Settling in

I am starting to get to know some of the children at the children’s home.  They range from teenagers down to toddlers.  Some are members of large families, all resident at the home.  The older ones are often here because of losing parents in the civil war, but many are here because their families are unable to look after them due to extreme poverty, or numerous other reasons.  For example, one little girl has been placed here following the divorce of her parents and the mother’s remarriage to a Dinka (member of a nomadic tribe).  Traditionally Dinka families will kill offspring from a previous marriage, so this is for her child’s safety.  Another girl had her leg amputated due to cancer and has been discarded by her family.

I brought a stock of 20 recorders with me and am giving recorder lessons to some very keen children.  They are fast learners.  When I mentioned this to one of the pastors, he was keen for recorders to be used for religious services too.  It will be a while before their standard is high enough, but this is certainly something to aim for. 

Entrance sign to the children's home, church and school

One of the staff plays the guitar.  He is teaching a teenage boy at the home.  One day I brought my viola along and we played some hymns together.  The hymns are all new to me and mainly in Madi (the local language), but are easy to pick up and improvise harmonies to.  Again, I have been asked if I will play at some services.

The religious ethos at Cornerstone is highly evangelical, with a distinctly African flavour.  Services are very loud.  During services everyone shouts their individual prayers, in a complete babble of sound, accompanied by violent hand gestures.  To me it is a very strange way of worship and I find it hard to understand.  There is a general belief and fear of witchcraft and demons even among the pastors.  For example, I was told an extraordinary story by one of the pastors about a woman who was maliciously turned into a snake.  The pastor was outraged by the abuse of her human rights in being turned into a snake against her will!

Every morning at 6am there are ‘devotions’, which is the quietest service, although even in this one individual prayers are as described above.  Devotions are compulsory for all the children in the home.  However many choose not to come and are expected to hoe the grass as a punishment.  Several children have told me that they enjoy hoeing, so this can hardly be seen as a deterrent.  On Friday evenings there is an all-night service from about 7pm to 6am.  It is extremely loud with plenty of microphones and equally loud prayer. This (fortunately) is not compulsory and people are free to wander in and out.  This is one of those occasions when I am very glad of my deaf ear as the sound can be clearly heard from my room.

On Tuesday afternoons there is a voluntary Bible study session mainly attended by adults.  The first time I attended we read the story of Cain and Abel and then analysed it.  It was a very good experience and I learnt a lot that I had never noticed before in this story.  I had always seen the rejection of Cain’s sacrifice as very unjust.  After much discussion of why God rejected Cain’s sacrifice, a conclusion was reached that Abel had been the first, spontaneously making his sacrifice of a valuable animal.  Cain made his sacrifice afterwards, most probably copying Abel rather than from truly pious motives.  Therefore God’s judgement was on the spirit in which the sacrifice was made rather than the nature of the sacrifice.  The passage on Abel’s blood crying out to God was seen as highly relevant to all present due to the atrocities committed in South Sudan, and the need for reconciliation rather than human revenge.  The message was that only God has the right to judge and take life.