How Great is Our God!

How great is our God!
Sing with me
How great is our God!
And, all the world will see
How great, how great
is our God!

I had the indescribeable joy of singing that praise song this morning.  What made it so special you ask? The fact that I was singing it in Spanish and Portuguese while attending the Baptist World Alliance meeting in Santiago, Chile.

I don't speak Spanish or Portuguese, yet, with the words emblazoned on the large screen in front of me and the familiar tune ringing in my head as well as in the voices of all those in the room, I was able to sing what I can't even speak. 

Singing that song in the presence of worshippers from all around the world gave new meaning to the verse that says, "All the world will see how great is our God!"

Truly...How great is our God!

Only God can take me somewhere I've never been and have me doing things I've never done, all while having me meet people I've never met, but have so much in common with.

Only God can have my husband and I meet people here in Santiago, Chile who grew up in our home towns or who have ministered in some of the same areas where we have served.  People who are fellow Americans, but whom we would never have met face to face by remaining on US soil.

When God gathers his children together in one place, at one time, on one accord, you know He is up to something!  And, what an honor for my husband and I to be a part of that great "something" that God is preparing.  The fact that I was here as I celebrated my birthday on July 1 also reminds me that God started that "something" in my life even before I was born in the womb.

One of the "somethings" that God has already revealed to me is the depth of arrogance and insensitivity we Americans have to acknowledge and get rid of.  Many persons on the hotel staff and surrounding venues here in Santiago do not speak English at all or speak very little of it.  I have never had a Spanish lesson in my life, but the little bit I have picked up here and there has helped me tremendously in communicating with the locals here.  For a change, I have had to be the one to work to be understood instead of expecting everyone around me to indulge me by speaking my language.

Starting today, all of the Americans will have to use headsets during the sessions and listen to everything through translators.  It has usually been the other way around, regardless of what country the meeting has been held in.  No more "easy street" for us Americans--and it's about time.

I heartily commend BWA General Secretary Neville Callam for stretching us and working to make the "W" in BWA true to it's name--World.  After all, this is not the Baptist American Alliance, but the Baptist World Alliance.  The beauty of allowing followers of Jesus Christ from around the world to more fully experience our time together is that we are all strengthened by one another's authenticity--not by imposing one culture (American) on the rest of the world.  Hasn't that approach gotten us in enough trouble over the years?

In order for us to truly be one in the bond of love and the body of Christ, we must first all be who God made us to be individually.  It is in the collection of individuals united in the bond of Jesus Christ that we experience a unique oneness that can only be found in God.

I miss being in the US for all of the Independence Day celebrations today.  But, in connecting me to my Christian brothers and sisters from around the world, God has given me a level of independence and freedom far beyond my fondest American past-times of family, food, and fireworks.

If you have not yet traveled outside of your country or your comfort zone, ask God to make a way for you to do so.  It's one thing to stay inside the comfortable and familiar walls of your own church home and sing your favorite hymns and praise songs.  But it's only when you get out and see God's great creation, see the faces of your brothers and sisters across the world and join hands and hearts with them in total praise that you will finally see...

How Great is our God!

BNcouraged!

Rev. Karen