We decided when we heard that Michael W. Smith was coming to Zambia that we were going, regardless. To experience the chance to attend an "American" worship service was just something that we needed and were going to do!
When driving up to the concert venue (an outdoor soccer stadium) was when I had my first thought of "This might be more of a "Zambian" experience than American..."
Imagine going to a large high school football playoff game (5,000 people) and there is one field for parking with no parking attendants. You park wherever, however...with no concern for how the person next to you is parked. Mass chaos.
We walk up to the stadium and there are thousands of people standing outside, with lines in the shape of figure eights all over. We get in two different lines and ask people "What is this line for?" They all respond with "We don't know." We finally figure out that VIP tickets (oh yeah--$20 each!) get to enter through a back gate, so we head that way.
Let me back up. The concert was supposed to be from 2-8, with a couple of local artists opening for Michael W. Smith. We arrived at 3, and no music was playing.
Ok so we enter the stadium and notice that all of the stands are completely packed. The VIP people are making a line that will go out onto the football field. So the VIP ticketholders get to sit in the grass on the field, while the $10 ticket holders are comfortable in the stands. The Zambians around us were NOT happy and it was funny.
So they let us onto the field after much complaining, and we are seated in the grass directly behind a white chalk line. There are ushers blocking the line..like one usher every 2 feet to keep people back. So we sit and wait....and wait...and wait... Around 4pm, someone announces that they are almost done with soundchecks and the local artists will take the stage soon. At this, the crowd starts booing. They don't want to hear local artists. At this point, I start to get nervous. Ever heard of mob mentality?? I mean, thousands of Zambians, getting impatient, about 3 policemen (with no guns) in the stadium, and a few ushers (women) to keep people back. Kinda nerve-rattling!!
At one point, we noticed people screaming and clapping. We look over to see what the commotion was, and we see that people are cheering because an Indian man wearing traditional religious dress (Muslim or Hindu I'm not sure) was attending the concert. Bizarre..the cheering I mean..
Ok, so the emcees come out at 5:15pm and say we are almost ready to start (over 3 hours late!!) They first ask everyone to stand up and sing the Zambian National Anthem, and everyone starts yelling and booing!!! It was insane!!! The man emcee states "Actually we've been told that it is the law that we do this." So people reluctantly get up and sing. Talk about something that would NEVER happen in America!!!
After the singing of the anthem, we sit down but people have crowded our space and are practically seated on top of us. The two Zambian women beside us were SO upset. But Zambians are so funny--they won't directly confront each other but they'll indirectly talk about each other loud. It was just funny because Americans would be like "MOVE! I was there!"
At 6pm, Michael W. Smith takes the stage. It was pretty amazing. The Zambians there knew every one of his worship songs. They don't know the old school stuff, like Friends, but they know Above all Powers and all the praise and worship songs. The highlight of the concert for me was the song Draw Me Close. Whenever we would sing this song in the States, I would just long for Zambia and our close friends because this was their favorite song. So to sing it in an open field surrounded by Zambians with Mulenga singing beside me was pretty spectacular.
So all this time, we were still supposed to be behind this white line. It was working fairly well when all of a sudden, chaos breaks loose and a throng of people rush the front. Mulenga takes off and yells Come on guys!! We're American, where you stay behind a line if someone tells you to stay behind a line, so we slowly walked forward. We were pushed from behind and it was not pleasant. When the pushing was over, my 5'2 self (and nose) was right at the level of the armpits of about 6 guys around me. I gave Blu a look and we moved to the back of the field and enjoyed the rest of the concert from there. So much for VIP... :)
To see the Zambians (even an old man) jumping, dancing, singing, and praising God made the "Zambian" experience worth every second. I believe it was truly a glimpse of heaven....with better toilet facilities of course.
So all in all, the concert supposed to last from 2-8 lasted from 6pm until 7:15pm, with an additional 45 minutes to get out of the chaotic parking lot. What a day! :)
Ok, this cracked us up...This is one of the ushers wearing her shirt...her shirt which they misspelled Michael on... :)
Me and Mulenga-he had SUCH a good time!
Us :)
Our seats before the rushing of the stage
1 comment:
Loved this!! Enjoyed seeing you guys at the concert.
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