Church

The majority of people here are Catholic. Right near my house is the biggest Church in town and there the church services are served like fast food, quick and not that beneficial for you. I went one Sunday with my Mom and it was very very impersonal. We came, stood for half and listening to a man speak, and left without saying hi. It was so impersonal and with so many people I doubt the priest had any idea who half of them were. There are five or six of these services in one day. I felt like I was ripping off Jesus. I went to Church without really going. I couldn't concentrate on anything and didn't take in anything. Lucky for me, I talked to a friend about how dissatisfied and disappointed I was and he recommended another church to me that he said should be more like the one I go to at home. It was called Union Church and he was right about how closely related they were in style. I mean if the title had one more word in it, it would be my church.

My friend escorted me to the church and I was absolutely amazed. I had stumbled upon an international church in Vina that had services in English once a month. It used to be that every service was in English, but that obviously didn't draw too many people. Actually, for a long time it was the only church on the entire South American coast that had services in English. On top of that, every Sunday they have a live band playing music. I'm talking about a band, band with a guitar, drums, piano, and at points a chorus. They don't use bulletins or hymnbooks. Instead, there is a project that they use to broadcast the words of the songs and other notifications on to through a power point. The other main difference was the amount of people having some sort of spiritual conversion. Whenever we were singing there was always someone raising their arms to the ceiling and shouting amen. It made things a little more exciting. I guess. 

As far as services go, I don't understand the main minister when he preaches in English but he is really fun to watch. He is very animated and his voice makes you want to listen. 

This church also looks like a great way to meet people. I started talking to the women sitting behind me and she happened to be the principal of another AFS student. She invited me to go on their next field trip for free, which was an offer I gladly accepted.