Sivuyile!

I can probably mark today as one of the best days of my life. We departed for Gugulethu around 10:00 AM. Gugulethu is on the Cape Flats where predominantly Blacks, Indians, and Coloureds live. We passed through many townships to get to Gugulethu and saw how each township was very segregated. Driving by the houses we saw that they were very run down, no one had electricity or any of the luxuries we are used to. Once we were in Gugulethu we went to the Sivuyile Baptist Church. This was by far the most amazing service I have ever been to. The service was in Xhosa so we couldn’t understand what they were saying but we could definitely feel what they were feeling. They were all so welcoming and danced and sang throughout the whole service. So many members of the church came up to talk to us, in English of course, throughout the service. They grabbed our hands and had us come dance with them and everything! Before and after the mass we talked with the young children as they were playing outside in the front of the church and took a bunch of pictures with them. They were all so friendly with us! The mass was mainly led by people our age, which made it really interesting. One of the young women gave such a powerful sermon that moved everyone in the church, and she was only nineteen. Throughout the ceremony different people would start to sing and then the whole church would sing along! Nothing was practiced but it sounded like the most well rehearsed music I’ve ever listened to! And of course everyone danced along with the beat and played their special instruments. It was very obvious that the people of the church had nothing to give but when it came time to give offerings everyone in the church gave what they could. After the ceremony we were outside talking with the younger children and a lot of the women who we were dancing with and the women our age came to talk with us and take pictures. Words cannot describe how amazing this experience was at Gugulethu.