Even God does Karaoke

So, you know when you are channel surfing and you get to the middle, after the news stations but before the kids stations/MTV/vh1 etc? Usually you see some tv evangelical presentations in crappy cable, right? Well, look for me waving on the screen because I was at one of them last night.

The church we attended is part of the "Born Again" movement and it was a whole new can of worms for me. I am accustomed to the very traditional and predictable Catholic mass and this was far from that.

First of all, we walked into the Hotel (where the service takes place) and went up to the 2nd floor which was full of convention rooms. We could easily find the church service because it was booming music at the end of the hall. When we went in there was an entire band on stage, equipped with a sound system, strobe lights, electric guitars and a drummer behind some sort of bullet proof glass looking cover. It was serious business.

We started off singing bible rock. It was essentially karaoke at church. They had a big screen projector and the words for each verse came on so everyone could sing along. People had their hands in the air and were belting the lyrics. I was looking for a lighter to start waving back and forth.

The service lasted two hours and resembled more of a comedy show than a church service. The pastor was a middle aged Filipino man who was pretty much hilarious. He was cracking jokes in Cebuano and English the whole time. The congregation was very engaged and he made sure everyone repeated "Amen" to him every few minutes. It seemed like a very well connected community.

While I thought it was fun and entertaining, I really didn't agree with most of his messages. He was commenting on how Cebu was doing really well and how everyone should be so proud of the malls etc. All I could think of were the girls in Kamagayan and the children in the dump. It seems he had forgotten (or turned a blind eye) to all of the horrible poverty and corruption in the city. He also made subtle negative comments about other religions which I find to be the most contradictory aspect of religions.

All in all it was fun (and had AC) and I will definitely go back next week. If anything it is a learning experience.

After church we went out to a really good (and inexpensive) restaurant for dinner and desert. The desert was amazing! We had so many options but Lindsay and I opted for the flourless chocolate cake. Pure dark chocolate bliss.

Today has been more gram stains and check ups. I'm getting to be a pro with the speculum....

Sounds like we are getting massages tonight (masseuse coming to the apartment)! more pics tomorrow!