Each Sunday, our children adapt a little better to their circumstances. Attending church in Canada for 2 years and “owning” a whole pew of our own brought with it several luxuries. First there were 4 adults for 5 kids (as my parents attended the same church). Second, the church provided coloring/activity sheets and crayons each Sunday. Third, there was a children’s feature most Sundays. And fourth, they often got gum or a snack to tide them over.
Gumuz church is different. Women sit on one side and men on the other side. We sit in one huge circle all facing each other. This gives a great sense of unity but nothing is hidden from view. We start off sitting on a bench of our own but as the church fills up, we all shuffle over until we are sitting hip against hip. This Sunday, the kids took my advice and sat on the floor. This gave them more room.
We are amazed at how quietly the Gumuz children sit and how noisy our group of MKs are. The toddlers walk freely in the middle of the circle, our preschoolers are still learning to whisper and our older kids are itching to go outside. It is a rare Sunday that I am able to stay inside until the kids are dismissed for Sunday school.
This Sunday we sang Ay, Yesus Dashen (Jesus Loves me) again. This time our kids knew the words because they had learned it during their Gumuz language class.
Several of our MK children found some tiny grasshoppers which kept their attention during the service. I thought about all that we do in North America to keep our kids occupied in church. I decided the grasshoppers could stay considering the environment.
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