Prayer Group in Kwa Mashu

Kwa Mashu is the biggest township near Durban with 1 million people living there. Today we visited one of five congregational churches connected to the UCC in South Africa in Kwa Mashu. On Thursdays the women go out in groups to pray for the sick. We went to the main church and met the leader of that group and she told us that 30 women go out from there.

Then we went over to one of the smaller churches where we met these ladies to the left. They had a service at 10 a.m. and then went to the home of someone who had a heart condition and had been suffering from the flu for a month. She was a young woman with three children in school. The ladies all wear this uniform to the group. We passed women in red and black and they told us that these were Methodist. Apparently they have a different colored uniform.

It was a great morning. Ruthann delivered prayer shawls from the Trinitarian Church in Concord, and these were in big demand as it is starting to get cold here. Some of the prayer leaders are themselves sick and have been feeling the cold. After a service with a Bible study in Zulu people discussed their faith, and then they called on us to give a greeting from the churches in Massachsuetts. Following the worship we all made a home visit together. Usually there are 2 visits a day. in the homes they all arrive and crowd into the living room where we started and ended with a hymn. The tunes were familiar to me but the hymns were all in Zulu. Often I just hummed along because the singing was so wonderful!

The women were very good to us. Mrs. Mhlongo told me "God must be loving us today, for sending you." Really I felt quite honored to accompany them in their work. They seemed very comfortable praying and they did not need me, but they were so grateful for our presence, which was touching.

Wherever the Halls go they say, Ibandla lami linge lakho - In Zulu, it means, "My church is your church." That is the message of this program.

I only hope that the blessings of this journey will continue to nurture us all as we each reflect on these experiences.

Susan