Last week I had a collision with the Kingdom.
Yep, I found a little piece of Heaven on Earth.
And you’ll never guess where…
A Malaysian rock quarry.
Why was I at a Malaysian rock quarry? That’s the fun thing about the world race; you just never know where you’re going to end up. And by month nine of this crazy journey, you stop being shocked by things and just accept them as a normal part of your life. We’re going to share a message with a group of workers at a rock quarry in the middle of the Malaysian jungle at 8 o’clock at night? Oh sure, no big deal.
So as you can imagine, we didn’t really know what to expect. As we drove for what seemed like forever on a very hilly gravel road, I was sure any minute that a T-Rex was going to pop out of the lush green trees on either side of me via Jurassic Park. It was all very beautiful to take in, but I kept wondering “where the heck are we?!” And then we pull up to huge piles of rocks and a handful of bulldozers and dump trucks. I step out of the car and am reminded of my Daddy and coal mines and a little piece of Kentucky (love when that happens), and get a better view of the green mountains and the fog rolling in as the sun is going down.
The moment we are out of the car, sweet little men start trickling up to us to shake our hands, smile, and say hello. They’ve just gotten off their shift, and want to be able to freshen up before our meeting, so they guide us into the tiny conference room. There before our eyes laid out on the table is a feast of apples and chocolates and cookies and cakes and fruits and drinks. Like so many people I’ve encountered on the race, they just want to bless us, and instantly my heart melted for these men. They were so pleased to see the excitement on our faces, and I’m pretty sure we took around fifty pictures with them before moving on.
So let me check in with you all. At this point, my heart is melted by their sweetness. I also knew that this was a group of Burmese men that had come to Malaysia to find jobs to support their families back home, so to think of them as possibly lonely and missing wives and children broke my heart. I was at least encouraged that they were all Christian and seemed to be seeking Christian fellowship. But I still had no idea that the night would hold so much power. I mean, it was just a group of men at a random rock quarry, right? I wasn't even the one that was scheduled to speak. Just another night on the race.
But it wasn’t just another night. It was one of the most Spirit-filled, powerful, exciting nights of my trip this year.
After we ate way past the point of being full, the table was cleared out, and the men filed in. They only had a limited amount of chairs and room, so of course they asked us to sit in the seats as they sat cross legged in the floor before us. To kick off our time together, they played a couple of worship songs. One of them had a very old guitar, and with his passionate strums, together they let out songs of praise.
And this is where they got me. I can’t really put it into words, because I can’t really explain it, but they just sounded…right. Their worship was pure, glorifying, Holy, light.
BAM!
A collision with the Kingdom.
I had no clue what words they were saying, so I couldn’t really sing along. I chose instead to close my eyes and go to that special place with them. With a big grin spread across my face, I told God, “You know God, I want to hang out with these guys in heaven. I know they are going to be up there worshipping you, and it is going to sound just like this. I want to be a part of their party up there sometimes.” And almost immediately, God corrected me as if to say, “Well Jill, you’re here with them now. You don’t have to wait until you die, because this moment is a part of heaven. You always talk about bringing pieces of the Kingdom down to earth, and here it is. Soak it in and enjoy it. This moment is just one of many.” And so I did just that. I soaked in their worship to the Lord, knowing that I was in a place that didn’t belong to the world, but rather a place of safety and praise and light and life – a part of the Kingdom.
As Savannah began to share with them a message about running the race, God started speaking to me about these men. And as revelations were placed on my heart, I found it harder and harder to sit still. Now I’m typically not one to look forward to a speaking engagement, and often times when I feel the Lord prompting me to share a word I get nervous and try to find excuses to back out. But this time I was on the edge of my seat, a fierce fire and excitement building stronger and stronger in my chest, to the point where I was about to bounce off the walls of this place! When Sav finished, the men gathered on their knees in the center of the room and we stood around them and prayed over them, and let me tell you there was crazy power in those prayers as the Holy Spirit flooded through and over and under and every sort of way in and around us all.
The energy was apparent as we finished up the night. Our squad leader Michelle had received a word for them, too. And then I finally got the opportunity to release what I had on my heart for these men (and of course “cheerleader Jill” came out up there as I bounced around speaking loudly in my excited tones).
I told them about the conversation I had with God about their worship. How I felt like tonight was a part of heaven, and that they were my true church and my true brothers. The Lord had told me that these men were SET APART. They weren’t ordinary men. They weren’t men that belonged to the world. They were SET APART. In fact, before the world was even created, these men were loved by God (Ephesians 1:4). Even before they were born, they were chosen by God and called by His marvelous grace (Galatians 1:15). The God that created the universe and everything natural and beautiful in this world calls THEM His MASTERPIECE, created anew in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10). And this goes for all of us who follow Jesus. I mean, WHAT?! Out of ALL the things God so beautifully created, He calls us His greatest work?! Wrap your head around that one. God wanted these men to know they were loved, that they were different, and that they were SET APART. From the moment I met them, I could feel the joy and life flowing out of them. Even though we couldn’t speak the same language, I could feel it in their smiles. And lastly, He put this verse on my heart. “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you ever do for the Lord is ever useless.” These men have crazy amounts of worth to the Lord, and because of that, I found that they had crazy amounts of worth in my eyes, too.
And so I found a piece of Heaven here on Earth, and it resided with a group of Burmese men at a rock quarry in the middle of the Malaysian jungle. God just showed up. Or maybe God is always around, and for a night He just opened our ears and our eyes and our hearts to hear and to see and to feel Him more clearly. However you want to put it, I just know that I had a sweet night communing with the Holy Spirit, and will always remember this night on the race when I fell in love with a group of strangers, fell even more in love with my Father, and soaked in a sweet little spot of His Kingdom in an unexpected place.
