The theme was "Follow ME" for the Celebration of Culture that was held on this Sunday past. 170 people, dressed in all kinds of national dress, joined in with the celebrations as members of a number of nationalities led the worship in their own styles.A group of Zimbabwean women and young Samoan's danced and sang (separately), followed by a Hindi solo from India and a Rotuman Choir. Prayers were raised in Cook Island Maori, choruses sung in Sinhala and grace prayed in Scottish Celtic.
In between all that the children played Simon Says (Follow ME) and sang about the fact that Jesus loves them, and played happily amongst the crowd.
It was certainly a lively congregation!It was also an opportunity for people to give sacrificially to the annual Self Denial Appeal; after six weeks of hearing about the work of the Salvos amongst those less fortunate our people responded with love, and in hope, giving over $5,000.00 to help these ministries.
But of course we couldn't go without an amazing culinary spread: there were foods and smells from every corner of the globe, and plenty of it.
What an amazing sight! People from all nations sitting and eating together: sharing life stories and hopes. The church of God can be an amazing place.
