Concert + TED talk = Ugandan church

I probably should be transcribing my interview from Friday, but typing a monologue for an imaginary audience is actually more fun than listening to myself trying to ask clever questions (and occasionally failing…) and typing out audio I can barely hear. Also, Anna went to Jinja this weekend, I got home earlier than expected (I wrote my previous post yesterday in the guesthouse, I thought I’d be coming home tonight) and the weather is not inviting further explorations at this very moment, so yeah, time to write another story!

Not that I want to write for the sake of writing. I actually have something cool to share: this morning I went to church! That’s not usually what you’ll hear a 22 year old get excited about, but then how many 22 year olds have you spoken that went to church in Uganda? We have our images and judgment ready as soon as we hear church. That’s an old building where old people come together to sing old songs and celebrate conservatism and a religion that might not really connect with modern society anymore. That’s obviously not the only way of looking at it, there is much beauty and good in church as well if your eye is willing to spot it. Anyway, whatever you consider to be church in (northern) Europe is completely different from church here. At least, the one I went to (I think a Christian Pentecostal church) is, there are others, e.g. the traditional Church of Ugandan (Anglican church) or some Roman Catholic churches that are modeled to ours and thus more similar.

As Anna and I walked around town on Sundays over the past few weeks, we passed dozens of churches (the city is littered with them! You could visit a different church every Sunday of the year for quite a few years!) that say they are a church and sometimes look like a church, but sound like a music concert. In other words, I was intrigued. Add to that that the entire country seems to be religious. The majority is Christian (divided in tons of different streams, of which Roman Catholic is merely one) but there are many Muslims and subsequently mosques as well. In most bookshops 80% of what they sell is related to religion or spirituality (and the rest are bad novels) and on taxis and busses you’ll find religious texts or stickers. It’s a big thing and it’s clear that religion is very much alive. I’ve been asked more often what religion I am, or if I’m Christian, than how old I am. Some people have walked up to us asking if we ‘are reborn’, meaning if we too believe in Jesus. Yesterday even, Coney’s grandmother asked if I prayed as well before dinner. When I said that at home, and in most families in the Netherlands, people don’t pray (anymore) before dinner, she asked how this was possible, was I sure I was Catholic? After proving that I was perfectly able to make the sign of the cross some trust was regained, though when I admitted I don’t go to church every Sunday she laughed a little with that face old people can make when they want to express ‘oh how much has changed over the many years…’.

Anyway, point is, also in the office most people are religious and more than once we’ve been invited to join staff members to their respective church, I’d say we might received up to six invitations! Yesterday evening, when I was lying in bed, I thus thought… maybe tomorrow I should use this rare opportunity of a free Sunday and join someone to see what it’s like! I texted Rebecca at 23.30 and asked was it okay if I would join, and she told me it was no problem and I was to meet her at 7.30 at the roundabout nearby. I thus woke up early, had breakfast and went there (at 8, Rebecca said she overslept so we’d meet a little later). It appeared she was even more late, combined with bad traffic and thus at around 9 we finally left for church. The one we were going to: Watoto church. They have a website (www.watotochurch.com) and I highly recommend you to have a look to get a better impression of what this place is like! They are also on Facebook, Twitter and a dozen other social networks, haha!

Their building in Kampala is a former cinema and essentially looks like your average theatre (it can probably fit about a 1000 people). The set-up when we came in was also that of a theatre/ music/ musical or dance-group performance and I couldn’t wait for it to start, seeing all the instruments on the stage and the elaborate lights and sound technology around the hall. The first bit was indeed pretty much a karaoke pop concert. Five hyperactive singers and a full gospel choir took over the stage, an impressive lightshow started, there’s a DJ and a giant screen that shows you the lyrics. People sing, clap, cheer, let their feelings flow and praise the lord in songs that could have been written to become nr.1 hits. The atmosphere was amazing, the songs have perfect build-ups and explosive choruses, making it hard to not start clapping, moving and singing yourself. It’s wonderful to see some people immerse themselves in the music, and not just sing the song but feel it. They truly believe in what they hear and sing. I feel like whatever way I describe this won’t do, I’ve got some audio but ofcourse I am able to upload that here, given that photos are difficult already!

After a short ‘intermezzo’ with some short sing/praying, particularly focused on the fate of children, the ‘main act’ came on stage: pastor Calvin (I think…). He preached with more energy and emotion I’ve ever seen someone preach before. He was there with a mission: to teach, to convince and, indeed, to shepherd the people God had given him. Today’s topic was about ‘the church’, about how what it is, where it comes from, what it’s functions, what the functions of worshipping are and how to do it, what it means to be a member of the church, how you can identify people who live in Jesus and what responsibilities that places on us. It’s maybe best described as mix between preaching, lecturing, a TED talk, a comic show and yes, a spiritual and emotional get together. He referred to nearly ten passages in the Bible to build his story and give it biblical backing. The screen showed quotes, Bible passages and bullet points that people actively took notes of in books or on phones. The church is local and universal. The church is visible and invisible. The ways through which you can worship… etc. etc. For me, as ‘westerner’, it was interesting to hear him tirade against evolution. God had made each of us personally, we are hand-made and uniquely crafted. How can we believe that we are family of baboons, chimps, gorillas and other apes and monkeys?! He made it abundantly clear that he was having none of that. And yes, their DNA looks like ours, but doesn’t that only prove that we share a common creator? These and many many other statements I listened to with a mix of amusement, interest and other things. It was clear that he spoke from the heart and believed every word he spoke, and around me occasional clapping, ‘Amen’ shouting or sounds of agreement could be heart. Culturally a priceless experience!

It’s impressive to realize that this church attracts in Kampala alone probably around 3000 churchgoers per Sunday, including groups and visitors from across the globe (though I suspect mainly America). The impact of what is preached on peoples’ lives and opinion seems large and the pastors are taken for authorities. In a way it is also easy to understand how the church in much of Europe is dying out, when you witness an outburst of joy, energy and liveliness as this. However, I’m not sure if you can really compare those two different cultures at all. What I do think is that this confirms my belief that the church can only survive if it manages to reconnect to the people it says to represent and serve. One example: with the historic Supreme Court judgment in the US as yet another victory for the LGBT movement I think one of the challenges for the church in Europe will be to accept that society has changed and open up for those changes, or risk to lose many souls that were once more favourable.

Anyway, I have typed a lot again and both you and I have a life to live, so I’ll end here!

Here's a photo of the Kabaka Lake that I walked to in the afternoon. (Where i briefly spoke with a refugee from the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) and his two young daughters, who at some point seemed to believe I could fix both him and his brother in Rwanda a job...)