Church on the Ward

This morning I went to church on the ward, which is the hospital. Each ward is divided into two and has about 10 beds in each room. There are no dividers, each bed is very close to the other. Also the caregiver can stay under the bed like the hospitality center. So we had church in one of the wards. They woke up the patients, some of the local people who help on the ship - translating and other duties - ran the service. The room was packed. There were men playing drums and a couple of people leading the worship. Some of the Africans were dancing. There was such a great energy present there.

There were many patients who were there even though they were bandaged up and trying their hardest to worship. The sermon was lead by an African. He talked about faith and hope and how he use to not believe in God but he does know. It was a simple sermon but it was relevant to the people. They don't need a sermon about community or consumerism, because that is not their struggle like people in the States.

I have only been here for a few days and I begin to realize how much my mind set has changed when you are not bombarded by American advertisement or consumerism. You don't have media telling you what you should or shouldn't buy or what is in style. That doesn't exist here. It is amazing how much we are influenced by media in the States. People here have no clue about designers brands and they don't care.