When I discovered that I was going to be in Thailand during Christmas, my initial reaction was one of apprehension. It was going to be hard enough being away from home but in a land that was 95% Buddhist and definitely didn't celebrate the birth of my Savior? Really?
So, I envisioned Christmas spent within the bubble of my team. And while we plan to have a small celebration together on Christmas, God convicted me of a reality that I have forgotten in the US of A…God became a baby, God became Immanuel: God with us for a reason.
"But what does that have to do with me being in THAILAND away from my family during Christmas, God?"
This is why.
So that my team and I could tell the story of the birth of my Savior to over 200 children. So that I could tell a group of students surrounding me that I don't pray to Buddha, I pray to Jesus and Jesus actually hears me. So that Jesus could whisper, through me, into little ears "Jesus loves you…" So that He could, through my arms, hold them tight. So that He could, through my eyes, show His love. So that He, through me, could hug and kiss little girls who don't get hugs and kisses at home.
When Jesus was born the first people that the angels told weren't the teachers of the law or the Rabbis, it was the shepherds. The ones who were dirty, weary and definitely not "educated."
So who did he come for, really? He came for us. For the lost, battered, confused, broken, dirty and overwhelmed. So that I would know Him, that you would know Him, that these children in Rayong, Thailand would know Him.
So as I am among the rubber fields, away from everything I thought was Christmas, God showed me what Christmas really is. It's the reality of Immanuel, GOD WITH US that this aching, groaning world desperately needs to know.
Let's go tell them.
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