On October 3rd, I understood the depth of what it means to build the church of God.
It all started with the truck ride. Imagine 54 Americans piled in the 3 different truck beds. Keep in mind there are no such things as “paved roads” or “two lane roads” in India. We were in for one of the bumpiest rides of our lives, crying laughing throughout the entire drive. It was one of the most hilarious moments I have ever experienced.
After having our moods lifted from the truck ride, we arrived at the village where the church is being built. It felt like we were in the Jungle Book. And to our amazement, this was the first time ever that white people had entered their village. The villagers completely blessed us beyond belief, and were eager to work alongside us the whole day.
In order to get the bricks up the mountain to start building, we formed a human chain. We passed up each brick one by one up the mountain. We sang worship songs, told stories, laughed, and just enjoyed spending time with the squad as well as the local people.
Each time I would toss a brick to the next person, I kept thinking of the significance of what each individual brick represents.
Each brick plays a vital role in building the church. Without one of the bricks, the church wouldn’t be complete. Every brick was tossed by each individual person along the human chain. Each brick is going to be a part of a church that will be made to worship the Lord and bring salvation to those who don’t know Him.
To me, the individual bricks represent people. Each person is a crucial part of the church. We all have different talents, gifts, and personalities that are perfectly woven together to form the body of Christ. And the church is not limited by a building; we are the church wherever we go.
This day will go down as one of the most memorable days of my life. I got to witness being a part of not only physically helping build a church, but also spiritually building the church as well. And I had the pleasure of meeting my brothers and sisters in Christ in a rural village in India. We may be from completely different continents, but we all still worship the same God.
