It's 10:00 Sunday morning and time for me to worship in Hanoi.  I hop on my motorbike, weaving all along the way. Twenty minutes later, I arrive at the hotel where we worship.  I'm glad to have arrived safely, but it may take a while to calm my spirit, after having just come out of traffic.

As the clock nears 10:30, I enter the area where we meet.  Some people are milling around the table, drinking tea and nibbling on cookies.  I make my way into the conference room, converted into an auditorium.  Before long, a man announces that we are beginning.  People finally sit—150 people fill the place. 

I'm amazed at the crowd around me.  We're all foreigners—some working, others studying language, and still others just passing through on vacation.  This hodge-podge of people must surely be a small sampling of heaven—people from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, America, Hong Kong, South Korea, Canada, Philippines, Vietnam, Germany, Myanmar, England, Cambodia, Scotland, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Taiwan, India, and Japan. 

We even share a couple of things in common: English and Christ.  Just about every truly Christian denomination is represented among us, everything from Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Independent, Episcopal, to Charismatic.  And the amazing thing is—we all declare Christ as King. 

The music blares.  Most of our singing is contemporary, made up primarily of praise songs, accompanied by drums, an occasional tambourine, and usually at least two guitars.  After 40 minutes of singing, we take prayer requests.  We bow our heads and spend several minutes praying. 

Then, someone approaches the pulpit to preach.  He'll probably preach for 30 minutes.  Every week, a different person preaches. 

Services end, and we find our friends to catch up on the week. 

The picture before me is this unique community of faith from all walks of life.  It's a humanity of hues, drawing attention to the glories of Christ.  Our church is not a perfect picture, but it is a beautiful one.

April 2001