A Heavenly Community

My husband, Joseph, and I moved from the midwest to Virginia Beach a few years ago. Before we left for our new home, I told him my number one priority was to build a solid Christian community for ourselves as soon as possible. Coming out of a pretty dry season in my faith, I was craving friendships that would encourage my walk with the Lord, where we could experience heavenly community together here on earth.

I have seen what that type of community looks like. I know how it feels, and once you taste it, it is hard to leave it in the past.

The best example I can think of for what this heaven-on-earth community looks like is described in Mark 14 and takes place in an upper room, where Jesus shares the passover meal with his disciples and they sing hymns together. When you get a clear picture of this scene in your mind, you see it is such a sweet, intimate experience with their Lord. 

I have felt this sweetness in Las Mangas, Honduras, in a “lower room” with the Smoak and Substad families, where we would gather to study the Bible and sing hymns together. I remember one time I was there with my 8th grade class, singing hymns in English while those from the local community were singing the same song in Spanish and I thought, “THIS is what heaven is like.” It felt like heaven-on-earth, and I truly believe it was.

That type of communion does not just happen, though. It was cultivated for me as a child by the faithful adults in my life, but I have found that now I need to be intentional and take responsibility for seeking it out, building it, and maintaining it in my life.

My hope for the Roatán 2025 trip is that we build a community with each other and those we are serving that gives us a taste of what heaven is like.  I am excited to see where that takes us because once you taste it, it is hard to leave it in the past.