Blinding, Rotten, Forgotten Scales

I am beginning a series of (hopefully) powerful posts: quotes from textbooks and other required readings from my courses in Thailand. The first three, found below, are taken from a US Department of State report that was filed only one year ago.

"Government troops used land mines without taking measures to protect civilians. In May government troops used children as young as five years of age as human shields and mine sweepers in Shan State’s Maingshu area."  

"According to one report, in January military officials transferred a civilian from Insein Prison to Pa’an Prison en route to the front line to serve as a porter... The source reported that Sergeant Sa Ya Shein Htun stabbed a porter to death when he was unable to carry his heavy load. Shein Htun reportedly also kicked a porter whose leg was blown off by a land mine into a ditch, where he died. "

"Rights groups and political prisoners denounced the May amnesty as inadequate; political prisoners in Rangoon’s Insein prison responded with a hunger strike. As punishment authorities allegedly transferred seven of these prisoners to cells used to house military dogs "

...The situation in Burma (Myanmar) amounts to hundreds of crimes against humanity. From 1948-2010 there has been civil war (and there are still violent killings happening along the Burma-Thai border). Not the American idea of civil war, where both sides would have weaponry, defense and reserves. But a military backed war against ethnic minorities, students, civilians, and absolutely anyone who the government deemed to be questioning it's authority. A war against unarmed, innocent people.

Thousands and thousands and thousands of God's people have been murdered. Thousands of children forced to fight as soldiers for their lives. Thousands more die because of lack of medical treatment. Thousands of villagers are displaced and constantly running from the military.

In the wake of this massacre where men, women, children and infants are constantly beaten, burned alive, tortured and raped, there is ONE Christian group (whom I cannot name, for fear they will be found and stopped) who are willing to risk their lives, run the border, and give medical and spiritual relief to those affected by the violence.

...One. 

Have we really asked ourselves what it means to be Christian? Have we truly come to a place of surety that we should not also be risking our lives? Does God actually want millions of evangelical Christians to be born, live, and die in a country full of freedom? 

How relevant are these verses for the American church today? 

Matthew 24:9 (ESV)  “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

Matthew 10:28 (NIV) ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 16:24-25 (ESV) ²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Does "bearing our cross" only mean walking through the pangs of forgiveness towards our loved ones who have wronged us? Is it limited to enduring the annoying coworker's "persecution" who starts angsty arguments with us about our faith? Is denying ourselves only speaking to month long fasts, living in areas we'd prefer not to, walking for weeks without shoes, giving of our finances until it "hurts," letting a stranger get the short line at the grocery store, or praying for patience in heavy traffic?

...I think that God is bigger than that.

Is the Christian walk supposed to be a process of being born again, becoming aware of your sinful nature, repenting, fleeing temptation, finding a spouse, raising children, attending church, retiring, and dying to live eternally in bliss? What are we supposed to do with our light, our wisdom, our holiness? To whom do we transfer our joy, or the "divine power to break strongholds" (2 Cor. 10:14)? Does scripture refer to our willingness to work in soup kitchens every Wednesday night? Giving money to the homeless on the street? The inconvenience it is to open our home to church events? The bible studies that are ridden with in-authenticity, a fear of being outright with the gospel, and a slavery to the analyzation of sin that has already been atoned for?  Is that what Jesus meant when we said, "Come with me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Have we been blinded by lies, by sin, by ourselves? What does it actually mean to follow Christ?

Suddenly, I think I can resonate with Paul's experience:

"And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized." Acts 9:18 (KJV)

Jenga

This was our first class and already my heart is broken and my world view is shattered.

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is like a giant game of Jenga--there is an intense need for restoration, healing, peace, intervention, education and economic stability. The most important and urgent need is that of the Gospel reaching these people.

However, the governments, policies, and people groups here are "set up" in such a way that if you attempt to  design a program or promote an outreach here, etc. you run the risk of getting arrested, breaking up family traditions, displacing orphans and tearing apart precious relationships.

You can't move one piece without shifting, toppling the entire tower that is the GMS.

...It is very overwhelming.

There is discrimination everywhere that leads to governments oppressing minority groups. They take away their land and resources, and force young children to seek harsh labor work and prostitution opportunities.

There is ignorance that is exploited, corruption that is legal, and a conscious blindness to the social and economic issues that are making human beings like you and I suffer every single day in ways we, as Americans, can not even begin to imagine.

There is a deep rooted Buddhist morale that tells the abused not to seek help or healing. There is pride that prevents true relationships from being built.

Education is not the answer. Preventative measures don't promise to prevent. Rescuing 8 year olds from brothels does not break this seemingly never ending cycle. If there is to be change, it needs to be revolutionary. I don't even know where to start.

