Weekly Worship - Winning Faith

It is a while since I Have been to an Assemblies of God worship service, but Sunday at 9.00am we were waiting at the Winning Faith church (Evangelical Assemblies of God Tanzania) for our host to arrive. Unfortunately the taxi that was taking her to catch the daladala broke down on the way, so we entered 'unaccompanied'.

We were warmly greeted, and escorted to our seats by people clearly identified as ushers. The service had begun on time, but it took about 45 minutes before most people arrived and the place (on old movie theatre) to be filled. Today, music was provided by keyboard and bass guitar - no drums, and it continued throughout the service! Yes, there was a quiet and sympathetic keyboard backing for the message.

The banner proclaimed the church as "Building Bridges to Greatness" and the text was Mark 10:43-44. Greatness comes through servanthood. The service was bright, with scripture read in English and Swahili, five testimonies in Swahili but the person who led that part of the meeting gave a synopsis in English after each testimony. The sermon too, was translated, - into Swahili - and the preacher gave an interesting message on the "Wonders of the Word". At times he spoke in Swahili, especially if the translator was lost for the right word, and on a couple of occasions he spoke in Swahili for a few minutes to more effectively communicate to the majority of his congregation. I guess the sermon was about an hour - but he spoke passionately and well. Maybe I wasn't as comfortable with the touch of 'prosperity gospel' at the end of his message - but the core of it was good. He was certainly offering hope, and encouraging us to do what is needed to allow the Word of God to be the major influence in our lives .

As the concluding part of worship, after the invitation, first time visitors were welcomed. We were all invited to the front where the pastor prayed for us all (about 20 or more first timers). It was well thought out, and we were offered visitor cards to complete before departure.
It was about 12.30pm when we headed off to lunch at the home of our host for the day.

We were the only mzungu in that congregation, and probably the only people for whom English was the mother tongue. Despite that there was translation throughout the service. The regular congregation is probably a littel better educated than most churches in Mbeya, but the effort to use Engllish and Swahili was both inclusive and educative. I was impressed, and caused to think about the role the church can play in the practical aspects of literacy.

I was glad to have be able to worship in Mbeya at Winning Faith on Sunday 14.