Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." Neh 2:17
"Examining the walls of Jerusalem." The first time I read this, or rather Lorna read this verse to me, I didn't really know what it meant. It sounded like a job set for a person much more capable; spiritual; biblical than me and to be honest at times it still does but that does not eliminate the fact that when you make yourself available to God he will literally take you up on the offer. When you ask God to use you he will and so we continue to love every minute of the job we´ve been given; the job we asked for.
I had no idea that examining the walls meant gaining a global perspective of the church around the world. I had no idea that when i stepped out of the walls of my home church building I would enter into a kingdom so magnificent - superdooper - fandabydosey that it would be difficult for me to describe. However, I will try.
Church Without Walls is a name, a concept, a ministry that is commonly used to describe the efforts of congregations in Scotland to break down the walls of the churches they are in. It is the daily effort they make to communicate with each other and have relation with each other. This often takes the form of organising worship events for whole communities and/or neighbouring parishes coming together to praise and learn. It is an emphasis put on the necessity of relationships, without which we are not the church.
This enthusiasm to share visions, materials, testimonies and faith stories has blessed the people in Scotland and because of God´s favor on it this ministry has grown. The concept of being a Church Without Walls is quickly moving throughout the nations and because of our availability to be moved by the spirit, or rather our inability to contain it, we are becoming a World Without Walls- or at least how we know them in the literal sense, made from bricks, cement and hard work. And so from the realisation that the construction of mammoth church buildings were in actual fact preventing unity and destroying relationships the concept of a World Without Walls was birthed.
Originally bringing people from all over the world "World Without Walls" ministry sought to train people in film making, providing them with the training and equipment they would need to be able to share their testimonies from anywhere and everywhere in the world - to and from the ends of the earth.
Since then all those involved have planned, practised and prayed that using media, film and the Internet we would be able to eliminate the physical walls of the church, which do nothing but create barriers of difference and hoard cliques anyway. In short and the idea of
walls being broken down in order to allow unity to grow has been at the heart of the whole ministry.
It might seem weird to people that in order to build something we must first destroy it.
However the deconstruction of these physical walls is necessary in order to construct the spiritual walls God intends to be to unite his nations.When you build anything you have an architect, a designer or someone who comes up with the plan of how it should look and the purpose it will serve. When I was home in May I had the complete joy of running round the new (and greatly improved) Wallace High School (the school in which I taught,loved, laughed and generally stressed out in before I left Scotland). The new school looks amazing. Although I almost knocked myself out with the automatic entrance doors I survived the tour relatively unscathed. Clean, fresh corridors now replace the old manky ones that once were. Air and light flood social areas "stimulating creativity" and huge plazma T.V screens....well I´m not sure what they are for but they look cool.
The new school has replaced a building that was deemed completely and utterly redundant. Infact it was so useless that none of the materials were used to construct the new one. They didn't transfer the old rusty pipes into the new-almost futuristic fanzabydosey automatic toilet flushing system in the new school nor did they transport the fungi infested bricks from the old but instead used a new more environmentally friendly (I´m sure) material to construct the fancy new school.
OK so I'm exaggerating I don't think everything is automatic but I do know that the environment that has been created was build with a very specific design brief. It fulfills its purpose: to educate children. Has the building changed the learning environment? Absolutely! Has it changed the learning experience? I hope not. The building is fantastic but it only serves to accommodate the already amazing people who occupy it. In the same way our church buildings only serve as a resource to create an environment that accommodates the people who occupy them.
Now when Lorna read that verse in Neh (examining the walls) my initial thought was, ´I have no place to examine anything or anybody´ and secondly ´where and who are the walls?´ Tonight I stood infront of one of them. Let me explain.
We (Soul Touch) are in Guatemala now and are pleased to report that this is one wall - one part of God´s kingdom- that is being build on firm foundations and they are building one by one - stone by stone - soul by soul.
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being build together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit.Eph 2:20-22
This week we have visited church after church, prayer meeting and prayer meeting, youth services, women's groups and worship services. Some have taken place in church buildings, some in houses, universities, soup kitchens, people´s living rooms, hospitals, brothels and on the streets of Guatemala City. Most of these ministries are orchestrated by Shekinah, a church full to overflowing with God´s favor and so in turn responsibility.
Guatemala is a country where at least 80% of its population are Christian. A nation that have Jesus Christ as their cornerstone and who are building faithfully on his foundations.
Diligently and obediently they are trying hard not to repeat old mistakes - like the school their old materials have been buried because they are deemed surplus to requirements. Instead they are committed to rebuilding his temple and are completely crying out ( trust me sometimes these guys are LOUD!) to be remoulded and rebuilt by his word and his favor.
Last week I stood at the back of a college auditorium. The band leading worship are ridiculously blessed and so the worship was amazing but as I stood behind the other students I realised what Lorna had meant 13 months ago when she faithfully read Neh to me. Before me I saw a wall. Each student a living breathing, walking talking moving part of the bride of Jesus Church.
Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." Neh 2:17
For a long time our church has been in disgrace because we have been using our own design brief - what we want, what makes us feel good. Instead of entering the church building planning to bring something to worship we often enter expecting others to contribute to our experience and then complain when they don´t.
I thank God that those days are finished. That everyday of this year I have stood with people crying out to be made new. And that he has heard that cry. That here in Guatemala the people within the buildings want to lay aside the surplus materials: selfishness, pride, laziness and especially independence and start rebuilding a spiritual host where God
will dwell;
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. Isaiah 58:12
I answered them by saying, "The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding! "Neh 2:20
So I am loving this job. Seeing that the building has already started to look stunning but it cant be complete until every stone is put in place. My prayer is that you would only know how utterly valuable you are in the body of Christ; in his church. That you would see yourself as part of something much bigger than the world would have us believe. That you have been chosen by God to be part of this church and that no other stone (no other person) can fulfill the role you play in the kingdom. No one else can take your part in the wall. Firstly cause they´ve got their own job to complete but also because without you we all feel incomplete.
I want you very quickly to imagine a brick wall. It´s a new house being built and the builders are waiting to put the roof on. All four walls are complete and the wee baldy guys operating the crane is waiting to drop the roof on. Now look closer at the wall. You notice some bricks are missing. There is a whole in the wall where your new bathroom will be. There are some bricks missing in your bedroom. You notice that especially around the top of the building the bricks are scarce. You immediately notify the baldy crane guy and tell him to wait. Why? Because you recognise that you cannot complete the building until every brick is in place. Yeah sure you might be able to put the roof on but who would want to live in a house with holes in all of the walls; in a house that is short of perfection?
The church is made up of people not bricks. Spiritual people who were made to be joined together in order to be able to host a magnificent God. God (not that I would ever want to compare God to a baldy crane guy)is waiting. He is waiting for every person to be put together so that he can dwell in that place; in his Kingdom.
As we travel around the world we see young people, old people of all different colours, shapes and sizes. Some have a lot of money, some have no money at all. Yet regardless of all of these things thay are equal and not one is more neccesary than the other because none of us can be complete until we are joined with the other.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Eph 2:19-20
We still have some more churches to visit and have not yet finished our work here with Shekinah in Guatemala but we just wanted to take some time out to fill you in on something that is so exciting and truely beautiful that you would see how wonderful and totally neccessary you are.
"Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told. Habbukuk 1:5
We love you abundantly Soul Touch xxx
Starting with the church, Shekinah. A church that selflessly serves and wholeheartedly loves the community it´s in. In the heart of Gautemala city this church has a heart for Guatemalan people, which was a blessing to watch. Spending afternoons helping serve food in the Lord´s Kitchen to literally hundreds of homeless men, women, children and families was only a token gesture of gratitude and and support of the work that goes on day after day through the ministry of Shekinah. A token gesture from us but one that left a lasting impression of what compassion actaully looks like. As hundreds of people: people who live, work and fight on the streets to survive, queued patiently waiting to be fed I looked upon ¨the least of these¨. Despite the alcohol that used to numb pains and ease cravings, drugs that are taken and the inhumane lifestyle these people suffer there was no anger or hostility in that kitchen. Many came in hungry and they were fed; fed with hope shared with them by the staff in the Lord´s Kitchen. Fed by compassionate hands of people who love them, people who day after day want to show them the love of Jesus. And so as I watched them enter one by one, children, tranvestites, prostitues, the, least, of, these: I was in awe. As well as eternally grateful for the hands of those that serve and for the presence of God in that place. 
All eating together round tables of six not one hand was raised in anger or one voice raised in drunken agitation but instead a chorus of a hearts cry was sung. People hungry, yes for food but more so for the presence of the holy spirit. No utterence of complaint was heard when asked to wait to be seated or to enter the small service being held for those who wished to attend. One gentlemen actually refused to eat until he had heard the message being proclaimed by Debbie (Pastor Debbie Flores) that day. And so as I write this from another country I can still see his children, the ones serving and the ones being served. My lasting impression is not what one might think. It is not of the rags they were clothed in, nor the stench of alcohol that plagued the air. When I close my eyes and even in the brightness of the Mexican sun I can see them clearly. Those extravegant worshippers in Gautemala. Those who blessed our lives by being themselves and allowing us to join them. Those who truly worship with their lives and not only with words. It no longer scares me to read that faith without deeds is dead because I have seen faith, deeds and the life that those two combined brings to the least of God´s people. And so we said, what can only be described as a hyterically traumatic yet fun (as is everything they do) good bye to the young people of Shekinah. Our last night of pizza and chatting around Agueda´s living room table was a reminder of why we love them. Because they are a generation of young, beautiful, talented, inteligent individuals that give it all to God. 
