Supporters Open People’s Minds Joyfully and Excitedly
The Cape Town Church in South Africa
We, the young adults of the Cape Town Church, participated in the Cape Peninsula Marathon as supporters. Our duty was to hand out bottles of water from the drinking fountains at the start line and the finish line.
African people all have outstanding talents in dancing and singing. The young adults of the Cape Town Church are no exceptions. As they are full of joy and energy, they always say a passionate chant and perform a dance routine before an event or a meeting starts.
Their enthusiastic personalities shone brightly during this event where they served as supporters. They gathered at 3 a.m., but they didn’t look tired at all, and even those who had to stay at church to make posters until midnight the night before were full of excitement. Everybody was fully ready to enjoy supporting others and their eyes were sparkling.
At 5 a.m., they started supporting athletes at the drinking fountains. At other drinking fountains, they only handed out bottles of water, but the atmosphere was totally different at the drinking fountain we were in charge of. Whenever the marathoners came near, we gave them encouragement and strength with exciting songs and fun dances.
About 20 new members, who had recently joined the Church of God club in the University of Cape Town [UCT], also participated in this volunteer activity. They seemed to feel a little awkward at first, but they melted into the Zion young adults’ enthusiasm little by little gradually warmed up to the enthusiastic cheers of the young adults from our Zion, and at the end of the activity, they willingly took the microphone and sang cheering songs. We also shouted, “We love you!” along with the slogan.
Our joyous ad cheerful energy was also felt by the runners. Even after crossing the finish line, some of them came back to us and said “thank you” for supporting them. Some even danced with us at the finish line. We were very happy and excited that they received much comfort and strength as they ran a tough race.
Even the citizens who were passing by showed interest in our activity. They said that they wanted to know what kind of church the Church of God was when they saw how passionately we cheered for all the runners.
Our activity as supporters was successful. It was probably because all the brothers and sisters participated in the volunteer activity with one mind. We truly give thanks to God for opening the minds of many people wide. We will continue to work hard to shine God’s glory.