Jenna - Update 8: Debrief Blog 2

I learned so much from my new friends this summer! They were so impactful and I'm so grateful for all of them and their love! One lesson that sticks out very clearly was from the beginning of our time in Africa. I noticed as soon as we arrived how much their culture loves to dance, especially during praise songs. At first it was definitely unnatural since our culture is not into dancing pretty much at all unless you take classes. But the way these people express themselves so freely and worship through dancing was touching to me. They were having fun with each other and engaging with the music in a way I'd never experienced before, whereas I come from a culture where it's hard to get people to raise their hands during worship. It was even unifying for us as Americans and Africans to let down our fears and hesitations and to dance together, even letting them lead and us follow and giving them a good laugh when we were very obviously less coordinated than them. One of the moments I remember, that they actually repeated several times, is during praise one of the women leading was giving us some dance moves to follow during a musical interlude and we as a crowd weren't getting into it, specifically the people in the back, but I loved every minute of it each time, so she said something along the lines of, “Is this how you praise our Savior?” Kind of criticizing us collectively for not giving our all during praise and worship, through dance in this instance. I just remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, you are so right!” Jesus gave us everything and the least we could do is have fun and fellowship during praise together and give all of ourselves during praise and worship giving glory to the Lord. Then, I decided to make a commitment to always give of myself when worshiping the Lord, to let go of any insecurities or fears about others judging or what they might think, and to always remember the example the Africans set for me so that I don't fall back into the habit of being reserved.