Confirmation Day

Confirmation is an important event in the Lutheran Church.  It is when, after a period of study, a person (usually a child of about 12 or 13) confirms publicly that he or she really does believe the doctrines of the church, and is accepted into full membership.  There is a Lutheran church next to our school, and we know two people whose children were confirmed a couple of weeks ago.  We were invited to the event and the family festivities that followed it.

Now, I already knew that this is a large congregation, but I was surprised at the number of children being confirmed--there were at least 60!  This is a thriving faith community.

The service lasted about 3 hours, as it was combined with the regular Sunday service.  It was full of singing, as well as the standard liturgy.  Of course, it was all in Swahili, but we've acquired a hymnal in that language, so we could follow along to a degree, although we did not totally understand what was being said.

We had offered to take photos of the event for one of our friends whose child was being confirmed, and we were also invited to the party at their home.  The party location was not far, but up the mountain, so the family rented a dala-dala to take us all there.  More party-goers joined us later.  The family is Maasai, and their clothing varied from traditional shukas (robes) to Western styles.

The party was held outdoors in a tent set up for the purpose, with rented plastic chairs.  After a good meal there was a lull, and I was beginning to wonder if we should leave.  Then, we were told that a cake would soon be brought out.  The cake would be cut, and then gifts would be presented to the confirmand.  Camera at the ready, we watched the procession bringing the cake.  It was uncovered, and we saw that it was...a goat!  A whole, roasted goat, complete with hide, horns, and leaves hanging out of its mouth!  The confirmand, with the help of an aunt, sliced pieces from the side of the "cake", and fed them to the guests.  Mark ate a piece and said it was good.  I declined.

 

Presentation of gifts was an elaborate ceremony.  Guests started a chant (in Kiswahili) that called up family members one by one: "This one is Mama, this one", "This one is Auntie, this one", etc. and that person would walk, or sometimes dance, to the child and hand the gift to him.  Some dropped money into a box covered by a shawl instead.  A large gift was presented with great pomp, carried in atop the head of one of the aunties.

Another cake was brought out--this time a standard pastry--and after it was consumed, the party broke up.  We walked back down the mountain with a group of other guests and managed to get home just before dark.  The day's events had started at 10 am, and lasted until 6 pm.  Longer than we had expected, but we were glad we were there to participate.