We have made a habit of attending church services when we are visiting the more remote island villages. It’s a way to connect more with the people and gives a pretext for us to join them in the village which is slightly less awkward than just going ashore and walking around. Up to this point the award for the longest church service was Fijian Father’s Day on the island of Yadua with a close runner up being Easter Service on Fatu Hiva in The Marquesas. However, on this day on Ailuk, the Assembly of God church climbed into the top spot with a whopping two hour service on a day that wasn’t Father’s Day or Easter or anything like that. It was just any regular Sunday. But the thing is, it also took over the top spot as the most original service we had been to.
Let me explain.
First of all, the men don’t wear sulus or lava lavas. They wore everything from full business suits to pants and t-shirts. So, Alex and Brenden were quite happy to not have to don their sulus that we had bought back in Fiji and that they have had to wear on many occasions. Also, no one took their shoes off outside the church. They just went ahead and wore their shoes inside the church! We hadn’t seen this anywhere in any Pacific Island. Shoes are always removed when entering someones home or a church. We actually asked a couple people, just to make sure we were understanding things correctly.
The church service itself didn’t follow a typical service in any way. Most church services we had been to followed an expected flow, much like church services back home. Singing, sermon, collection plate, a little more singing, the end. No, this one was all over the place. Singing, speaking, singing, speaking, more singing, more speaking. This pattern kept giving us false hope that it was almost over, especially when we started reaching the hour mark.
But the best part was the sound system and the dancing. They had microphones and an amplifier, and they had someone playing on an electronic keyboard. When they would break out into singing it was lively and loud and everyone danced and had fun, including me! I’m pretty sure Pumpkin (the pastor) did the moonwalk in his rust-colored suit and glasses. It was surreal.
Gresham Family Exodus 