It’s interesting to me how different each country is. Not just with the obvious stuff. Culture differences, language, mode of travel… those are all very unique and very obvious. But there is an undercurrent that can’t be seen, a spiritual atmosphere. Even that sometimes is difficult to pick up on. But there are times when it is much more pronounced. India and Nepal for instance are both predominantly Hindu countries. As a Christian coming in, its something you could definitely pick up on. It was never super crazy or anything. Hinduism always struck me as an aggressive religion and the spiritual atmosphere would reflect that. Then when we got to Thailand it was quite a dramatic shift. I didn’t notice at first. I think I felt the lift of the atmosphere of the previous countries so acutely that I failed to notice that something was missing in my current one. Buddhism is the main religion, and in Buddhism you strive for nothingness. Being surrounded by that it drained me of most emotion, good and bad. It took Larisa and I forever to catch on about what we were feeling and start praying about it. I hated not feeling joy or passion or drive. We had to fight to get it back. I’m not sure I ever completely did. Lesson learned – everything is spiritual.
Cambodia – by far the most difficult country I’ve experienced, specifically in the spiritual atmosphere. It was the first country that felt truly hostile to our presence. The amount of crazy things that happened that month are ridiculous. Our team had an almost tuk-tuk accident. I wasn’t there, but by all accounts it’s only an act of God that kept the car from hitting my teammates. A squad mate did get in a motorbike accident and severely injured her leg. Several people had weird dreams or difficulty sleeping. Some were even afraid to go to the other side of the house we stayed in because it was creepy.
I don’t tell you any of this to freak you out or sound all super spiritual. But I do want you to know that it’s real. We are spirits and we have bodies (thank you C.S. Lewis for that extraordinary revelation) and we live in a spiritual world. This is where your prayers matter the most. By you praying and covering me and my team, it makes everything different. We have protection and backup. Sometimes I’m too deep in it to see what’s going on. So thank you. Thank you for your prayers. They have kept us safe. They have kept us strong. Please continue, I’ve still got a few more months to go.
