Light in the Darkness

I have been living in a small village in the middle of nowhere Thailand for the past 3 or so weeks. There are only 2 families in the whole village that are Christian, The one that I live with and one other family.

I have been struggeling with my relationship with God this month. Last week I was not in the word at all and I was an emotional wreck. You see we have been teaching in schools and attending Christmas parties all month. I just didn’t see the point in doing that because how is running English camp going to bring the Kingdom to earth? How is showing up at a Christmas party and singing a song going to bring the Kingdom to earth? I am a relational person and thought that building relationshipa with people is what would bring the Kingdom to earth. That is part of it don’t get me wrong but there is so much more to it than that. I have had it all wrong this whole race so, God shed some light to me this morning at church. I will get to that part in just a second.

Last week I went to the wedding of one of our neighbors who is part of the other Christian family that lives in our village. When I got there I felt a little off, like something was not right, it felt dark. In the middle of the ceremony people started tying string around their wrists. I had never seen this before so I leaned over to my contact and asked her what was going on. She told me that the man she was marrying was a Buddhist and tying the string around the wrist was a spiritual thing in Buddhism. It was then that I knew why I had felt off and why there was a darkness in this wedding. Satan was present, trying to tempt our neighbor away from God.

Also last week my team and I ran an English camp at a school for 3 days. The last day we had to put on a program of games, songs and skits. In the middle of all of this I noticed that these chikdren were sitting indian style on the floor with there eyes shut and lips moving. There was a darkness in the room, I felt heavy. Satan was present trying to tempt these young children to worship Buddha.

Back to God shedding light on me this morning at church. I was sitting there in a church service that I had no idea what was going on because it was all in Thai. I started praying, God why am I here? What is the purpose of all this? I honestly did not expect an answer right away but God had something else in mind. God told me that I was a light in the darkness. I am here to bring God into dark places. I am here to bring the power of God and fight Satan away. You see its not all about relationships. Its about being a light in any situation that you are in, whether that be teaching or going to Christmas parties. Its about bringing the power of God wherever you go.

Jaime