I remember when I was in El Salvador when my team attended a large catholic mass service conducted entirely in Spanish.
I understood words here and there from my minuscule high school studies, but I could sense the powerful words being spoken through the testimony of changed lives in that room that day.
I hummed along to songs that I recognized, but mostly stood amazed as I looked around the room and realized that I was worshipping with believers in an entirely different setting than my usual surroundings of middle class Americans.
And to this day I remember feeling like I was experiencing a taste of Heaven.
I remember ringing in the New Year while I was in Haiti by attending an all night worship service at the local church.
The pews were filled with elders and tiny kids, oh and that cluster of awkward Americans who had no idea what was about to take place.
We drank amazing coffee and ate pumpkin soup, but we also literally worshipped all night long.
Were the songs played perfectly? No.
Was there dancing? Of course there was.
And it was the most beautiful thing I had seen in my life.
People intensely worshipping their Father for a new year and for new possibilities.
And to this day I remember feeling like I was experiencing a taste of Heaven.
I remember while I was in France getting to worship every Sunday at International Baptist Church.
Every Sunday there were at least 10 different nationalities represented.
Songs were sung in French and English, but I was more astounded by the audience I was worshipping along side.
The Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Great Britain, German, Scotland, and well of course Texas were a few of the nationalities represented.
Every time I entered that room I was reminded that the God I call Father was truly the Father of all nations.
I witnessed that every weekend and it was amazingly beautiful.
And to this day I remember feeling like I was experiencing a taste of Heaven.
It was this past Sunday that I sat in a circle with the congregation of Peace Community Church and was nearly brought to tears at the sound of the Thai people worshipping their heavenly Father.
There were no lights, no amplifying; It was a simple acoustic guitar and the voices of God’s children.
Although I can stumble through reading Thai, I chose to sit and listen.
Here I sat in a room that’s located in a part of the world that is among the least reached and heard sweet praises to the Lord Jesus flow from their mouths.
Such sincerity in their voices.
Such a deep love for their Father.
And on this day I remember feeling like I was experiencing a taste of Heaven.
I’m overwhelmed when I think about the vast numbers of the lost.
But then I reflect on my experiences of worshipping the Lord in different cultures
and am reminded that the Lord is at work.
His Spirit is moving among us.
People are being called and are falling to their knees in:
El Salvador.
Haiti.
France.
Thailand.
And in neighborhoods all around.
I long for the day where all cultures are worshipping together, but until then:
“May your kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven.”