for we can now drive anywhere in the world for the next year. The problem here in Swaziland is that they drive on the wrong side of the road. But it is not politically correct to say they are wrong, so I guess they drive on the right side of the road -- only that's not true because they drive on the left. So you can imagine how confusing this is to somebody like me. But left turns on red are legal here. Right turns on red are a bit more dangerous! When I drive over here I try to make sure I follow the car in front of me, which usually works unless the person in front of me isn't going where I want to go. Sometimes it takes me longer to get where I want to go. But the most common mistake is that when you use your turn signal, the windshield wipers go on. Everything's opposite in the car. I was so proud that not once did I turn the windshield wipers on while making a turn. Unfortunately, I discovered that the windshield wipers don't come on when you use the turn signal! Oh well, there goes my striving for perfection. I think I'll let Jeannine drive home from the airport on Tuesday!
7) Thanks for reading our blogs -- we are so exhausted that we can't seem to fall asleep. But blogging makes me sleepy! See y'all soon.
Thanks for praying,
Blair
|
