Experiencing other faiths

Greetings from Chaclacayo, Peru! I have settled quite nicely in Peru with a wonderful training group and a great host family. As most of you know, most Peruvians are Catholics.. and well, I´m officially Mennonite, so this is a bit different. But, to keep up with the culture of my family and to become more accustomed to Peru, I have decided to go to church with them every Sunday (well I guess it is called mass). It is really interesting.. I went last Sunday with my family (just my host dad, brother, and sister). No one really talked to each other.. no meet and greet or anything like that. And no food. DEFINITELY not Mennonite. And right away the assistant to the priest came up to me and wanted me to read the scripture in front of the church! I politely declined, although I looked bewildered. The service was nice.. the music was really lovely, we did a lot of kneeling and standing, and a random dog wandered in from off the streets and jumped up on the pews, haha. But no one seemed concerned that he was in there! Maybe he needed a little Jesus, too.

So, in this seemingly unimportant service, I found my own faith. No, I am not Catholic.. but I can take these opportunities when I go to mass to reaffirm my faith and spend time with God. I have no idea what we are praying or saying.. but it feels wonderful to be in this church, to be kneeling before God, and praying about my day - even if everyone else is doing something totally different. I feel part of a community.. not only of my small town of Chaclacayo, but a community of believers. It is nice. And God is there.