Heritage Day Celebrations

CELEBRATING OUR COMMON HERITAGE AT BELLVILLE-BOSTON METHODIST CHURCH

HERITAGE DAY 2008 by Rev David Newton

When I first received the invitation from certain members of our congregation to a Heritage Day celebration/fundraiser I have to confess my immediate reaction was not one of great anticipation or excitement. In fact it came at a time when I was quite tired from a very busy program and I would have preferred to just take it easy with my family and “braai” some meat at home, and so fulfill, at least, what my culture would regard as the purpose of Heritage Day. However, I was on the program as the minister, so I reluctantly accepted and tried to arrange it so that I could be there to do my part and leave as soon as possible.

However upon arrival I discovered that I was the last item on the program, and I could hardly leave then and come back later as some people had already begun to arrive. So like it or not I was there for the whole event – AN EVENT THAT I BELIEVE IMPACTED MY LIFE SIGNIFICANTLY!

The Master of Ceremonies, an exciting young man with an obvious passion for God and the way that He has been at work in our cultures throughout the ages, focused on the theme of the celebration for this year i.e. “Celebrating our common African heritage through dance.” With the help of humour and story, he helped us to see that the various cultures in our land have used dance as an expressive response in all the different experiences of their lives. He told us how they used dance to celebrate all the special moments, i.e. birthdays and weddings and special days, and then with the help of the dance group (See photos) he led us in the dance. He told us how they danced in their moments of sadness and loss, and led us in the dance; and how they danced in their moments of anger and objection to injustice and oppression, and led us in the dance; and how they danced in moments of confusion and doubt and fear, to find reassurance, and they led us in the dance. Amazing stuff!!

And then there was the poetry, all expressive of God’s presence with his people in true African tradition with a very real element of being gripped by the Spirit speaking the truths of God and His presence in our current situation under the anointing of the Spirit.

I was sitting next to one of these, a young man, who told me a little about himself and his life. What I found to be most remarkable was how this quiet young man, who really would not have stood out in crowd, when he began to recite his poetry, was overtaken with passion and charged with the words of the poem by the Spirit, and was totally caught up into the realm of the Spirit, and the words just kept coming out.

I asked him afterwards for the words of the poem and his response was that he did not have them available as a script, but that he would get them to me. Then I realized that while he had a few lines prepared, the whole poem burst forth in a form of ecstatic utterance. He has let me have the words and they are included in the gallery. Amazing stuff!!!!

He has also written a book entitled, “The day I died” sharing his testimony, which I purchased, and have read, and do heartily recommend.

There was a motivational speaker, who preached, and I was reminded that preaching lies at the heart of what being African is all about, and there was much laughter and joy at the funny moments (though some were tragic as well) which make up our history.

The closing included an affirmation that our African Heritage involves the great truth that we are who we are as individuals because of others, and an expression of gratitude to God and those who had arranged the event because we had all begun a journey of discovery together that day. We discovered the beginnings of a common African Heritage that we are all privileged to share in our country. This day had helped us to see and experience more clearly what this looked like.

Of course the food, including some dishes that some of the cultures represented definitely avoided, and others delighted in, was a real highlight, and I personally came away from the celebration feeling that it was good to be an African.

I was sorry when it ended. This was a real conversion for me!!!