Pres. Mboka kneeling for prayer
Ask what we did on Sunday, March 25 and we’ll say that we went to church, ALL DAY! Yes, it truly was just about ALL day. The installation service for the new CEUM President Rev. Jules MBOKA Ngate and VP Rev. Jacques Vungbo Sambo was this past Sunday. The service started at 10:30am and ended at 4:15pm; that is 5 hrs and 45 min! But we showed up 45 min before that to get a seat.
It was a dignified service that included very good choirs, a fun step presentation by a group called “the Scouts”, the sermon by Covenant VP Donn Engebretson, the service of installation, words of congratulations from the ECC-US to the newly installed leaders and to the outgoing leaders, gift giving to the new leaders, congregational singing and more. And yes, it was warm and humid and we soaked ourselves with sweat.
View of the service from the back
To accommodate all those who would attend, they built a large shelter outside the church and brought in benches from other churches. Some were under tarps, but most people were under palm branches which are actually cooler. Unfortunately some of the tarps and palm branches had dirt on them which periodically fell on our heads when there was the slightest breeze. So we liked the breeze for the coolness it brought and we didn’t for the dirt that fell.
After the service there was a meal. Everyone was directed to different places to eat. We were served beef, small beef brochettes, boiled or grilled fish, rice, plantains, pondu (greens), and fuku (the corn-manioc flour stiff porridge). Most of the other people, however, did not have this much variety in what they were served.
To view a few more pictures, visit my Facebook album.
