A Thanksgiving Service to be Remembered

This past Sunday was the annual Thanksgiving Service at our church. Instead of the usual two services—one in the Luganda language and one in English—they were combined using a very busy and skillful translator. The songs were perhaps even livelier than usual—we’ve noticed that songs in their languages erupt with power and beauty/harmony. A number gave testimonies—one who received an overdue promotion, overdue because she refused to give the interviewers a bribe, and in the end she got posted in a high government office. Another one saw God provide some property and then a home (over several years) even as they continued to serve God and refused to take short-cuts. And then there was a lady who found out she was HIV positive several years ago through the free medical clinic that the church hosts each year. She at first denied it and left the church. Then she got pregnant and eventually found out that her baby was also HIV positive. She planned to take his life in order to “spare” him from all that might come his way. But throughout that whole period of time, a church lady who works with a group called “A Cup of Cold Water” who ministers to HIV positive people, continued to seek her, befriend her, and point her to Christ. During this past year, that has happened—she is now back in church with her son; both of them are on the Anti-RetroViral (ARV) medication and doing well. She got on her knees twice during her testimony praising God for what He had done in her life. And that was just three of the testimonies.

The message was from 1 Chronicles 16:7-38 where David praises and thanks God for the successful return of the Ark of the Covenant to the Tabernacle. The pastor quoted Charles Dickens as saying we should set aside one day of the year for complaining and 364 days of the year for giving thanks! Many excellent reminders of the importance of expressing our gratitude to God for all He has done for us.

But the climax was the offering during which people were encouraged to bring gifts to the Lord in thanksgiving for His gifts. All went to the front of the church to either give monetary gifts or gifts in kind—vegetables, fruits, sugar cane, a live chicken (with his feet tied—and I must say, very quiet), and many various containers of other things. At the end of the service, the deacons placed a price tag on each of the items and people were encouraged to buy them with the money going to the Lord. Among the gifts were also two nicely decorated cakes of thanksgiving which were then cut and shared with the whole congregation at the close of the service, served with soft drinks—a rare treat for most Ugandans. The joy of the Lord was so evident throughout the service that no one noticed how much time had passed…the service started at 10 AM and finished at 1:30 PM – 3 ½ hours of thanking God!!