A couple of years ago my wife and I attended an annual meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. We were there at the invitation of broadcast partners who share the Good News via satellite into areas of the world openly hostile to Christianity.
One evening over dinner, we conversed with a couple who told us about a group of Filipino men who donated a large sum for an Arabic translation of a particular Gospel program. This Arabic language translation was going to be aired via the satellite network we were all partnering with. Our new friends described how these Filipino were part of an informal church of migrant construction workers, helping to build high rises in this very wealthy Arabic speaking nation.
I was taken aback. “Guest workers” laboring for little pay in that part of the world frequently suffer long hours and abuse at the hands of their contractors. Many live on company campsites set aside for. If there is a layoff, finding food becomes an issue. Yet, these men knew that their host country needed to hear the Good News, so they took up a collection and invested it in the Eternal Kingdom they hoped to see.
When I picture the daily challenges these migrant workers faced, I imagine slaves hauling massive stones up a ramp to build a megastructure, a tomb, perhaps a pyramid. Today, the construction materials are different, jackhammers and tower cranes have replaced copper pickaxes and granite hammers, but the vision and hope these Filipino Brothers put into action is timeless, and often referred to in the Bible.
As a media missions “migrant worker” of sorts here at International Media Ministries, we feel the pinch of being far from home in a foreign land. However, these Filipino men stand very tall in my eyes. Their selfless act is a testament and a witness to the true Kingdom being built by Believers, who push the boundaries outward because they love the true and worthy King.