Sunday, September 24
8:30 A.M.
Let me set the scene for you: The smell of pancakes is flowing through the Anchor Center air and a line is growing in anticipation for them. The words “Sunday morning rain is falling” leaves the lips of thirty different mouths all in unison as hips sway back and forth. Some sit at the table; some sit on the floor with their backs pressed against the cold concrete wall. People slowly creep out of the bedroom doors with untouched, slept-in hair and bare feet, but they are still too quick for the pancakes that are being carefully watched over so as not to burn them.
Without question, the coffee water is replaced every time it is running low. A few brave souls hand wash fifty peanut butter covered plates and forks so that there is no opportunity to run out of clean ones. A group of ten or so sit around reading their Bibles so intensely, trying to take in every detail. After pancakes are eaten and the coffee is gone, teeth are brushed. The women climb into ankle length skirts and the men put on their nicest pair of pants and close-toed shoes. Conversations are being passed between brothers and sisters as we are all trying to get to know more about the people we are spending the next year of our lives with. Every couple of minutes, laughter bounces off the wall and a smile creeps onto my face.
Soon, a group of fifty-ish white people will walk down the African street together and pile into the new church building. We will sit hip to hip, stand and sing together, jump for joy and throw our hands in the air with full confidence that we can reach Heaven. We will return home and we will all hold hands as we bless our lunch and then as we break bread for the second time on this beautiful Sunday morning, we will learn more from each other. The conversation topics will consist of questions about the sermon we will have just heard and we’ll listen closely as we search for an answer to them. We coexist and it is a beautiful and incredible thing. This is community.
