It’s incredibly sobering to be here. To be outside of and away from my culture, where we take Holy Thursday, Good Friday, & Easter Sunday for granted.
Well I at least I do.
Well, at least I did.
I spent this Resurrection Sunday in Nepal – a majority Hindu country where Christians are often persecuted, sometimes martyred or otherwise punished if they choose to share Jesus with people around them.
My heart the past few days has been utterly heavy. I haven’t been able to figure out if I am just overwhelmed with World Race things or sad that I am spending another holiday away from home. But as I reflected & prayed & talked on the phone with my fiance’, I think one thing came to the surface that is incredibly hard for me to digest:
I have so much freedom.
You have so much freedom.
The people in this country and millions of others around the world are not walking in freedom because they are bound to the culture they are born into. In Hinduism, a person’s culture & religion are tied together, it is what binds them to their family & defines who they will be for the rest of their lives. As Americans, we have the freedom to choose who we want to be & if we choose to follow Jesus, there are often few consequences (if any). Whereas our brothers & sisters have to fight & grieve & choose to step away from their family, their culture, & sometimes everything they have ever known to follow Jesus.
The one thing we have in common, however, is that we are all children who belong to the most high king – the one who defeated death – the only one whose name is worthy to be praised. We each belong to Jesus & our identity in him knows no cultural or religious boundaries.
Like you, I have learned about, read news articles, & seen the devastation on TV of my brothers & sisters around the world who choose to sacrifice their lives, their comforts, their families, to proclaim the gospel to people who have never heard the name of Jesus. I now know people who live in this reality as well – they have chosen to risk their lives & their families for something that is so much greater than themselves. I have a tangible understanding of what it is like to live in a place where you believe in a sovereign God, but your physical body might not be safe because of the brokenness of our world.
Sure, growing up there were people that didn’t understand my faith, I got questioned or teased perhaps. Maybe others disrespected my beliefs, or told me I was ridiculous or crazy; but I have never experienced the threat of my life or the potential of harm to my family because of my faith.
We have met some incredible people who not only know Jesus, but they are building the kingdom – despite what the world tells them they should be doing, despite what schemes the enemy tries to concoct to deter them from continuing to sow & reap & prepare the harvest.
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We gathered around a fire this Easter evening singing worship songs with fellow believers. We celebrated amidst the darkness in this beautiful country. We continue to proclaim victory where Satan tries to proclaim death.
The enemy attempted to proclaim death in Sri Lanka today, where over 200 lives were lost due to a sequence of bombings specifically targeting churches & hotels this Easter morning. This is no different from 2016 where believers in Pakistan were targeted on a different Easter morning. The battle is real, the pain is real, & my God is also real. He came to this earth as a human – 100% divine & 100% flesh. Jesus – He came restore & redeem & make right all of these wrongs.
He has already won the battle.
We grieve with you & pray that you will be comforted as you being to adjust to a life without your loved ones. My prayer is that through these trials you will come to know your God who deeply desires to know you & love you & spend eternity with you. Although death on this earth is nothing short of devastating, we choose today to celebrate the victory that belongs to Jesus & Jesus alone – because He rose from the grave, thereby defeating death.
Oh death, where is your sting?
Where is your victory?
The battle is won & our victor is Jesus.
