I'm not sure if I'll be able to express how it feels to get to know people... specially other Christians, and I'm not talking just about the Hillsong United people, but about the whole experience I had last weekend in Holland, where I went for the HU European tour.
Well, my expectations were really high before going there, most of the United songs have been present in the most intimate and touching moments I had with God, I was really expecting some huge changes in my life, I was expecting to cry all the time during the worship night, I was expecting to experience God in a completely different way from what I had ever before, I wanted to get so many answers in those two days (first the workshop and then the worship night)... it's incredible how God works differently from what we think...
I did not cry, not even a tear... I did not get the answer to any of the questions I wanted answers for... but I can't say I did not experience God in a completely different way, and it was a way that made me change my vision of what it is to experience God.
I always thought that to experience God meant to feel something, to get emotional, to cry, to feel the heart beat faster and so on, and it's not that it is not, but it is not just that. I found out that God can touch us even when our hearts does not beat faster, even when we don't feel any emotion, because God is not just about emotion, God is also about love, unity and simplicity, and those are the things that I got to experience there.
The love part happened in the first day, the workshop day... well, I went to Den Haag and had to find out where the church where the workshop was going to happen was, it was kinda hard, but I found it, but the thing that I never expected was to be so much welcomed as I was. Each person from that church that came and talked to me showed me a kind of love that I had never experienced before, and I would surely say that was the kind of love every church and person should learn. Despite all things they had to prepare for the evening they gave me attention, they cared about me, they called me to eat with them, me, a completely stranger arriving from Italy all by myself, going there not because of that specific church... well, if you really think about it, that specific church is part of the church of Jesus Christ, so yes, I was going there because of it too, but anyway, to receive people with love is one thing that a few people in this great brotherhood we share know how to do, and those people are definitely some of them!
Then comes the unity, well, I won't say that I've never been in a place where people were together to praise and worship God, but it's never too much to be a part of that unity, it's never too much to see people from different places, that speak different languages, together in a place to praise and glorify the name of Jesus Christ, so that always touches me!!
And then comes the simplicity part... I had already heard that the guys from the Hillsong United team were simple and normal like any of us, but I had to see it myself to get an idea of how simple they are, and I got stoned. I mean, I'm used to some Brazilian "christian" musicians that are like stars, always followed by security guards, that at most wave to people from far away, and I can't judge the attitude, maybe they have a reason for that, but maybe I was expecting at least some stardom from the United guys, and what I found was completely the opposite. They are all so grounded, so simple, so humble that I can't help understanding why God uses them the way He does and I can only pray that they will always keep it simple and humble so that God may keep using them to bless so many young people from all over the world. I've heard a powerful preaching from pastor Phil, a encouraging workshop from all of them, a Brooke Fraser that is way sweeter and wiser than I could ever imagine, a JD that is way calmer than I expected, a Joel Houston that is way more agitated than I thought (the others that I knew were like I expected them to be, and there was also a new guitar player that I did not know before)... in the next day I got to see them playing at the Dam Square, I got to say two words with pastor Phil and Joel, got to take a picture with each one of the two, got to tell them they have to come to Italy (did not say everything I wanted to say tough, first because I did not want to bother them since there was a lot of people wanting to talk to them and to take pictures, second because I could not help getting nervous, and when I get nervous I can't figure out what to say, especially in English!), got to see their confuse faces when I said I was Italian and Brazilian (yeah, it's kinda hard for me to understand too)... then in the evening once again I got to see simplicity, in the stage, in the way they got at the stage, in the way they talked to the people who were there, in their prayers, in their music, in their dance, in their joy... simplicity, people like me, people like anyone who was there watching, praising, rejoicing in the Lord...
No, I surely can't express how it felt nor how it feels now, I can just say that it feels different... I feel different... and that it was one of the greatest things that God has given me, the opportunity to be there and experience His love is something that I'll never be able to thank Him enough for!
There is hope for Europe, there is hope for the world, and it's in Jesus Christ!!
