Sunday worship

Yesterday we attended Sunday services at a Pentecostal church. The men sat on the left, and the women were on the right. Our host was a man, and motioned for us to sit with him. We would have protested, but, hey, we were misfits in at least a dozen other ways, so why not sit on the wrong side of the aisle? Despite the fact that it was about 95 degrees with no air conditioning, everyone (except us) was dressed to the nines-- women in full, ruffly dresses of beautiful colors, with babies strapped to their backs, men in wool sweaters or suits. We were wearing our cargo pants and the nicest shirts we could muster out of our wrinkled backpacks.

The service started with a sermon, prayers were said, and communion was served. The minister scolded the congregation for being "demon possessed" when we commit sins such as drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes or being lesbian or gay. He told the story of one such possessed man who was saved through a personal interaction with Jesus. We were then encouraged to have a "personal experience with Jesus" with words and song. After repeated entreaties to truly commune with Jesus and repent, there was time to celebrate God with xuberant song and dance. We were then kindly asked to introduce ourselves to the congregation as newcomers.

Donations were collected twice-- once for the running of the church itself and another time for the mission projects the church takes on. The minister explained that the curch funds missions not only in Ghana, but in Australia and America as well. I was reminded of our planeride here. Most of our fellow passengers were African nationals, a few packpacker types like us, and a sizable group of American missionaries. It made me wonder if the missionaries knew how many missionaries from Africa are working side by side with them, and even changing places with them-- they are preaching the word in our country while we are preaching in theirs. We had been stopped on the street the day before by Jehovah's witnesses and given pamphlets about God.

On our walk back from church, I asked our host about religion in Ghana. Ghanians are mostly Christian in the south, and mostly Muslim in the north. We are in Kumasi, which is in the south, so most of the places of worship are churches, but there is a sizable Muslim minority here. There are also traditional animist religious practices that are kept alive either through mixing with dominant religions (the idea of demon possession comes straight from ancient beliefs) or through existing shrines, which we hope to visit tomorrow. Our host proudly explained that all of the religions live peacefully side by side. Bost Christian and Muslim holidays are observed by the government and schools. People respect their neighbors' customs and beliefs. I commented that I wished that the rest of the world could learn from Ghana.