The Whole of the Day

Yesterday Pastor Mmanga showed me a text message that he had recieved that said we were to be at Machame hospital by 8 a.m. today. Today was the funeral for Pastor Mwanga.

I said to him "oh, are we going up in the morning and then coming home before the service at 1 p.m.?"  He laughed at me with his "you're-so-ignorant-laugh."  (I'm getting to know that laugh fairly well!)

Then he said "no, we will be there for the whole of the day."

So here's the break down on "the whole of the day":

Up at 5:30 a.m. for breakfast at 6:30 a.m.  I was told to be at the church by 7:30 so we could be to the hospital by 8:00 as instructed.

I am there by 7:10 a.m. and we do not leave for the hospital until about an hour later.

9:00 a.m. arrival at the hospital and a bit of waiting.  Then the pastors were invited back to a room that must have been the morgue to see Pastor Mwanga.  They were all taking pictures.  Pastor Mmanga said to me "take a picture."  I told him I didn't want a picture.  Then, before his fellow pastors placed his body in the casket prayers and blessings were said. 

10:00 a.m. service with pastors and relatives led by the hospital chaplain.

11:00 a.m. leave the hospital and drive to the Mwanga home.  The casket was carried into the living room of the home where more prayers and blessings were said.  Pastor Mwanga was 66 and his mother is still living, so I'm guessing that she's over 85.  She's tiny and could hardly walk and so two people just picked her up and carried her into the house.

11:30 a.m. and we're off to the church.  There is quite a processional throughout this whole morning.  A truck carrying a brass ensemble was leading the whole shebang.  The pastors carry the casket into the church and then take tea.

After tea, half past Noon, just picture about 75 pastors crammed into a small office and a hallway getting their robes on for worship.  There's no way a photograph could do it justice, so just picture it in your head. 

1 p.m. We process into the church for a service that is about 1 1/2 hours.  Not bad.  Our sermon is based on one short verse from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  This fits Pastor Mmanga perfectly.

3:30 we all process out of the church down to the cemetery below for the burial.  When we leave the sanctuary I am overwhelmed by the number of people gathered outside.  The crowd is so big and only a fraction of the people gathered actually fit inside the church.

The burial is all complete by about 4:00 p.m. when we head back to the Mwanga house for lunch.

4:15 p.m. prayers and blessings with the family at the house.

There is this tradition where when a woman dies, another woman is ceremonially given a Kanga and told that it is her place to take care of the family now in place of the woman who has passed away.  When a man dies, the eldest son is given some of the things of the man who passed away and told that they now take his place in the family.

In this photo is (from left to right) Pastor Mwanga's brother, his daughter, his wife, and his first born son.  His son is waring his jacket and stocking cap and holding his cane.  These were given to him as a way of passing on the leadership of the Mwanga family.

Finally, at about 5:00 we were heading home again.  Everyone is tired, quiet and reflective, but it has been a good day.  The African church is full of ritual, traditions, and spirit.  It was actually such an honor to be robed up and joining in prayer with these pastors coming together to celebrate the life of one of their peers.

Pastor Mmanga leaned over to me on the drive home and said, "I think tonight you will have much to write about in your diary."  He's right, today is a day I shall not soon forget.

The whole of the day.