Iglesia

My first two weeks in Mexico I went to the cathedral in downtown for a little Catholic/Mexican cultural experience. After that I sought out a Christian church and have been going to Centro Cristiano in Cuernavaca every Sunday since. I miss my home church, Overlake in Redmond, but was glad to find something semi-close to my style of worship and learning compared to the Catholic way, which is not the fit for me, but is just right for others.
The ideas of Centro Cristiano and their doctrine are right on...Jesus and the Bible. I took note of aspects that were different for me, but definitely Mexican style. For example, Mexico is never without flare and flash so the church has young women and girls dressed in white flowy dresses with golden sashes around their waists flipping flags and colored strings and banners in the air while they dance to the worship music. Young children wave banners that have a praise written to Jesus on them though they can barely walk. I find these things flashy and distracting so not my taste, but it's the way they do it and closing my eyes helps!
One of my favorite parts about this church is their time that they greet newcomers. After worship, the leader asks in each section of seats if there are any new people and has them stand up and say their name. Then everyone sings this cheerful song to say how happy they are to welcome the newcomers and people walk over to give them a handshake, a hug, and to say welcome. Normally I would find this a little awkward for a first-time comer, but, at this church, everyone is so genuinely excited to greet a new person and have them join that it's actually really touching and sometimes the newbies even shed a few tears at how loved they feel.
After at least seven times of attending this ginormous church, usually around 700-800 people from what I guess per service, I noticed something. My first time I didn't understand much at all of the sermon and nearly fell asleep as I sat just listening to a language so difficult to comprehend. But by my last attendance, I was able to understand considerably more, occasionally laugh at some jokes, and even get more than the main points. I hope someday I will understand an entire church service from start-to-finish in Spanish!