Live Performance!!!

On Sunday, one of my worst nightmares came true. We have bad dreams about embarrassing situations happening, but for me this takes the cake (and it was not a dream!) The picture that you see to the left is of kids happily playing outside of church in Philippi, but this was not quite how I was feeling while walking out of church this past week. Try to imagine the following situation...

I had mentioned to Mfundisi, the pastor of the church in Philippi, how excited I was because I had finally learned the words to a Xhosa worship song! He smiled brightly. In the middle of the Sunday worship service someone from the back started singing this very song that I had just learned! I enthusiastically joined in with the rest of the congregation, singing loudly! There aren't any instruments at this church, but the Philippians have such beautiful voices and sing so loudly there isn't any need for instruments. Well, here is where trouble begins....
Mfundisi stands in front of the congregation in the middle of my favorite song and waves his hands (which apparently means "stop singing!") and the whole congregation grew silent. He walks up to Erik and I, who were sitting near the front and grabs our hands, pulling us to the front of the church. He then said, "These two--- they come all the way from Ameerrriiicccaaa! And, they have learned our Xhosa songs!! Please, everyone, stay silent, for they will sing to us a song!" I couldn't believe my ears! This is horrible, I thought! Just because everyone in Philippi has a beautiful singing voice doesn't mean the pastor should assume that I can keep a note, or a key, or whatever it is called! I can't sing to save my soul!!! There is no way out of this situation!
Here I am, a lone white girl with my white friend, standing in front of about 150 silent black people who sing beautifully and are eagerly waiting for me to sing a Xhosa song that I just learned, a capella!
So, what other choice did we have? We started singing! And as I sang (off key and hitting all kinds of wrong notes I am sure!) the congregation started cheering! I couldn't believe it! Pretty soon my voice started quivering a little less and I sang a little louder. They cheered louder! People started standing up and cheering! I realized that my pathetic, musically-challenged, attempt at singing was enough for them-- it was the fact that I was singing in their language that really mattered. By the time we were done the whole congregation was cheering for us! (This is not usually the response I get when I sing! Usually it is, "Hey, someone quick turn up the radio, I think Jen is singing!")
It was quite an embarrassing, nerve-racking, situation that ended up being pretty special to me in the end. The reason is because I felt accepted. Despite my shortcomings and limited knowledge, the people at church on Sunday were willing to accept my attempts. More than that, they accepted ME. I felt loved. This is the perfect example of how God can turn something really horrible (me having to sing in front of the church) into something good (me feeling valued by the congregation and the congregation feeling valued that I would care to learn their language). God is good, huh?