I don't know why it is that it feels so much easier to write a blog when I'm in a foreign country. I suppose it gives me a specific focus that let's me know what I should tell you about. Maybe this trip will give me the momentum to keep up with writing once I return home. You should pray for me that that's the case :)
We arrived in Sri Lanka about 5 days ago after 15 hours of flying, a 12 hour layover in Dubai, and then another 4 hour flight. Yikes that was a lot of travel! I loved that we had the time to go sight seeing in Dubai, but throwing in that extra 12 hours messed with my internal clock a bit more than I anticipated.
I have never been to a country like Dubai. Flying in, we looked down on desert land, and once landed we entered a high tech city like I've never seen. Japan is advanced, but Dubai was crazy. There was a holographic lady a the airport saying something (I was too far away to hear), and touch screen directory maps at the mall. I loved the opportunity to experience yet another place and another culture. We say the tallest building in the world, drove onto the man-made palm tree island, and walked the malls that had a huge indoor aquarium, and another that had an indoor ski resort (in the middle of the desert!). It was pretty incredible. I do believe that my favorite part though, was the opportunity to meet our teammate, Conrad's, sister and her family. That is my favorite part of being in new countries, meeting locals and seeing life lived in a different place.
After Dubai we hopped back on a plane and took the final ride to Sri Lanka. We were greeted by one of the pastors and a church member and driven to the pastor's home for a snack before being taken to the house we are staying at. All of the people I have met here have been very warm and welcoming. That was the beginning of the continual flow of new people to meet.
Oh dear, I should have begun this blogging thing sooner...too many details. Let's see....highlights.
Pastor Leslie has been here the since we arrived and will be flying out in the next couple days. It's been such a blessing to have a chance to talk with him while he is here. After talking with him for only a few minutes you know that this man has one purpose and that is to do the will of the Lord. It is all he talks about and all he does and everyone around him knows it and have an incredibly large amount of respect for him because of it.
Last night we had the honor of attending a commissioning service for a group of pastors here. They began the time with worship which always stirs something in me to sit among people praising God is another language. It's like getting a glimpse of heaven where all tribes and tongues will praise the Lord together. I think what struck me most was being amount a group of people, committed to Jesus despite the obvious cost. In the states this isn't something we really understand in the same way. The Lord has been teaching me about the cost of following Him lately, but even so, here it is different. Here there is persecution. There are laws limiting how you share about Jesus. The other religious groups will not talk about co-existence like the bumper stickers I see driving around Oregon (a place that has persecution of believers all it's own), they don't want to co-exist. They don't want believers encroaching on them. When these pastors stand up to be anointed and commissioned, there is understanding that there will be a price to pay, but they stand with boldness, knowing that no matter how high the price, the reward is greater because we have a God that loves us, and has given everything to prove it to us.
This morning I was reading in Acts 4 and I was struck by the verses that said, Peter and John were arrested, however, many of those that had heard their preaching believed (v. 1-4). They literally say the cost of following Christ, but they believed anyway. In the states we frequently talk about being "seeker-friendly" or we will watch our words to make sure we don't scare people away from believing. That's not how it went in Acts, and that's not what I see here. If we are convinced of the reward of following Christ, there is no cost too high to pay.
I was thinking of this personally earlier today. If I lived here, would I be willing to pay the cost even if the persecution was strong. I sat here thinking about how it may be very difficult, but I couldn't come up with a scenario in my mind where I was turn away because even when I think about persecution I am so completely convinced of the truth of Christ, I couldn't turn away. Even if I turned away it would be believing that Christ is still true and so the thought of it only makes me think of disappointing my God with my cowardliness. I would never want to do that.
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