One of our participants in the Katesh conference was this lovely and vibrant woman, Mary, a teacher in the Catholic church. Gifted by the Holy Spirit as a teacher, she was so excited about learning about the Covenant that she faithfully attended every session, studiously taking notes and following along in the training material and in her Bible, even repeatedly volunteering to stand and read a passage to the group. (This is a bit of a contrast to many of the pastors with limited education)
We encouraged her to come forward and lead the praise and worship time near the close of the conference. With a little coaxing, she shyly came forward to comply with our request, but that shyness diminished quickly with the songs of praise, and was finally flung aside with abandon in the worship as the pastors enthusiastically proclaimed the greatness of our Covenant God! There is no lack of passion when these Tanzanian ministry leaders sing and praise!
The AIM team is always blessed in our times of singing with them because they are a people with real depth of heart. They sing, harmonize, sing in rounds, raise their hands, clap, sway, dance and sometimes stomp their feet. African praise time can be an aerobic experience! Mary was not just vibrant in the music time; she also left us with the passionate promise that she was going to begin teaching the materials in her church at her first opportunity. . .only 3 days away!
