Sunday, Jan 2

We went to church a bit before 10 a.m. It was to start at 10 but couldn’t because the earlier Douala-speaking service got out later than scheduled. Ruth was in her Christian Women’s Union dress and processed in with her women’s group to form one of the choirs at the front of the church. Raphael was sitting up front somewhere with the other trustees. We got a good seat right in front of a fan.  The service lasted nearly three hours. There were announcements and welcomes. They asked all the guests to stand up and introduce themselves. Sam had been asked to say a few words on behalf of all of us and he did a very nice job of it. The pastor didn’t get everything translated, but our pleasure at being there was communicated. The sermon was only about 20 minutes long, but there was lots of singing. One of the guest singers from the entertainment the night before was there and led the congregation in some “happy clappy” kind of Christian songs. Like in the U.S. there seems to be discomfort between those who advocate for more praise music and those who prefer classical Christian worship. And communion in a church of nearly 800 people takes a long time. We all enjoyed it immensely.

Relaxing Sunday afternoon. Joe and Barb and David and Sam and I played UNO. We got to bed at a time more to our liking, around 9 p.m.