The First J.Z. Day (Jakobus.Zac Day)
Life is a free buffet. The heartbreak is people all around are starving to death.
I heard a story here in Thailand of two men who were stranded on a fishing boat off the coast and they were dying from dehydration. They had no idea that the water they were floating in was fresh water. The river was flowing with such force that it pushed the fresh water out for miles. Yet, the men had no idea they were floating in fresh water the whole time. I can’t stop thinking about how this story is the story of our lives. If you haven’t had a chance yet to watch the video of our first J.Z. Day please check it out right quick to better understand this blog.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMlZfa61Obw.
Yesterday was our first free day on this mission trip. We were allowed to do whatever we wanted. Six of the seven teams decided to go bamboo rafting, elephant riding and waterfall watching. But at the time, for some reason, Jakobus and I were not feeling it. We wanted to see the city, visit the temples, hike the mountain, find cliffs with water at the base and jump off. However, the following morning we woke up and were both overwhelmed with the presence of the Spirit. So we decided to start walking towards the mountain with no plans. We ended up at a breakfast nook and were able to share Christ love with Tita (the two year old girl in the video). As soon as we left the nook, God provided a taxi driver who gave us a ride for dirt cheap to the base of the mountain. The taxi driver was so nice that he even gave us a local fruit which tasted a lot like grapes. We saw a sign for a trail that lead to a waterfall 15 miles away. Not even a fourth of the way into the trail the path disappeared (be thankful for the employees of parks and recreation). As soon as we got back to the main road, a man in a truck stopped and asked us if we would like a ride to the very top of the mountain. Of course we felt this was once again a sign from God and obeyed. When we got to the top of the mountain we were taking a couple pictures with the huge statues. It just so happened that in the excitement of the pictures I threw the fruit we had left on the ground. Five minutes later Jakobus realized what I had done and said, “Dude, we have to take that fruit.” Honestly, I thought to myself, “There is no point in going back to get the fruit. It was free, we already ate a lot of it and it was on the ground now.” But, seeing as Jakobus is my boy for life and I respect him so much, I personally went back and got the fruit and carried it with us.
When we got to the top of temple, we found out that it was 30 baht ($1) for foreigners to enter. We decided to see if there were any back doors that were “less expensive.” As we went around the corner we found ourselves with two kids from the slums of the locals who work on top of the mountain. There was no one else around. We started talking to them. However, we spoke two different languages. They were confused by what I was saying and I couldn’t make out the words they were saying either. In that moment I prayed, “Spirit I need Your guidance here for I do not know the language nor do I know these kids. But You do. If it is Your will for them to experience You, guide me.” In that moment He reminded me of the fruit and we were able to share it with them.
How humbling it was to watch my trash become their treasure. Within 10 minutes, not only were there 15 more kids who came out of nowhere to see what all the excitement was about, but their parents watched from outside the temple as well. We unconditionally loved on these kids. The parents were clapping as we did what few magic tricks we knew. After playing for a little while, we humbled ourselves again and paid the entry fee into the temple. The two kids who seemed to be in such hopelessness as we approached them were running through the temple telling everyone they knew what had just happened. I don’t know what specifically they said, but I do know they were talking about us because they were pointing at me the entire time.
In the temple, I watched a man wait for a monk to see him. He had a basket full of the freshest fruits I have ever seen. I watched him count over 8,000 baht and place it in an envelope that the monk later received. Again, I do not know what this man said to the monk, nor do I know what the monk said back to him. But I watched this man bow over and over again. I heard his voice trembling as he spoke. I saw the hopelessness once more in the eyes of a local. Immediately, I felt the Spirit remind me of just how much bigger He is than religion. He reminded me that we do not have to bring Him gifts to receive His love. He already loves us unconditionally. His son was the gift to us (eternal life), which we can experience at any time. I rang a few bells, snapped a few pictures and we left the temple. On the way down there were several little girls (no older than 8) who were dressed up to take pictures with the tourists for money. I took a picture of them and they got very upset. I asked Jakobus why this was. He explained to me that this is all these girls know. Dress up and take pictures and at the end of the day give the money earned to their family or boss. If you don’t pay for the picture, they don’t make money.
We started hiking down the mountain, when once again God provided transportation. We asked our ride if we could stop at a scenic view we saw on the way up, to get a picture. He said we could if we hurried. When he stopped, we ran as fast as we could to get a picture. After taking the picture the pressure of getting back into the car was lifted and I heard the Spirit say, “It’s ok to be busy, but don’t hurry, for you just might miss something special.” Look at the picture for yourself if you want to see how creative my God is. As soon as we got back into the car, Jakobus leaned over to me and said, “Dude, I’m sorry I couldn’t rush that. God is just too beautiful for me to hurry and I didn’t want to miss a thing.” At this point, it was confirmed again to me that this entire day was being guided by the Spirit and we were only a part of it. I have never felt so close to the presence of the Lord and I can’t speak for Jakobus here, but I can say this, he didn’t feel like going back to the hostel yet. So we asked the driver to drop us off in the middle of the city to see what the Spirit had planned for us next.
