Day 6: Exploring the Culture (By Alex)

Today was a beautiful and sunny day. Our activity was to see the local Sunday morning church service. After breakfast we jumped into the van and drove to the town of Falmouth. I didn't know what to expect. When we arrived with our nice clothes on, we already looked like we fit in. As we walked in, the sense of welcoming was the first thing I felt. An usher took us to our seats and we were ready for the service to start. One of the church leaders first started out with a few prayers and then he lead us on to the songs where the keyboards and drums began to play. I related the service to something like a rollercoaster because thirty minutes into the service, the people began to get extremely emotional and started to pray and scream in tears.

I quickly learned that the Jamaican church service was like nothing I had ever seen before. Songs were played and sung with passion. In the seminar after lunch, I even mentioned that it looked like they were being powered by the energy of the songs. When the music was brought to an end, some stopped to sit down but others continued crying on their knees and some walked up to the altar to pray out loud. 

The most interesting part of this experience was when the pastor told everyone to link hands. They called up another church leader, and she started talking about lessons of life and how to make our lives happier. Minutes after the church leader began to speak, everyone lifted their hands in harmony with her words. That really moved me because she spoke truth after truth and lesson after lesson without stopping. It really was something unbelievable and beautiful to see someone create so much power just out of her words. 

I am glad this trip was able to show me a whole different style of life.