9 फरवरी, 2020, घाना में चर्च

In the morning, I went to church. James asked me if I wanted to come, and even though I'm not the biggest churchgoer, I wanted to see it.

First of all, it should be noted that Ghanaians, like most Africans, are very religious. For example, if I tell them that fewer people go to church on Sundays at home, it is hard for the people here to understand. What one believes in is not so important to people, because there are many different religions here (Christianity, Islam, and various African religions). However, Ghanaians find it incomprehensible if you believe in nothing and belong to no religion.
There are also many different churches here, such as the Baptist Church, the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Orthodox Church, and many more.

The church I visited is called Perez Chapel International. However, it is not like a typical church as we would imagine. It is simply a large room with garden chairs distributed throughout where you sit. There are also no wall paintings or old relics. The typical church atmosphere that we have is missing, in my opinion.

A lot of singing and dancing took place during the church service. But for me, it was difficult to participate because I didn't know the songs at all and there were unfortunately no lyrics. In general, Africans participate much more during the church service, meaning that it gets very loud when they sing and people really feel it.
Another difference that I noticed is that people pray out loud here, while we tend to do it in our thoughts.
Sometimes, they also shout into the crowd during the sermon. This is not considered rude here.
After the church service, I was also asked if I wanted to come every Sunday and participate in the various programs during the week. But I will probably not take advantage of this offer, even though it is well-meant.

To be honest, I actually like the church in Germany a bit better. But that's simply because of the special atmosphere we have at home.
In a large room with garden chairs, the atmosphere was just not so 'typical church-like'.

Oh by the way, there are also other programs in the churches here, especially now that Valentine's Day is around the corner (see picture).
A teacher from my school invited me to this program, but I politely declined :D