Wednesday, June 30th Journal Entry

The new president of the Philippines was enagurated today. That is a national holiday here so we didn't have school! YAY!!! My mom always told me that teachers were more excited about holidays than children and after teaching Christian Education for 2 weeks, I definitely believe that. It's been a great day so far. We got up at 8am as opposed to 5am, had a leisurely morning reading and playing with the children, washed clothes and hung them outside to dry (which is a HUGE blessing since it rains all the time), and had a great lunch - rice, lumpia, and green beans!

After lunch we had group time. The article we read today was about unreached people groups - people who have never heard the gospel. I used to think that since the world is practically all discovered that that meant the gospel had gone to all those places. I was mistaken. I also thought that if there are missionaries in Africa all Africa must be aware of the gospel or at least heard it once before. So not true. There are so many little tribes of people who have never heard about the love of my Savior. In India alone there are over 4,600 people groups. Even thought the gospel may be nearby, a people group may be unreached because of language, ethnic, religioius, or social boundaries. The Bible says that in heaven there will be people from every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. That is the will of God and it will happen no matter what, but who will go to these people groups and tell them? The need for missionaries is so great! I believe there are people everywhere who are ready to hear the Good News of Christ but so few people who follow the will of God. "Many are called but few are sent." How selfish of us who know of the grace of God and keep it for ourselves. Our team read a biography of a missionary to China named J. Hudson Taylor. The biography tells of a man who asked Taylor how long the gospel had been known to England which is where Taylor was from. Taylor told the man, "Oh several hundred years." The man responded by saying. "What! And you have now only come to preach the gospel to us? My father sought after the truth more than 20 years and died without finding it. Why didn't you come sooner?" This story had burdened my heart ever since reading it. How many people have sought the truth in their lives and died without finding it all because we were not faithful to the calling? Because we didn't take Matthew 28:19-20 seriously? There will be a representative from ever nation, tribe, tongue, and people in heaven, but the longer we ignore God's command to go, the longer we delay Christ's coming.

Going to unreached people groups may be dangerous, but so is driving a car and playing a contact sport. Even more dangerous is ignoring God's commands and being held responsible for your lack of action on the day of judgement. I'm more afraid of the dangers of being outside the will of God than the dangers of this world. Elizabeth Elliot says, "If our object is to save others we must be clear that we cannot save ourselves."

This quote makes me think about a game we played with the kiddos last Saturday. I'm not sure what it is called and I'm still not completely sure of all the rules but this is how it goes... There are 2 teams on either side of the court, each with a base. Each teams tries to tag people from the other team. If you are tagged you must touch and stay at the base of the opposing team. Then, if one of your teammates is tagged they must begin to form a chain by touching you and you touching the base. Your team must try to tag people from the other team but also try to free those bound by the chain by touching the last persons hand without being tagged themselves. If they are tagged they join the chain as well. Whichever team tags everyone from the other team wins (I know this may sound confusing because I'm not very good at explaining games but hopefully you get the gist). If there is a a chain, it can be difficult and dangerous for the person attempting to free them because the enemy is seeking to make them part of their chain as well.

When we played I was the only one left on my team who was not part of the chain. Therefore, if we wanted to win it was up to me to free the other team members, but freeing them would mean putting myself at risk of loosing my own freedom (Sidenote: I don't like being in this position. When we play underground church at home I am the first person to hide and stay in my hiding place until the game is over instead of freeing people from the jail. Even if it is just a game, I dont naturally put my life on the line for others). I had a decision to make. I could put myself at risk and try to save my teammates or I could stayed on my base and enjoy my freedom (salvation). Although I really wanted to stay on base where I was comfortable and free, I looed out at my teammates who were bound by chains of the enemy and counting on me to be their escape. They wanted to be freed and I was the only one who could free them. It would have been really selfish of me if I stayed on base while others were being held captive. Plus, the game would have never ended and no one would have won. Therefore, I got out of my comfort zone and headed towards danger in an attempt to free the people being enslaved... And if you know me and my athletic abilities you know that I was tagged and became part of the chain as well, allowing the other team to win...

But the point is that as Christians we are saved, but God does not call us to a life of comfort. The true Christian life is a hard one filed with trials, persecution, and danger. We are in a spiritual war with God on one side and Satan on the other. Christ gives us freedom but people under Satan's rule are bound in chains. It is our Christian responsibility to go into danger, into the battlefield, and reach out to those bound by Satan's lies, free them, and bring them to the feet of Christ. It may mean leaving comforts or even sacrificing your own life but it is a risk worth taking if it means allowing others to experience the freedom and life you have in Christ. And the sooner we recognize the need to follow Christ's command, the sooner the game/war is over. And, unlike my game where we lost, we know that even if we are "tagged" the enemy will never be victorious. We know that the war we are in is already won! Will you be faithful in the battle? Will I? I hope so. I pray that when I meet my heavenly Father He will look on me and say, "Well done my good and faithful servant."