Gospel service at the village

This morning I woke up with my roommate Hannah and went to a gospel service that they hold every Sunday morning on the porch that looks over an amazing green mountain. Being the only white, Jewish people in the room, I definitely felt out of my element. But after a little bit, I quickly forgot about my discomfort and was fully engrossed in the service, completely amazed by what was going on around me. I’ve never seen such passion in my life- everyone around me was singing as loud as they could, clapping, dancing and even crying at times. There were groups of students with their eyes closed dancing in circles. I’ve never felt such deep spirituality or witnessed such an intensive, wholehearted love for god before. The boy sitting next to me translated everything, and one by one, someone would come up on the mic and express what god has done for them and everyone would shout “hallelujah!” Then they told all the visitors (which was clearly directed at me and Hannah) to stand up and everyone clapped and welcomed us. I’ve always known how religious these kids are because before every meal, each one of them closes their eyes and prays and they continuously talk about religion and always ask me If I believe in Jesus, etc. Yesterday at lunch I started eating and one of the girls asked, “do you pray before you eat?” and when I told her no she said, “how do you show thanks for your food?”. That question, which was just genuine curiosity, really got me thinking about how much more appreciative these kids are then the majority of Americans, including me. They are continuously thinking about how grateful they are for everything, and it really shows how a simple, uncomplicated life is many times more meaningful and spiritual than complicated, materialistic lives tend to be.