It has been a gig day. I've just got back to my host families home after visiting James Meeks church, Salem Baptist, which is on the south side of Chicago Link Here. Salem is an African-American church with a 10,000 seat sanctuary. It was an adventurous 60 minute drive across town to get there.
What a welcome we got. We arrived in time for the 10am service, only to discover that service times had changes to 7.30am and 12noon, with Sunday School in between. So, with two hours to kill, we got an impromptu guided tour of the whole facility by Dan (Technical Director). It was wonderful. After a donut, we attended worship, where we were taken down to the second row and then introduced to the whole congregation. These services are broadcast live across Chicago - very embarrassing! I have the DVD to show everyone on my return to Oz.
The service itself went for two and a half hours. Amazing music, great dancing and a wonderful sermon. It was an experience in every sense of that word. The hospitality we received was very humbling.
Last night we attended Willow's Saturday evening service. A great service again - very different to Salem. Mike Breaux preached a great message from John 4. The auditorium is amazing - 7,000 seats with every bell and whistle from a sound and visual point of view.
I've picked up a bit of a cold (sore throat etc.) which made sleep last night a little hard, and the snoring for my roommate (Gavin) even worse. We start the conference at 8am tomorrow which is exciting. All in all having a great time - still a bit tired - but can't believe I'm actually here.
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