Living In A Rat House

Colossians 3:12-17 (New International Version)

 ¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
 ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We went on a mission trip to Belize and Guatemala on August 19-25, 2010. It was amazing experience of worship with the Guatemalan church. They worshiped God with their lives. They served us with humility. They were very poor. They lived in houses that were good for rats. When they I asked them where the garbage can was, one of the ladies took me their backyard--and there it was. Yet, when they cooked food for us, it was the best food we had during our whole stay there. No exaggeration. I felt that every bite of my food was made with love. There's so much more I want to say about that place, like for example the bathroom conditions and the bed bugs. But the way they worshiped God with their lives is more important than my so called "sufferings." They had so little and yet it was so much in the sight of God.
Going back to this passage, when I read over verse 16 and 17, it reminded me of their worship service. It went like this....first, the pastor goes to the keyboard and plays the reggaeton beat. Then plays the same riff and chord for 8 counts, and then heavens broke loose. Every song had the same beat, the same riff, and the same chord. I couldn't understand a word that they were saying because it was in Spanish, but every beat was accompanied with a clap and 40 Guatemalans singing from the bottom of their hearts to the top of their lungs with the same purpose, same mindset, and the same heart. It was a 3 hour service that felt like 15 minutes. It was 5 different cultures (American, Filipino, Belizean, Ecuadorian and Guatemalan) projecting one sound. It was a preview of heaven on earth. I hope to worship with them again one day..