Our first free day caused for a slow wakeup and leisurely and calm breakfast of egg sandwiches, sausage, oats and watermelon. We had the option to attend local religious services and a group of us went to a Christian service at Winners’ Chapel International. We arrived mid-service, as the services are long in Ghana– from around 8:30am to 10:00 am– and were greeted by the sound of booming music before we even walked through the doors.
Upon our arrival, smiling faces quickly ushered us towards seats in the middle of the large church. Despite the great size of the church, it was completely packed, bursting with people wearing beautiful and colorful outfits. The pastor stood on a raised platform, holding a microphone, which filled up the entire room as he spoke into it. Behind him, the walls were covered in decorations and flashing lights. Throughout the service, the pastor maintained a strong presence, feeding off of interactions with the congregation, which kept the crowd energized–and in turn himself.
There were many call and response interactions and he often asked the audience to repeat the same responses louder, “What do you say to Him?” “A–men!”. This created a passionate display of faith.
There were parallels between this service and that which we attended at the mosque two days prior, in how they were powerfully led, but also many differences, with a major being the informality of this service.
The sermon’s themes revolved around engaging in prayer and fasting throughout the month of January. The screens at the front of the church rotated between the messages, “Prayer and fasting, gateway to breaking limits 2020” and “Enough is Enough 2020”. Throughout the service, the pastor quoted atleast 6 or 7 different bible verses related to prayer and fasting, and those of us who attend Christian services at home, noted that this was much more scripture heavy than what were used to. Additionally, the pastor spoke with much more volume and vigor than at home, and the crowd responded in the same way. The congregation was more active, swaying, dancing, and clapping along, to songs- making the environment more “fun” and less formal.
At the end of the service, the pastor asked anyone who was worshipping there for the first time to come to the front for a blessing. Our group went to the front, and the congregation warmly welcomed and blessed us. The leaders then ushered us to the side to greet us personally. Music started playing to mark the end of the service, and a young woman sang beautifully, accompanied by a drum-set, piano and backup singers. Her vocals rivaled those of Christmas Fest at St. Olaf, and left us is awe! We left feeling energized and ready for the rest of our day, which we spent playing volleyball, swimming and napping.
Later that night, although we were saddened to leave our usual dinner spot– Maliki Micuul Food Joint– we were excited to experience Ghanaian fast food at KFC, which was arguably much better than the KFC in the US. We’re looking forward to a good night of sleep tonight.