After our 25 minute drive through the beautiful hills and green vegetation of South Africa (Praise God for the recent rainfall!!), my squad and I arrived at our first South African church service. When I hopped out of the van and stepped foot into the red dirt, I was immediately more joyful than the step prior. I could hear the loud sound of people singing in a foreign language and I could see the smiles of so many people that so evidently exemplified the joy of the Lord.
I walked through the door and was immediately greeted by children eager to be played with and loved on as well as locals who were so genuinely excited to have us at their church that morning. As I found my seat, I got the feeling this this church service wasn’t going to be like anything I had ever experienced. And let me tell you, that was the truth!
The worship music began and I was reminded of what beautiful music can be created by children of God. The people here are filled with such an intense amount of joy and it flows out of them so heavily as they worship. The few hundred people at church were all dancing to the beat and singing in harmony with the worship leaders. The culture in South Africa is very relaxed when it comes to time so as we sang these worship songs, we took our time. We sang the verses and the chorus over and over until they were heard in our heads and our heart- how deeply loved we are by the Lord and how worthy He is of praise. After a few minutes, I found myself dancing along to the songs and joining the congregation in harmonious praise. It struck me how praise and worship looks so differently in different cultures. For some, it may look a bit more reserved and for others it may be a bit more charismatic. Both, I believe, are equally pleasing to the Lord when they are given with genuine heart postures and mindsets. Worship doesn’t have to contain conga lines and dancing, but it does have to contain your heart and your mind. The Lord so desires and so deserves to be praised with our whole selves whatever that may look like.
Something that the Lord opened my eyes up to throughout this experience was how worship is an experience that includes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My friend explained worship to me as a journey to God’s throne room. It begins in the courtyard and as you allow the spirit to move, you get closer and closer to the throne where God is sitting. Never before had I experienced such an outpour of the Holy Spirit where so many people in the church had ventured into the throne room and were having such intimate time with the Lord. I could feel his presence in the room and could see how differently he manifested in each of his children. Coming into the World Race, I had very little knowledge or relationship with the Holy Spirit so this was definitely a shock to see and hear. As I listened to the people around me during worship, I heard the sound of tongues and the sound relentless prayer. As I looked around the room, I saw people crying and people laughing in the presence of the Lord. I saw people falling to the ground because they were so overwhelmed and in awe of the weight of the Holy Spirit on them.
After worship, a visiting missionary shared the sermon. Afterwards, we danced and sang as we waited in line for communion. Then church ended and the pastors and elders laid hands on and prayed over all of the congregation as we left the building. We then all went and got lunch from outside. The hospitality that these women showed to us was so from the Lord. They served us so well and made such a delicious lunch for us to eat. (Pop which is a cornmeal based food with a rich sauce on top, vegetables, and beets.) I am so excited to come back into this church and find myself back in the throne room of our Lord, to experience genuine worship, to experience the Holy Spirit, to learn from the immense hospitality they all had, and to actually join the conga line!! But the thing I am most excited for is to experience all of these things in my alone time with the Lord, or at our squad worship, or even at my church back home. I hope that I never go through another worship service merely entering the Lord’s courtyard.
