It has been said that there once was a man of God who lived and preached in a small rural town. One day this man received a vision in a dream, that he believed had come from God. In the vision a great voice told him to construct a magnificent temple of worship so that people from all over the world would be drawn to the one true God.
Up until this point the preacher's small congregation had been meeting in an old wooden barn that barely, if at all, kept out the wind and the rain. And even though they didn't have much money the preacher excitedly set about the work of the Lord, trusting that He would provide for them. The church raised the money very quickly and within a year they had built a wonderful little chapel with a beautiful high-vaulted ceiling and ornate, handmade stained glass windows.
During that same year a factory was built in that same small town. The factory brought in a lot of workers, most of which were poor immigrants. The workers suffered greatly in the factory and since many of them were not legal immigrants and only a few spoke English they could not speak up about the poor working conditions or the unfair wages.
Many of the people from the town distrusted the surge of immigrants. After all these people didn't speak English and they were taking away jobs from good, hard-working locals. And they worshipped the wrong gods as well. Most locals thought the religion of the immigrants was suspect at best.
After seeing the poor working conditions and unfair treatment that the immigrants received the small town preacher became overwhelmed with compassion for them. Upon realizing that this group of people had no money and could not afford to build a place of worship for their religious services he made a brash and hasty decision to give the brand new chapel that his church had built to the immigrants, asking nothing in return. They gladly accepted the offer and immediately set about taking down the crosses and other Christian decorations around the chapel and replacing them with their own.
When the congregation saw this happening they inquired unto their preacher as to what was going on. He explained what he had done and informed them that they would have to continue meeting in the old wooden barn for the time being. The small congregation was confused and a little upset by this news. Some people said that it would be better for the immigrants to come and worship the Christian God with them in the new chapel if they wanted to, but giving away the building was foolish. Those same people decided that day to go find a more reasonable church to worship in. But most of the people just shook their heads and went about their business.
The preacher left feeling defeated and unsure of himself, after seeing the people leave his church. That night as he was sleeping he received another vision. Once again a great voice told him to construct a magnificent temple of worship so that people from all over the world would be drawn to the one true God, This time more sternly.
So the next Sunday the preacher spoke about his vision to his congregation and announced that they would once again be starting on a new building. So they set about raising the money and started the construction. Once again the Lord seemed to provide generously for them and in about a year's time they had built another beautiful chapel, this time bigger and more ornate than the last one. The congregations disappointment about the old chapel quickly gave way to excitement about this new one.
But in that same year two more factories were built in the town and the population began to boom. More and more people, again mostly poor immigrants, poured into the city to take jobs at the factory. This new wave of immigrants was from a different part of the world and followed an entirely different religion. Once again the preacher's heart was overwhelmed with compassion for these immigrants and once again he offered the new chapel his church had built to them, asking nothing in return.
As the years rolled by the preacher continued to have visions in which a great voice told him to construct a magnificent temple of worship so that people from all over the world would be drawn to the one true God. The town continued to grow as more and more factories were built and so more and more workers from all over the world came in search of jobs.
Every time as a new building was being built by the small church a new surge of workers would come into town, and every time the preacher (and his congregation over time) would see the poor conditions and unfair treatment of the workers they would be overwhelmed with compassion. They they would give away their new building to them, asking nothing in return.
They say that to this day in this town full of factories and beautiful places of worship for every religious group under the sun, there is still a small congregation that meets in an old, falling apart barn just on the edge of town. A small church that joyfully continues their calling to construct a magnificent temple of worship so that people from all over the world would be drawn to the one true God.
