A glimpse of Heaven

Jesus spoke of a kingdom where everything functions exactly as God planned, where God’s will is done, where we can have perfect communion with God. He called it the kingdom of Heaven, and he said that it was right here, right now. His disciples never seemed to get what He meant by that, and while we know it to be true, it is a concept that we have failed to grasp as a church. In Matthew 13, He says that "To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven". What Jesus was trying to make us understand is that Heaven is not just something we can look forward to, as followers of Christ, after we die; it is something we can dwell in right now, right here. No matter where we are in the world.

I’ve thought about this notion before but never really got my head around it until a few days ago. Our team went to visit a Voodoo compound to pray over it and to minister to the people living nearby. We were told it was a very dark place and to be prepared for spiritual attacks and the like. So while I wasn’t afraid, I was expecting to return tired and worn thin from an afternoon under the spirit of oppression.

On our way to the compound, we pulled over so that Pastor Mola (the base director here in Gonaives, our guide and translator) could point out a few trees along the road that are believed to be the home of powerful spirits and are often used in Voodoo rituals. He explained that the locals greatly revere these trees and to damage one would bring the wrath of the evil spirits on your family. But as I looked at those trees, hundreds of years old, with broad trunks extending high into the heavens, covered in leaves green with life, all I could see was the majesty of God. And I had an overwhelming sense that God wanted us to know that though these trees may be used for wicked things, they are still His creation. He made these trees for us to enjoy, and to declare His glory. In that moment, staring at an object of witchcraft, I felt God’s presence.

We drove on, and as we approached the compound, a man began to follow our truck, limping. I didn’t know why but as I looked at him, I had a feeling that he was someone of great faith, and watching him trudge along behind us made me smile. I knew we had to talk to him.

We parked in front of the compound (from the outside, nothing more than a cluster of houses surrounded by a wall) and the man stood near us, but didn’t approach us. We said hi and introduced ourselves. He told us his name was Jean-Claude. He was tall and lanky, his clothes swallowed his thin frame. His right hand was crippled, the fingers swollen and twisted. We asked him if he wanted us to pray for him. He replied yes, to pray for God’s anointing on him to heal other people.

I was quite taken aback by this request. He had not asked for healing for his own deformities but the ability to heal others! The more time we spent with him, the more I felt the Spirit pouring from him. His faith and joy were so contagious, I was overwhelmed by them! Our team prayed a blessing and anointing over him, per his request, that he would be a light in a dark place and that the would bring Christ’s healing power with him everywhere. He then turned around and prayed for us, anointing us, and began grabbing the attention of passers-by, inviting them to hear us witness and receive prayer from us.

As we left that place that was supposed to be so dark, I felt more refreshed than when we arrived! This man was so spirit-filled, it was almost like being in God’s presence. Strike that- we were in God’s presence. In a Voodoo compound.

Our truck came to a stop on the side of the road. I looked up at the clouds, swirls of pink and grey against a blue sky, the sun beginning to dip behind the mountains, and I could no longer contain myself. I lifted my face to heaven and my soul began to sing. I was enjoying perfect communion with God, so full of Him and aware of Him I thought I might burst. I was in Heaven. Literally.

In that moment, nothing was fallen or broken, nothing was separating me from God. It was a moment that can only best be described as holy, a moment where I knew that this was how God created life to be. It was Heaven. On Earth. In Haiti, a country cursed for 200 years. Outside a Voodoo compound, on the side of a dusty dirt road.

And it hit me like a gust of wind to the face that the kingdom of heaven has been here all along. It’s everywhere. It isn’t just in Cathedrals or on pristine beaches or in between the pages of a book. It’s on dirt roads in fourth-world countries in villages devoted to witchcraft.

In that moment, I caught a glimpse of Heaven, and I realized that nothing in the landscape had shifted, but somehow, my eyes had been opened- if for but a second- and I was able to see things as God had created them to be. As a missionary, my job is not to bring the kingdom to the places I go. My job is to see God’s kingdom and to help others see it. He has been here all along. That’s the good news. And because of Jesus, Heaven is something I can dwell in right now, and anywhere.

"But blessed are your eyes because they do see and your ears because they do hear" (Matt 13: 11)