July 4 - Born again in Ifakara / relaxing Canadian style

The first person we met once we got to the Ifakara institute
was a lovely woman who works the reception and seems like she helps
run the joint. She was very welcoming and a friendly face to greet us
at the door. She has gone out of her way since our arrival to make
sure we are comfortable and have everything that we might need. Since
there are no quick and easily accessible restaurants nearby without
prior arrangements, she also offered to cook us dinner and breakfast
for a few days, which would also help raise some money to send her
daughter to school in the States. She's been a great cook and we've
enjoyed the local fare that she cooks in her small kitchen in the
house she lives in on the compound.

At breakfast, she asked us if we'd like to attend church with her on
that Sunday morning, and she was so nice about it and promised a
unique ultural experience. We all agreed that this would be an
interesting way to spend our Sunday morning in Ifakara. An interesting
cultural experience it certainly was. We all dressed up and went with
her to the church, which was a Born Again Christian church. The church
was modest, but well-kept and large enough to fit the 150-200 people
who attended the service.

We walked in just as they were passing around the microphone to
introduce new visitors, so we had to stand up and introduce ourselves.
I attempted this for the group in Swahili, explaining that we were
from Canada and visiting Ifakara for 2 weeks. I also thanked them for
their hospitality and they were very welcoming. Introductions were
followed by performances by 5 different choirs, complete with dancing.
If you've seen any of the large evangelical Christian ceremonies on
tv, you'll have an idea of the structure and components of this
service, complete with speaking in tongues and an attempt at laying on
the hands, although no one volunteered that their kidneys were in
trouble, as I think the preacher was expecting. Our host was kind
enough to translate much of what was being sung and preached. It was
certainly a culturally eye-opening experience, regardless of my own
views. I think this church serves an important role in many community
members' lives in Ifakara, and it was good for us to get a taste of
the importance of religion to some of the people here. The whole
ceremony was long… about 3.5 to 4 hours, roughly rivalling the sum
total of time that I've been in a church to date. I was happy to be a
part of it and didn't feel much pressure to confess my sins and
promise myself to God when I was there.
In the afternoon we just decided to relax into our new surroundings
and we all got together and played ultimate Frisbee in the field
behind our guest houses. It was a great day for it and we all had a
lot of fun running around and tossing the disc. We're hoping to
convince some of the local children to give up football for ultimate…
ha.