I am realizing that dancing is the key to bringing people
together. No matter who you are with and no matter where you are, dancing
instantly brings a sense of comfort to the room.
Malaysia has brought my team to numerous Indian, Chinese,
and Malay families. While we were out to dinner with an Indian family, the
Michael Jackson hit “Beat It” started playing. Several of my teammates got up
from their seats and started dancing, which caused one of the Indian boys to
get up and dance. Everyone at the table (and the workers in the restaurant) all
broke out in laughter. Any awkwardness or division that was there prior to the
dancing was now gone.
This past weekend my team volunteered at a carnival that an orphanage
put on to raise money. Our job was to walk around and sell tickets for food,
drinks, and games. One of the women working at a stand told me I would sell more
tickets if I danced. So for the rest of the day, I proceeded to walk around the
carnival dancing. I got a smile or a laugh out of almost every person I walked
by. Some even started busting out their own dance moves. As we were cleaning up
the carnival at the end of the day, my team had a dance party to Lady Gaga’s “Just
Dance.” One of the little orphan girls joined us and taught us some of her
moves. Regardless of my tiredness, it put me and those watching in a better
mood.
About a week ago my team drove several hours to visit a
small tribal village that seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. As the van
pulled up to the village, our whole team was dragging and feeling exhausted. We
walked into the church to find all the people sitting in the chairs, patiently
waiting for us to arrive. I had a feeling that even if we had arrived a couple
hours later, they still would have
been sitting and waiting for us to arrive. They were ready to worship God with
us.
Once the worship team started playing their instruments, the
whole church erupted in shouts of praise, clapping, cheering, and dancing.
After the first song, they said to us, “Get out of your seats and move around!”
I could not help myself from laughing. Here we were, ready to bring freedom in
worship to this small people group, when instead, God decided to use them to help us snap out of our
tiredness and enter into His presence.
Once the tambourine man started shaking his hips to an
Arabian-sounding worship song, I broke out in my own Arabian dance. I couldn’t
help myself from dancing up and down the aisle of the church! This is not
something I would normally characterize myself as doing, but when the Holy
Spirit takes over a room like that, it is nearly impossible not to dance for God!
We spent the next hour or so worshipping God with these
passionate Christ followers. I have never experienced so much joy and laughter
while praising God. By the end of our worship time, we were all jumping and
pumping our fists in the air.
While I do not believe it’s wrong to sit quietly or stand
still in worship to God (there’s definitely a time and place for that), I have
found that I personally love to
express my thanks and praise to Christ with my body. Whether that’s dancing,
raising my hands, or shouting. This is one way I can give God all of me.
It amazes me that these people – who live in the bush of
Malaysia in small huts with very few belongings- were the most visibly excited
Christians I have ever met. This is a true testimony of where joy really comes
from. No matter what things or people come in and out of my life, I will always
have the joy that comes from my Savior conquering death and reigning in
victory. These people taught me how to visibly show that joy.
So, all of this to say…when in doubt, just dance!
