African Dance Group Entertains and Excites

Saturday morning at the Convention was an early start for some of us and I’m sure few expected to come away energized and wanting more, thanks to the rhythmic drumming of Djembe Fire.

The event began with a delicious, hot, breakfast buffet followed by an introduction of our visiting international directors from Cameroon, Chile, India and Russia – who shared a little more about language and culture in their home countries. Reverend David shared a Christian song from his native, India. This served as somewhat of a warm up to the featured entertainment.

From the first beat, the whole room was filled with the rhythms of West Africa. And it was not long before we realized that we would not be passive listeners that morning. The entertainers roamed the crowd, soliciting cheers and waves, and playing one side of the room against the other.

During the final song we all learned to sing a call-and-response harvest song. It was not traditional breakfast entertainment, but judging from the standing ovation, a good time was had by all.

This type of entertainment was intended to serve as an example of just some of the ways that Lutheran Hour Ministries shares the Gospel abroad through culturally appropriate song, dance and storytelling.