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Worshipping Together in Harare

The following day, The Balm Team attended several church services and learned that they were all eager to play a stronger role in HIV/AIDS prevention and education programs. Like the organization working with widows and orphans, the church has a leadership role to play in stopping the spread of this deadly disease.

Pernessa Seele, Founder and CEO of The Balm In Gilead, and Victor Oladakun, The Balm's documentary producer, worshipped at the Trinity Methodist Church in Harare, where women played a prominent role. In fact, the preacher was a woman. From there, they traveled about 30 minutes outside of Harare to another Methodist church in a high-density area, and joined over 200 people worshipping under the trees, with umbrellas held up for more shade. This congregation has been worshipping outside for many years because they haven't been able to raise enough money to finish building the physical structure. There was the most powerful music and dancing in the absence of walls, and there were boundaries on the expression of their faith!

"I have never seen so much dust flying in the name of the Lord," Seele said. "Children and elders were dancing and shouting for the Lord together under the trees! I felt the spirit of my ancestors moving as I spoke to the congregation. It was a profound moment for me."

As other team members also traveled from church to church, they passed several apostolic churches on the roadside, where people dressed in all-white or white and red or white and blue, gathered in the grass and under the trees to praise God.

At the United Church of Christ in Highland, outside of Harare, the building was filled with over 200 people. Before the service even began, a praise team performed three uplifting songs, with people dancing in the aisles and teenagers playing traditional music instruments. After the service, there was a question and answer session on HIV/AIDS, led by Dr. Randall Bailey, The Balm's theological expert on HIV/AIDS, where there was a call for more interaction with young people.

There was a similar call at the United Church of Christ Seke Church, in Chitingwiza, another high-density area outside of Harare. The Seke Church was right next to an Apostolic Church and a Methodist church, and the singing from all three congregations could be heard at any given time. The congregants used drums and tambourines and danced, and the youth choir performed several times. After this service, there was also a question and answer session. Some congregants said many people are dying of AIDS quietly and wanted to know how to combat stigma, educate their communities, and raise awareness.

Reverend Evatt Mugarura, Director of The Balm's Africa HIV/AIDS Faith Initiative, preached about the disease, drawing parallels between the situation in the African American community in the U.S. and in African communities all over the continent. After his sermon, he led a discussion at the request of the deacon.

Mugarura stated, "We need more patience with youth and with those who don't understand. We need to visit the families who are affected, show them love and let them know that they are not cursed," he emphasized. "AIDS is not a punishment from God and can be prevented just from talking. In Uganda, we talked and talked and we're still talking. We cut our infection rate from 18.3 percent in 1995 to 6.1 percent in 2002. If death is not ashamed of killing our people, why are we ashamed of talking ill of it? Talking about AIDS will help the church grow."

In all the church experiences, the congregants were really listening and asking questions after the services. There is a thirst for basic facts about transmission and how to fight stigma and discrimination, and there is a real desire to engage young people in this work. Preachers and young people alike talked about teaching versus preaching and how information - not silence - saves lives.

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