After walking down a back alley we passed a local bar where a man yelled some unkind words at us. He was a foreigner as well and obviously drunk. Immediately I heard the Spirit say, “This is what I have planned for you next.” The man’s name was Mark and he was from Canada. I asked him what brought him to Chiang Mai, and he said, “The same thing that brings everyone to Chiang Mai, the women.” He went on to tell me his definition of love, which was paying women all around the world to have sex. He has been justifying these actions for 26 years by buying the women groceries the morning after. He said, “You don’t pay for sex? How else could you help these people?” I asked if he had time for us to eat lunch with him and he was thrilled to have company. I would love to go into to all the details of how the Spirit moved in this story but it is a long one and I do not have time to blog about it right now. However, I will say this; near the end of our conversation I asked Mark if he felt miserable to be alone in the mornings or at night. He said, “All the time.” Jakobus then asked him what joy meant to him. He said, “I don’t know, I have never felt joy before. As I told him my story I watched his brain grasp the concept of spirituality and his mannerisms begin to change. “You’re a great speaker,” he said, “but I’m not your guy.” I felt a peace come over me from the Spirit as he guided me to walk away. “I’ll take it from here,” the Spirit said. Jakobus and I walked off dancing our dance and singing our song praying for Mark with only love and grace in our hearts towards him. We got back to our hostel and even had time to get some laundry done before going out to the market later that night.
The truth I’ve been experiencing is this, we are surrounded by love, joy and peace, yet we have no idea. This is because we have been brainwashed, hypnotized, and are asleep. Do not think that it is only the people in Thailand who are Buddhist that are experiencing this. For it has been my experience that this is most of the Christians I have met in my life. It’s like the magic trick that I did for the kids in the video. The kids were seeing what is not there and not seeing what was there. That’s what it’s all about, repent and accept the good news. We have to wake up not just weep over our sins. How effective can you be today if you only live in your yesterdays…which were the sins you only committed in the first place because you were asleep? Why is it that we cry over our sins and who we use to be? Why do we identify who we are now with who we use to be then? Wake up. Take on a new mind and new way of looking at things for the Kingdom of Christ is here. It’s the rare Christian who takes that seriously. When it’s rainy and cold outside and you find yourself warm inside your bed with all your pillows and fancy noisemakers, you don’t want to get up. You want to go back to sleep. This is life. Whoever started telling people that life was easy after obeying Christ was stupid. So many times I hear testimonies in pretty buildings that go like this, “I used to be this, this and this, then I met God, and now life is easy and great with God…” Can I clear something up for those of you reading this who are real people? It’s not easy and to be very real with those who are still reading this, it is actually harder. But if we are to wake up we must face the fact that we don’t want to wake up. We must become aware. We must first become aware like these children in the temple, that we were hypnotized into believing we would rather have all these things that are so “important” to us, so important to our life and our survival. These children have no idea how much bigger the world is. How much sweeter the fruit is. They had no idea how much love they could experience from a complete stranger. But if we live in fear, we may miss it.
After awareness, we then we must seek understanding. We must understand that maybe we got it wrong. That maybe these hopeful ideas about love, joy and peace and even God, just might be the reason we are still asleep and are not actually experiencing these things. I watched from a distance these kids literally being brainwashed. By that I mean, taking on an idea that was never there’s but someone else’s and they are ready to die for it. Sound familiar in your life?
Here’s a test so you can know if you have been brainwashed that I have been applying in my life since my sobriety. The moment your beliefs are attacked, do you feel stunned and react emotionally? Are you ready to die for that idea if it were to come down to it? Was that idea yours? Take for example, the monk who believes in Buddha and the Christian who believes in God. They take on an idea, swallow it whole and are ready to die for it. Then when someone comes along (like the missionary) and starts to challenge these ideas they revert back to their programming from their hypnotic state. They don’t listen with an attitude of openness, but rather they listen to only reconfirm what we have already been told to believe.
You see Jesus had far less trouble with those who were unaware than those who knew it all. Those who often talked (Pharisees) were the same ones who really didn’t know. However, those that really knew were the ones who didn’t often talk. It’s liberating you know? To realize we are no better than anyone else in the entire world. From good deeds to charitable works, from attempting to buy our way into eternal life to believing we were born in a country under God so we automatically get eternal life. It’s wonderful to know that I am no better than these kids I met today simply because God is better and bigger than my ideas. He guides us into truth and whether people agree or disagree, truth will still prevail. For the monk may not agree with me that Jesus is real, however the kids experienced Jesus today in the temple. I didn’t see them running around with excitement telling everyone they knew about the monk that just accepted the local man’s fruit and money. Mark didn’t agree with me that true love leads to joy and peace and that the loneliness he is feeling is because of his lifestyle, but his attitude changed. And I didn’t agree with Jakobus that we needed to go back and pick up that fruit, but the two kids in the temple got a meal out of that.
God is so much bigger and so much more real then we allow Him to be. Wake up. Life is a free buffet. The heartbreak is people all around are starving to death.
