Our pastor started off with the question, “Is this heaven?” Then he answered, “NO, this is Addis Ababa.” He further exhorted that if we were still questioning whether this is heaven, we should just wait until Monday morning while we’re driving to work – then we’d know for sure. But he went onto explain that this is a taste of heaven. People from 60 nations were worshipping with us. Many were wearing their national dress – some with colorful scarves and gowns, others with the traditional white Ethiopian dress or Indian saris.
They asked everyone to stand and represent their home country. Within just a few feet of us, there were people representing over a dozen nations. How wonderful to literally join with the Body of Christ from Norway on one side, Ethiopia on the other, South Korea in front of us, a Kenyan man beside them, with others from Malawi, Canada, India, Tanzania and so many more. There were those representing countries where their Christian brothers and sisters are currently being persecuted. It was a powerful ending as we joined together with “every tribe, every tongue, every nation” singing together about how “all the powers of darkness can't drown out a single word when all God's children sing out, Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns.”
