Let's Build A Church

Today I built a church.

Well, kind of. It might not be the kind of church building that automatically pops into your head. Made of cedar posts, sticks from a brush pile, and mud, this church was in Africa  - or at least the African simulation village at HUT (Harding University at Tahkodah). I spent this past Saturday helping to prepare the new African church building for the Global Missions Experience that is to take place at the end of this month.

In the morning, when our team first arrived on site with the goal of building a church building, we found that the posts had already been set in the dry soil. Just the sight of the bare, natural logs brought back a million memories from my summer in Nicaragua, where I really did attend a church service in a building made solely of posts and a thatched roof.

 

"Guys, this is for real!" I said. "People really do have church buildings just like this!"

 

As I spent the rest of the day sweating, digging, hammering, and chopping with a machete, I couldn't help but be reminded of my experiences in Nicaragua. I have to admit - I love hammering. I love digging post hole. I love sweating. And I love Nicaragua. The taste and smell of everything was all too familiar that I found myself reminscing and wishing to be back there again.

 

Unlike other times, this time my reminiscing was filled with joy instead of sorrow. My desire to be back in Nicaragua was pleasant instead of heartbreaking. I used to feel an ache deep down every time I thought about it because I missed it so much, but now I have a different perspective.

 

Instead of wishing for a time to go, I now know that the time is soon coming. 

 

Instead of hoping for an opportunity to return, I can see the Lord clearing a path right in front of me. 

 

It may not be Nicaragua, but it will be somewhere. In approximately nine months, I will be graduating from nursing school and preparing to go into the mission field. I am beginning to realize that the dream I have been dreaming so long is about to come true.

 

Where am I going? When am I leaving? What am I going to do? Well, the short answer is that I still really do not know. It will be the biggest and best surprise of my entire life. But one thing I do know is that the Lord has promised to send me out, and He will do it. He has told me He will lead me, so I am confidently waiting for Him and proclaiming that I believe it will happen within the next year. I have already seen evidence of His working behind the scenes in ways that some might call "coincidental" but I just call "divine".

 

So as I hammered and sweated and thought about Nicaragua all over again, and I was full of such hope because I know that I am past the wishing phase. I no longer wish to be a missionary. I am one. I no longer wish that God makes a way for me to go. I have confidence that He is already doing it.

 

One day soon, maybe I will buy a one-way plane ticket back to Nicaragua. One day soon, maybe I will return to Chimala to work as a nurse. But of this I am sure: One day soon, I really will help build a church. For the kingdom of God, the body of Christ, is growing and bearing fruit all around the world, and we are all members of this body.

 

And really, the church is not a brick, wood, or mud one. It is a living, breathing, global, diverse, boundary-breaking, mind-blowing body of which Christ is the head. We are all a part of this kingdom; we are all a part of this mission. Let's build a church.