Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is a huge deal in Uganda. I love this season almost as much as Christmas. Normally, we see family after family walking to church carrying palm branches. 

Today, however, as we drove to church, it was pouring rain. Very few people were out in it (they don’t like to go anywhere in the rain). We saw them walking home from church later on, still carrying the palm branches.

We’ve been showing the Jesus film in our churches. We tried to show it at Ngarama last month at their building dedication. We had a tiny bluetooth speaker that couldn’t put out enough sound. No one could hear it above the murmur of voices in the room. 

When we went to Kampala last month, one of our stops was Game. Game is a huge store, not much different than Walmart. In fact, Game is owned by Walmart and you can sometimes buy Walmart brands there. We were able to find a more powerful, battery powered, bluetooth speaker.

Last Sunday, we showed the Jesus film at Ngarama again. Not quite everyone returned to see it again, but the people who came wanted to be there. The people listened in rapt attention to the story of Jesus’ life found in the Gospel of Luke. The bigger speaker worked beautifully. Everyone could hear.

People here don’t emote like Americans. Public crying isn’t acceptable. There was uncomfortable laughter at several parts. People cried out when Jesus was beaten and crucified and exclaimed with joy when he rose again. The church women covered their faces so no one would see their tears. One lady got saved after the movie.

Today we showed the film at Isanja. Due to the rain, very few people were there when we arrived. A few trickled in as we sang. More arrived once the movie started. By the time we finished, the church was packed. We had standing room only. It got hot in there because we had to keep the doors and windows closed so people could see. But no one complained.

Events like this can be tricky at Isanja. Culturally, they are different than any of the other churches. We knew it could get loud there, especially as more and more children came. And boy, were there children! We had at least 80 children packed in amongst the adults. They don’t always listen well and they are easily distracted. They like to come in and out. They talk and cry. 

Today, some of the babies cried and cried but the adults were so engrossed in the movie they barely heard them. James ended up with a little girl on his lap and I had to settle two or three tiny ones. One little girl finally fell asleep while I bounced her in my arms.

The people responded much the same as those at Ngarama, but in different places. Even the older children were listening, engrossed. The women in Isanja didn’t try to hide their emotion. They cried out during the crucifixion. Then, when the women in the movie saw that Jesus was risen from the dead, our women threw up their hands and cried “Yesu!” One young boy jumped out of his seat, threw his arms in the air, and shouted.

Next week, on Easter Sunday, we have a joint service for Sangano and Kabazana. We’ll show the movie there and have a short baptism service. I love Easter here. I can hardly wait for it!