Hey all,
Much has happened since the last post and I apologize for the gap and the lack of consistency with the update. Let me start with our World Vision week.
World Vision week came hard on the heels of Unity (All for One) week. The focus was obviously upon missions and the desperate need of many countries to hear the gospel of Christ.
In Luke chapter 10 it says;
"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."
To illustrate this we had what is called an "International Dinner".
The project was divided up into different groups and everyone met at the church's gym for the dinner.
I happened to be a part of China's group and so beforehand our group met and went over the ground rules.
We were to speak in whispers
If people from other countries came to China
we could only talk if they initiated conversations
(and we could only answer in 5 words or less).
We could not leave the "country" or area we were sitting
until we had been given solid food (in this case the food was chicken).
After the rules had been made plain to us we went to the location for dinner. There was an area for the Chinese group comprised of a couple blankets on the floor surrounded by folding chairs that formed a perimeter. We all started filtering in to our area and it soon became clear that this space was going to be very cramped. And it was.
There were about 20 of us jammed into a small space. We couldn't really see over the chairs so we really had no idea of what was going on in the outside world.
We were fed rice and water...and that was it.
Oh, and anything that had crosses on it was taken from us. That's right, our cross necklaces, bibles and such were taken. and if we happened to be wearing a shirt that sported one we were told to turn it inside out.
The other "countries" trickled in and went to their respective areas, but the icing on the cake was when America arrived. They were announced with flourish and grandeur and were seated at a table atop the stage that was set up in the gym. They were served incredible dishes, and by served I mean waited on hand and foot. Their drinks were barely 3/4 of the way gone before there was a fresh refill, their plates of hot chicken never emptied.
Other nations looked like they were having an alright time, but I know me and my fellow Chinese were a bit ticked off about the situation we were in as opposed to the lucky Americans.
After awhile other project members started to move about the gym to see what the other countries were up to. Well, all except for our Chinese group. A couple were let out at a time and only for reasons that the "government" approved.
The experience continued for about an hour and a half and I must confess I was getting a bit ticked off by the whole situation. I was cramped, and hungry for real food, and tired of sitting on the ground.
However at the end of the dinner we were all called together for a debrief and given pizza.
As our stomachs were being filled up the illustration was explained by the staff to us.
The chicken in the dinner represented the gospel, and people were only freed from their countries after hearing the gospel (after which they were sent to share with other people). Hence the rule stating we couldn't leave until we were given chicken.
Romans 10:12-15 states;
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
America is blessed in all sorts of ways. We live in a free nation of plenty, never knowing want or desperation (or at least not nearly on the scale of many of the world's countries). We have the freedom to share our faith without restriction.
And yet we are comfortable. We hesitate to go forth and share the gospel with other nations. It took the Americans maybe a half hour- 45 minutes to leave the country and to go and share what they had with others.
Put that on a life scale and you will find that American Christians who are comfortable are very afraid of leaving our country. How long will it take us to reach out to the world?
The Chinese on the other hand were persecuted. The government continually tried to suppress our identification with Christ, they would take away any piece of the gospel being passed around and punish those who were found with it.
Similar to the situation in modern China today.
The government is the face of this country, but the people have no voice. The Chinese church is persecuted, yet it grows. By about 2010 however China will be the leading, though unofficial, Christian nation in the world.
We also found out after the dinner that there was a group of about 30 project members who were not even in the gym for the event but rather in the hot stifling attic of the SHAK (our meeting place).
This group represented the lost of the world. They couldn't eat, they couldn't talk, and they couldn't be freed until they had been found. You would think that thirty project members missing from the dinner would have caused concern, but this group was not found until about an hour and a half into the exercise.
The reality is that this world is full of people who have yet to hear the good news of the Kingdom of God and it is our duty as disciples of Christ to find them.
For this I'll echo Romans again:
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent?
The seriousness of this reality really moved in many project members' hearts that night including mine. I could not picture living this life and never hearing this good news; that there is a God and that He loves us and will never let us down, even though this world will do so all the time.
Now we have started Agape week and for those that do not know, what Agape refers to is unconditional love. In this case God's unconditional love for us as humans. It is who He is, it is His essence.
But more on Agape week later.
As you read this next bit I would ask that you take this to heart and pray for our Project and the safety of its members in the next 5 weeks.
The first 5 weeks of this Project have seen the initiation, duration and the end of what is referred to as "beach week" in North Myrtle. Essentially what beach week is is week after week of freshly graduated seniors driving down to North Myrtle to spend a week on the beach partying and living for whatever pleases them.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog this often ends up in vandalism, drug use, rampant sex and in some cases rape of young women among other things...
Our complex is located right in the middle of the party area, and that is not an accident. Christ Himself said that:
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." -Mark 2:17
And so often once again Christians in this country find themselves locked in the comfort zone of their church bubble.
In the last two weeks we have seen a fight pretty much every night. In one instance a car of four guys pulled up and started beating on an intoxicated student. They all had brass knuckles and even though he couldn't defend himself and passed out they continued to beat him until the sirens sounded close then hopped in their car and drove off leaving this student with a broken jaw lying unconscious on the ground.
This happened a house down from us.
One of our project members was on the phone with some family the other night by himself and was assailed and mugged by drunken partiers right on the back lot of our property.
A knife/tazer/ club brawl between several guys almost broke out about two weeks ago fortunately the police were right on top of it resulting in a massive scatter of 50 students that had gathered to watch.
And most recently tonight our next door neighbors left abruptly because the girls in the house had woken up to guys punching through their windows and threatening them with a gun. And even as I sit here on our porch the police continue to send patrols up and down our block.
These are some of the examples of the ugliness of life that these high schoolers experience when they come down here looking for the "best week of their lives". This is where the gospel is needed most.
Many of these students have not heard. They really feel that there is no reason to live other than just pure experience. They have no conscience about doing these things because they have not been given a reason to. We live in a society that promotes living your life the way you want. "Live for the here and now. No regrets. No consequences." Well the reality is that there are consequences.
You can choose to get wasted every night and deal with the consequence of a run in with the police, or impregnating a girl you've never met (or getting pregnant for the ladies) or even something as simple as waking up with a hangover and letting that steal half a day or more from you.
You can choose to have sex with anyone you want...but you'd better believe that it only takes one time to receive an STD.
You can choose to conform to society's expectations and "live it up" and end up dealing with the consequence of realizing that you are empty and broken because of it in the end.
Everything has a consequence.
Down here many students have been faced with the choice of choosing a life lived for Christ or a life lived for the world.
And the choice to turn away has a consequence too.
This is not saying that this is the only chance they will ever have to receive Christ into their lives. Fortunately for me, my God doesn't give up. He continually pursues us, but ultimately in the end the choice is ours.
Kind of a random tangent to go on but I felt the need to reflect.
On a more uplifting note:
God's faithfulness has spoken volumes to me lately.
He has answered the prayer for my support to be raised, providing all $1,450 two full days before the deadline.
He has shown his faithfulness in empowering this project to witness to the hundreds of students that have been down there for we have seen more than 50 students trust their lives to Christ and over 2,500 more have been able to hear the gospel.
Praise Him!
I would like to leave you with two verses of encouragement for this update.
First is 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
and 2 Corinthians 4:5-6
"For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."
Most humbly in Him,
Josh
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