Southeast Asia – July 24, 2023
We are still arriving, both figuratively and literally! We began the day with breakfast with Becky, who gave us some insight into the country’s culture. One of the biggest takeaways was that this is a very spiritual culture – they welcome prayer! But to them, this is based on the understanding that, it seems, all gods are the same, so to speak. The other takeaway was that the non-conversion law was put into place as there had been a practice of forced conversion, where people would stand on the street corner throwing water on passersby and declaring that they had baptized them and now they were Christian. Understandably, this gross misrepresentation of the gospel message upset people to the extent that a law was made, a law that allows for people to share the gospel in the homes if invited, which seems like a more fitting environment for true gospel sharing, and quite in the style of how Jesus did this Himself!
As part of our education of the country’s culture, we were taken on a tour of the “Monkey Temple”, which is a compound of sorts of several temples, each dedicated to a specific Hindu god. We saw the practice of incineration of the deceased, in fact, we could smell it as well. It struck all of us that this appeared to be a funeral without hope, that this marked an end of the life journey with nothing more to offer in the way of comfort.
We also encountered a number of very persistent purveyors of trinkets and wares! They seemed to only be hitting us up for deals that surely we wouldn’t refuse, that is, if they wore us down enough! In the US, we are used to politely refusing with the understanding that this would end the solicitations, but clearly, that tactic did not work here! Some of us noticed how their understanding of the world was so rooted in the here and now, and that they were not able to see a person beyond the face of a would-be customer. And, it did feel odd to be so persistently targeted because of our American Tourist appearance.
After this excursion, we headed for the airport where we took a twin prop plane for a 40-minute flight to our final destination. As we flew, we saw how we were moving away from the urban areas and into the countryside where there were a number of smaller towns. Rice paddies were also very numerous, a reminder of the hard work it takes to simply survive.
We finally arrived at the hotel, both hungry and tired! But the adventures did not end here, for my roommate and I found a lizard over a foot long in our room up on the wall that quickly scurried into a safe place, probably certain we would never find it! We even called for a “lizard remover”, so they sent up security! Once it was determined that we could not find the lizard, fortunately, we were allowed to switch rooms instead of being asked to adopt a third silent and hidden roomie! Since we understand that this is a warmer climate, and that lizards live here too, we are aware of the fact that we could be seeing more of this even in the homes of the people we will visit this week. We have finally arrived!
On Monday, We Begin our training and will have our first home visit! Pray for us as we carry the Light into the homes of the people who live here, knowing that the perception of Jesus may have already been skewed before we ever got here! Pray for God to make His presence and power known through the gospel message we will be sharing!
