Domingo

I love Sundays here. We go to the Igreja Aguas Vivas which is about two minutes away. Sometimes we will also go to church in Rovuma which is about 5 minutes away and then we will go to Igreja Aguas Vivas afterwards.
Church includes A LOT of singing. There isn't a 'worship leader' like we have at home. As far as I can tell, if you want to sing a song, whenever there is a lull, you just stand up and sing and everyone else will too. Some will stand and dance and sometimes everyone will. There are 4 or 5 boys who have their hand drums and another instrument made out of metal and wood. Nelson or Fred will get up and say something in between songs. For the offering, one of the children will stand and hold a basket and everyone comes to the front to put their offering in. Then the children's choirs will sing and dance for a while, without fail, there is a lot of enthusiasm and a bunch if adorable kids singing and dancing. Some if the mothers will join them. (I talked about the choirs and my brief stint in an earlier post).
All the while, Hannah and I have a bunch of kids sitting by and on us. And they all smile and wave as they make their way into the church and find their place. I don't prefer to be the center of attention, usually I like to fade into the background, but try as I might it's impossible. It's obvious that I'm white, almost as obvious that I can't dance and hopefully a little less obvious that I am slow in my Portuguese--I'm learning. I'm thankful to have a lot of people to practice with.
After the children's choirs have finished we go with all the kids to the center for escola dominical. They fight over who gets to hold our hands while we walk. Nelson, Bertino or Carlitos Gorge will do a Bible lesson with them. We will sing a few more songs. Then each child will receive a piece of candy before leaving.