Good Friday, 2015.
Dawn,seen from the car park of Ellis Park Stadium…
Home of the Mighty Lions rugby club.
But not for today.
Today the seats will be filled, not by rugby supporters,
but my members of the Universal Church
The film crew and I got there early,
and while waiting for the event to start,
I was able to stand on this hallowed rugby ground.
Where South Africa beat the All Blacks!
As close as I will ever get to converting a try.
For now the seats are empty,
but I was assured that all of them WOULD be filled.
The crowds start to arrive.
They arrived by bus, train and on foot.
“Nou gaan ons BRAAI”(now we are going to barbecue)
No event in South Africa is EVER complete without a boerewors roll or two.
The stadium still has old fashioned fixtures in the public toilets.
This lady cooked her heart out.
She told me that she had to bring in extra sausage,
and that ran out in less than an hour.
On the halfway line…
But, rugby aside…
This is what the crowd had come to witness…
Bishop Marcelo Pires preaching to 80000 people!
When last did Ellis Park see that many spectators?
Slowly the crowd starts to fill the stadium.
Drones were used to capture images for the broadcast
They came from far and wide.
Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein were well represented
People tell me that I am a shadow of my former self.
Is this proof?
The stadium is almost full
The weather remained good although there was a treat of rain in the afternoon
The dot in the sky is a radio controlled helicopter…used for getting aerial shots.
FULL HOUSE!
A group called “Youth Power Group” that danced to entertain
the “congregation” before the arrival of the Bishop
Singing at the top of their lungs.
80000 voices end off the service.
Paulo Areal, the director of the TV shoot,
is an ardent Mighty Lions supporter.
Here he shows me the spot where they will score
the winning try against the Blue Bulls…
Good luck to both teams.
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