I feel as if I have been living in a blessed safe haven, a bubble of unknowing ignorance.

The call on God's people is simple but great. And, being here, it seems like we are not responding the way we should be.

How can I live in the abundance of my home, knowing that injustice goes on all around me and that I am called to be an agent of light, and not act? How could I ever consider the sufferings of this world anymore than a passing tide compared to the glory that is to come? How can I justify a life of convenience and luxury when His picture, His model is so clear? Why would I want to live and die without putting my life on the line, without bearing the excruciating pain it is to watch my worldview crumble before my childish eyes? Why would I not give everything? Not just my spirit, my heart, my mind. Not just my words and actions and deeds.

But why not my safety? Why not my treasures? Why not my comfort, my savings, my family? Why not food, health insurance, freedom?

There are those in the world--men, women, and even the innocent faces of children--who will never see the abundance of what is listed above. Who will never be held by their mother because they were sold into slavery at birth. Who will never be safe because they are raped by men every single night who, as long as they pay, can do what they wish? Those whose children are taken away in the middle of the night and are never, ever heard from again because a wealthy citizen needed someone to harvest rice. Those who would faint at the sight of an average American meal because it is more than their family has ever had to eat. Those who are now blind because they did not receive simple vaccinations that I, even as an "impoverished" child was able to receive. Those who cannot, do not, speak out against oppression for fear of their very lives. Those who read the Bible in hiding and isolation from their very village.

Those who do not have the ultimate Treasure. The ultimate Freedom. The unshakable Peace and almighty Advocate.

"How?", I am now forced to ask myself, "Could I ever return to the way I was."

A Different Kind of Rain

I found this quote in our student handbook for the Go ED. Program:

“The breadth of the Kingdom's sway is proportional to the depth we allow it to reign in each of us.”

…Lord, reign in me.

Tonight I sleep in a cozy bed in a Comfort Inn in Washington DC. Tonight I am humbled by and reverent towards the experience that lies at hand.

Tonight, He brings me peace in this:

"I am the Lord, and there is no other,

    besides me there is no God;

     I equip you, though you do not know me,

⁶ that people may know, from the rising of the sun

    and from the west, that there is none besides me;

    I am the Lord, and there is no other.

⁷ I form light and create darkness,

    I make well-being and create calamity,

    I am the Lord, who does all these things."

Is. 45:5-7

(Thank you for your prayers!! Please keep them up.)

Chess4Life: Teaching Life Skills Through Job Opportunities

Yesterday in our normal meeting, my boss and I were discussing my fears in leaving my position. I was telling him that my biggest concern was that I would leave having forgotten some obscure, life altering detail that would cause him and my coworkers to rue the day I was hired.

"Lyric," he said to me, "I am not worried about you leaving. Your transition has gone well and, not to be rude--but in God's Kingdom we must remain irrelevant. Otherwise, how would he work through us?"

That, perhaps, was one of the most poignant descriptions of God's work in my life that I have ever heard. Indeed, in spite of my immaturity, my grievous lack of experience, my self doubt, my sinful nature, and my past, God has worked miracles in and through me.

***

Tonight was my last day at work, and my coworkers threw a "goodbye (for now)" party for me. Everything was decorated in my favorite colors (which must have been God's sovereignty or someone's really great memory), and my coworker spent hours cooking up chicken enchiladas that couldn't make it due to a power outage. The thoughtfulness was incredibly humbling.

This is the third time this month where I have looked up at the sky and asked God, "Whose life am I living?!"

I think what really has me stupefied is the fact that my personality and the woman I am today is typical to my coworkers. When they look at me, they don't see my past and the scars that satan wants me to be defined by. They don't see the terrified little girl that didn't want to take the job or the trip to Thailand. They don't see my self doubt, my condemnation, and my weaknesses that blur my vision so badly sometimes it's hard to see the light.

They see what God has done in me. They see a picture of Jesus' face. They see strength and resilience. They see joy and peace. 

And I get these small and precious moments of clarity--these out of body glimpses into my heart from another's perspective. I get to see and experience redemption.

 ...Ha, if only they knew. 

Some of these people will never have any idea how they have touched my lives, the principles and concepts and aspects of righteousness God has taught me through them. But when I get up to Heaven I will say to Jesus, "Look! That one right there! They get a gold star, Jesus. Or at least a pat on the back. Good job on them, big guy."

Never in my life have I had such an intense moment of perspective, such a typifying experience of the 180 God has done in my life. It has only been two years since I have called Him my own, and I am floored by the transformation that I have undergone.

...and I can't wait to see what he'll do in Thailand.

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

                                    (Rmns 5:6-8, NIV)

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

                                    (John 10:10, ESV)

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

                                     (Rmns 12:12, ESV)