The other week I went to a church here in the slum up in Del Rei, which is up the hill from the Lighthouse. Del Rei is known to be a more violent neighborhood at the moment, because of drug trafficking and gang wars. When one druglord has power over a certain territory, things tend to be more peaceful, but when there is a contest for power/territory between two or more druglords, you don't want to be caught in the middle of it! The area immediately around the Lighthouse has been pretty safe and peaceful for awhile, but just up the hill things are different. So to walk up to this church, we had to pass through a known "boca", or drug-dealing locale. There were many people heading to church at this time of the evening, which gave the streets a safer feel, though we were advised to come back by bus as things are more dangerous late at night, and we took that advise (which also saved us from walking back in the sudden downpour that can roll in out of nowhere during the rainy season, which seems to be prolonged this year).
I don't know if I have ever been to a cooler church service in my life. We actually had to leave early to catch the bus, right when the sermon was starting (2.5 hours into the service). Everything up to that point was worship and musical performances. Like many churches in Brazil, they had some youth up in the front worshipping through dance. However, this was different. Normally the churches here just have girls doing this - and it is usually graceful, ballet-like dancing. But this church had young men as well - and they were worshipping through break-dance! I have never seen anything like it before, but these young men who were dancing were totally into and I sensed really worshipping God through expressing themselves through this kind of dance. It was awesome! I don't think I have ever seen so much creativity in worship at a church. I don't know if it is like this every week there, but it definitely made me want to go back!
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