Yup. That’s right. The title is not a misprint. Worship at Msagara Parish started at 10 am and did not finish until 3pm. All 2500+ of us together for 5 hours worshiping the Lord. And the interesting thing is, I did not even notice it the time much. I guess partially because I’ve gotten used to in over the years of being here in Tanzania, but the other more important reason is the work of the Holy Spirit I am sure. There is so much life in the worship here, especially out in these rural communities. People worship the Lord with an child like reckless abandon. There is also a relaxed nature about to it all. One choir came in late. They were traveling in from Barundi, which is not far from where we were. When it came time for them to sing, they took several minutes just to warm up and practice a bit before they formally started the song. 
Can you imagine that back in any of our churches in the USA? Not I would advocate this as a regular routine back at home with our music team, but just the expectation that they could spend a moment to prepare in the midst of an already jam packed service of worship says something about the culture of worship here in Tanzania. They are not so fixated on time as we are. And it makes sense. They are not going to jump in their cars and head off to the Mall or get home quick to mow the lawn, do the gardening or watch an NFL game. Sunday is a day of rest and a day to celebrate the great things God has done in their lives. And celebration was certainly in order today since we had confirmations and the installation of the new area director for the synod to cover. He is the new pastor for Msagara Parish but his leadership role includes leading and coordinating with the other pastors and churches in that geographic area.
The art of celebration is something that has long been lost in a way in our western society. And no doubt the celebration today did go overboard and had to be reigned back in 
at one point by the priest and the Bishop. But as we say “no harm, no foul”, it was a wonderful, Spirit filled and just plain off the carts awesome time of worship. Mungu ni mwema, God is good! And of course, Cathy and I got to participate in a lot of it. We were asked to sing twice during the worship and I had a chance to speak from my heart and from the scriptures to the confirmands. We did our normal thing and made sure we sang some songs of worship that we could have the congregation join in with us. I tell you there is something about celebrating the Lord’s presence in the power of the Spirit that is unmatched through any other experience in my life. You just loss track of time. Even in the longer pauses and moments of the service there was something satisfying about all of it. 
I recall a song we used to sing at St. Paul’s when I was in music leadership there. It was one that came from the worship series “Touching the Father’s heart” from the Vinyard Church. The bridge verse goes like this:
I have seen You in Your sanctuary
I have seen Your power
And I have seen your glory
I am satisfied with You
That just about sums it up. I’ll tell you what, if you in need of a time of refreshment and renewal in your walk with the Lord, come with me to Tanzania. Seriously! That’s an open invitation I’m giving to anyone reading this blog and especially to my friends and beloved fellow parishioners back at St. Paul’s. Come with us on our next trip. Find the time, set aside the trip cost. Come and be blessed by a culture and a people who love God so dearly and show it with the greatest of affection, hospitality, grace and celebration. I’ve been here 7 times now and I can guarantee I’ll be back again as soon as I can, hopefully 
with a team of you to guide along.
One last thing; as soon as I can, I’ll upload some videos I took with my iPad of the worship and celebrations. I’ll also post a special page with more pictures soon. You’ll be blow away!
Bless you all and have a great day.
Bwana Asifiwe!
Bill
Today was our day to relax and recover from all of our travels to get here. We’ve been able to greet many of our friends who have come by to see us and we did do some separate things as well. Cathy went with Editha (Bishop Makaya’s wife) to the market. I went over to a recording session of the Tumaini Choir (Tumaini means “hope”). This was very interesting. Festus Ntahindwa who I have known since I first visited Kasulu in 2005 is a brilliant electronics tech. He is the one who installed the solar power system that we purchased for Kasulu Bible College in 2006 and Festus has also been the sound engineer for Kasulu Cathedral Choir for many years. Tumaini Choir is another choir that sings at the cathedral. They were recording the background vocals today for a new song they are working on. The interesting part is the studio that is setup for them to record in. 
It’s basically in what would normally be the living room of Festus’ home. The entire room is covered with sound proofing, including the door of his home, which has two panels, and inner and an outer one to cut down on exterior sound. It was great to see what he has been doing to make some very high quality recordings of the choirs. I’ve have some of his previous recordings and was wondering how he pulled it off. The thing that impresses me about many of my friends here in Kasulu is how resourceful they are. I don’t know of many people I have met that can do so much with the limited resources available to them. But here in this modest home, Festus had created a sound studio that works quite well.
Tomorrow we will go to Msagara parish to meet up with Bishop Makaya, who will be there for confirmations. At some point I know he is expecting us to sing. Cathy and I are preparing some songs, one of which has a chorus in Swahili so we can get the entire congregation involved. It’s always a pleasure to be available to do this during our trips to Tanzania. The worship here has so much “life in Christ” in it. 
It’s exciting and animated. I’ve often wondered what caused us in the western churches to loose our joy in the Lord during our worship. Now don’t get me wrong. I appreciate times of “solemn celebration” (though the terms do seem like opposites to each other) if for nothing else but to “be still” and know that the Lord is God. But I do believe that it’s possible to break out of the old mold every once in a while, or as one person told me years ago, “Bill, one of these days you are going to bust loose (in worship). I want to be there when it happens”. The friend who said that to me had noticed my hesitancy to take that step forward and take the risky chance that others might not understand what is happening when I really get “lost in wonder, love and praise” to God. Coming to Africa, I can see that my friend was right in identifying my hesitant heart. I’m still not sure I have ever broken loss as she probably envisioned it. In Tanzania, they really know how to loose their inhibitions and express joyfully their love for the Lord. I don’t know of anyone who has come to Tanzania with me who has not been deeply touched by the worship they have witnessed here. I’m sure there will be something special to report on tomorrow night.
Tonight we will have dinner again with Editha and then I’m sure we will go to bed early as we have a bit of a drive and a busy day tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it, and to sharing what we have experienced with you tomorrow.
Bill
Finish then thy new creation; Pure and spotless let us be:
Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee:
Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love and praise.
Words by Charles Wesley, 1747