Off to Church

On Saturday afternoon we arrived at Sitio Pongpong (yes that really is its name) so that my mum could visit the small church there on Sunday morning. Although the church is tiny and has only rough log benches to sit on, it is filled on a Sunday, and the volume of the singing would raise the roof if there weren't so many holes in it. Braving the prospect of splinters in our rear ends, we took our place on a log which had been left vacant for us, and which formed part of the the the front row (that log there on the right in the picture !).

 

Dogs, and the odd chicken, wander freely through the church during the service.  In fact one of the people gathering the collection accidentally stood on a sleeping dog, leading to a riot of yelps and confusion.  

The fact that the church is so basic somehow makes the effect of the service and the enthusiasm of the people is all the more moving, and the place has a great feeling to it.  Once again we were made very welcome. In fact, we were received as honoured guests.  We passed on a donation of the equivalent of £10 to the members of the church, which they decided would be spent on white curtain material for dressing the church and tables at the forthcoming fiesta, and on buying flower vases for the church to replace the cut-off water bottles currently serving that purpose.

After the main part of the service was over the congregation continued busily planning their annual fiesta for the 28th May. However they were worried that they had no volleyball available to allow the proposed young people's volleyball tournament to take place.  Since two young members of Mearns Parish Kirk had donated a pound pocket money each to the benefit of the young people here, we decided this money should be used to buy the youngsters of Sitio Pongpong a basketball.  This meant they could go ahead and have their tournament. Since the people here are fanatical about basketball, you can be sure the basket ball will be very well used even after the tournament ! 

After church had finished, we gave out some of the donated pencil cases, pens pencils, and balloons to the children in the congregation.  They were all delighted with these, and very soon children were appearing from all around to join in and receive a balloon and a pencil case. The people were all very interested in seeing a picture of all the children of Mearns Parish Kirk, and sent a big "thank you" to the children and adults who had sent these gifts to their village.  

Before we left they made me promise to go back there on the 28th May to join in their Fiesta, which should be great fun !