This thought hit me in the middle of the church service in South Africa on the Sunday we were there.
The church service was certainly a different experience, but an incredible one. Capricorn Church, like I mentioned in the previous blog post, is a small container like you would use for storage. Adults, teenagers, and children all come together in this small space and praise God with all they have, which creates the most beautiful picture imaginable. Hands are raised, feet are moving, people are dancing, hearts are filled with joy...the name of Jesus is cried out, sung, praised, and held on to.
One of the songs that our team absolutely fell in love with is called Jabulani, Africa. The lyrics go like this:
Jesus life and hope
To heal our land
Savior reaching out
With your mighty hand
Sing for joy, O Africa
The Lord your God is
Risen upon you now
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jesus river of life
To our thirsty land
Savior meeting our needs
From Your mighty hand
Sing for joy, O Africa
The Lord your God is
Risen upon you now
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Now I know you're wondering "What does 'Jabulani' mean??" Well, I'll just tell you :)
"Jabulani" means to bring happiness to something. So this song is basically saying "bring joy to Africa." I just love this song because when I heard the people of South Africa singing it, I could hear their earnest pleas to God, thanking him for delivering them from their suffering and praising him for giving them a living hope. I seriously am at a loss of words to describe to you just how cool it was to see the pure and passionate praise of the African people. They sing with all their hearts. They express themselves through singing, dancing, crying out, pretty much everything you can think of. I could feel God's presence in that place. The pastor was filled with the Holy Spirit when He spoke and the people hung on to every word. I get goosebumps just thinking about the experience. I truly did not want to leave once the service was over.
It is interesting though that during the service, children were running up and down the center aisle of the church, either going to their parents, going to their friends, or going outside to play. The service is relatively long (the length of our Sunday School plus the service) so it is typical for the children to go outside to play at some point during the service. But even through all of the distractions, those who wanted to listen to the sermon hung on to every word. These people REALLY care about Jesus.
Later in the day, we went up to Table Mountain, which is one of the most prominent landmarks of Cape Town. We drove up as far as we could and then rode a cable car to the top (which was a little nerve-wracking). Once on top, we could see the entire city of Cape Town, the ocean, and even some islands right off the coast of Africa. Just another reminder of how big God is and how small I am!
"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." Proverbs 18:10
"Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." Revelation 15:4
"Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples." 1 Chronicles 16:24
I'm sorry that I still feel like I am not fully able to express how incredible this trip was because it's just one of those things you HAVE to experience for yourself to fully grasp, and even then you don't grasp everything just because there is so much to learn, but I do hope that you are able to at least see a glimpse of how amazing God is through these experiences. Thank you for reading!
Grace and Peace.
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