Getting Involved

Today I joined a women's prayer group at the church. I am always amazed at how God is everywhere. I understand that God will never leave me or forsake me and the Bible says that where ever I go He will be there also, but until you actually GO somewhere it's just head knowledge.

The Christians in this country have such a heart and passion to see God move here. To see this country turn away from it's idolatry and turn to the one true God. God is really growing a love and compassion for the people of Sri Lanka in my heart.

I think so often when we (North Americans) come to third world countries we feel sorry for them because they don't live at the same standard as we do, their technologies are not as advanced, and they seem to do things backward. We could never be more wrong. They do not need our pity. So what if their standard of living is not the same as ours, what real difference does that make except that they are not as wrapped up in materialistic things as we are.

We may assume that they don't have the technologies and the advancements that we do but most people here have telephones, tv, game systems, stereo systems, computers, dvd players, VCR's, and cell phones. They are not as different from us as we would like to think. These standards of living is how we judge and rate other nations, there is so much more to life. There are things that they possess here that I wish we had in Canada.

One of those things is a sense of community. In Canada we are so individualistic. We value this yet it builds walls between us, it distances us from one another.

People ask me what the church is like in Canada. They ask if we face the same problems as them. In some instances we do but for the most part all I see is that we lack a compassion for the needy, the widows and the orphans, the homeless and those enslaved by drugs and alcohol. It is so easy for us to become wrapped up in our own lives and to put on blinders to the needs of our communities.

People have asked if there is a lot of idolatry in Canada? I have to say yes but not in the same way as here. We worship idols and don't even know it. Since being here I have realized that there are things in my life that I put before God. I even know that I am neglecting to put God first but it doesn't seem to affect the way that I spend my time. How can I call myself a disciple of Christ when I am not eagerly pursuing Him. I have become content with mediocrity. This realization is bitter in my mouth.

My mind is taken to James. In the first chapter it talks about the lowly brother being exalted and the rich being humbled. This is how I feel. I have had this pity and attitude of superiority hidden in my heart. Today at the prayer meeting God began to show me that I have these things in me. Here I am a rich foreigner and God is showing me that I am no better because I have more things or because I do things differently. I am humbled by their commitment to Christ, their desire to praise God and their passion for spreading the gospel.

Take heart my friends. I am not discouraged in this. God is refining me and it may be painful now but I know that in the end I will be more like the One that I desire to follow, Jesus.

Praise be to the Father of all Nations. He alone be glorified in all the earth.