Ngarash Church

The view of the church from the road.

On my third Sunday in Tanzania, we went to the Ngarash church.  This church is just around the corner from the school, right across the street from the clinic.  The current preacher, Saiguron, is the accountant for both the clinic and the school. 

The building itself is a rough unchinked log building, lined with plastic sheeting inside.  It has a hard-packed dirt floor, and there's a little churchyard out front lined with rocks.  As you can see in the picture above, there is also an outhouse if needed.  I wish I'd gotten a photo from a different angle because there are some traditional round mud huts just to the left of the building, but they are blocked from view in this photo by the bushes. 

Tammy and Deborah chatting with one of the church members after services.

The building was filled up by the time the sermon started; it's a small congregation but has several elderly people and several children.  Mr. Shekwavi, the headmaster of the school, was the guest preacher today, and Saiguron did the singing and the Lord's Supper.  Here in Tanzania, the communion meditation is functionally a second sermon; it's usually nearly as long.  

As usual, the service ended with a song during which everyone exited in a line, shaking everyone's hand along the way until they reached the end and joined the line until it wrapped around the churchyard.  The Ngarash church is very friendly and I really enjoyed meeting the people there.  I'm not sure what it was, but of the three churches I've visited so far, this one felt the most home-like.  Starting next week, however, I'll be worshipping on campus with the students.  I hope to visit at Ngarash again sometime, though!