Local News
Gambian Community Celebrates 'Sang Marie'
Published: September 15, 2011
ATLANTA—The Gambia Christians Organization (GCO) celebrated the feast of the Assumption—a national holiday called Sang Marie in Gambia—recently at Christ Our Hope Church, Lithonia. Their community is based at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta.
GCO, with over 60 members, was created in 1993 and is open to all Gambian Christians.
The group meets once a month for meetings and gathers on major feast days to pray, celebrate and bond in fellowship.
African drummers Francis Njie, left, and Moses Nicol accompany the choir during the preparation of the gifts.
Father Guyma Noel, right, pastor of Christ Our Hope Church, Lithonia, was the main celebrant and homilist for the Sang Marie Mass. He was joined on the altar by Father Anthony Mbanefo, pastor of Holy Redeemer Church, McRae.
Cecilia Johnson of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Smyrna, sings the entrance hymn with the Gambia Christians Organization of Atlanta choir, which was under the direction of Vincent Ndow, a member of St. Michael the Archangel Church, Woodstock. (Photos by Michael Alexander)
Susan Waffa-Ogoo, the Gambian ambassador to the United Nations, came from New York to attend the Aug. 20 Sang Marie Mass.
Paul Sarr holds his 3-year-old son, Zack, during the Sang Marie Mass at Christ Our Hope Church, Lithonia. Sang Marie (Saint Mary) is a celebration of the feast of the Assumption in Gambia, West Africa, where it is a national holiday. Sarr is a member of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Church, Douglasville.
More information about GCO is available at the group’s website, www.gco-atlanta.org.
