Guide me, O thou great Jehovah

The St Mark's Men's Fellowship met this morning and our chairman Giyani is taking us in new and exciting directions.

But things got off to a slightly rocky start, when we discovered that we did not have a venue in which to meet. We solved that by hijacking the kitchen. We fetched a few extra chairs and the lads were set. Then Giyani dropped his bombshell. We had to sing William Williams's great hymn in isiXhosa. Few of us can speak Xhosa, but we of the Men's Fellowship have made it our  mission to share our faith and praise the Lord in every language spoken by the congregation

That said we only had one hymn book and so thankfully, from my point of view at least, we opted for the English version, which was sung with great gusto and passion by those present to the extent that those enjoying an early morning cup of tea in the hall next door notedand commented upon the enthusiasm with which "Oh thou great Jehovah" was delivered.

O thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
Hold me with thy powerful hand:
Bread of heaven,
Feed me now and evermore.

Open thou the crystal fountain
Whence the healing stream shall flow;
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through:

Strong deliverer,
Be thou still my strength and shield.
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of death, and hell's destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan's side:
Songs of praises
I will ever give to thee.

St Mark's has historically left celebrating the Lord in song to those in the pews and in the choir. All that is now changing. We sang three hymns this morning and later in the service the Youth Choir and the Women's Choir launched into song. It was really a moving day and one highly appreciated by your scribe.

This is only the fourth meeting of the Men's Fellowship and we are still finding our feet, so to speak. We will be looking to helping with the tea, doing door duty and getting involved in all activities of the church as needed.