The LORD has given us some amazing opportunities during our time here in Cochabamba for language school. In particular, we have met one young lady named Brooklynn, an 18-year-old girl from Europe. She is not a believer but, when we asked about her spiritual beliefs, she expressed that she was definitely interested in hearing about Jesus. We plan to have her over to our house this week to discuss things of the LORD. How exciting!
Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. Please be in prayer for Brooklynn, that her heart would be receptive and that her eyes would be opened to the Truth.
2. Pray for our team´s unity. While we are in language school, the four of us are living together in a small apartment and, of course, there are minor conflicts. Pray that we would learn to love each other selflessly and that we would serve one another in a way that would continually bring glory to Christ.
3. Continue to be in prayer for the Bolivia men´s team, as they begin investigating other communities in which to begin work. Pray that God would go before them and reveal where He wants them to go next.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
In August, I went on a European vacation... Johnson style. And, if you know my family at all, you know that´s very similar to National Lampoon´s Griswold family verson. :)
My parents currently live just outside London so, when my Xtreme Team training was completed, I took a few weeks to visit them. We spent half of that time in the UK and the other half touring through different places in the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, and Germany. I even got to see my old friend Adéla in Prague (she and I are pictured below). It was fantastic, as you can tell from the pictures!
But the point of this blog is not to make you jealous, I promise. :)
Ever since I attended orientation with the mission board, I have been constantly reminded of the importance of knowing the worldview, the fundamental beliefs, of the people among whom I´m working. From there, I can address the barriers that keep them from coming to Christ.
For example, most Quechua have an animistic worldview. They believe that everything - people, animals, plants, rocks - has a spirit and that everything is a spiritual matter. They believe that there are good spirits and evil spirits constantly acting upon them and that, ultimately, evil is more powerful than good. Therefore, if anything bad happens to them, they must somehow affect the balance of power in the spiritual, either by appeasing the spirit they have angered or by acquiring the help of a more powerful spirit. As you can probably imagine, all of this leads to a superstitious and fearful people who live a life of bondage.
But the European worldview is vastly different. Their fundamental belief system is called postmodernism, and it´s one of the most difficult to overcome.
Basically, most Europeans are too "smart" to believe a God even exists and, if He does, He is irrelevant. Their intellect demands that they reject the very existence of a higher power in favor of scientific explanations for spiritual phenomena and, while they can see value in some religious teachings, they don´t really claim to be followers of any religion. Centuries of apathy and blatant corruption in both Protestant and Catholic churches across their continent, followed by decades of Communist-mandated atheism in certain parts of it, has led to disbelief in a holy and all-powerful God Who transforms lives.
But, while I was in Europe, God gave me various opportunites to demonstrate Who He is to the people there. I wanted to share about one encounter in particular because it still resonates with me now.
My mom and I were waiting for a bus one morning when we struck up a conversation with a British lady named Bev. When Bev discovered that I lived in South America, she was fascinated and asked why I had moved there. I explained that I was a missionary called there to share the love of God with the people.
Bev thought about that for a moment, then said, "I think that´s wonderful. The people here are too smart for our own good. We don´t believe in anything but ourselves. We don´t believe there´s a God, nor do we think we need one. But we´re all just terrified of death. We haven´t figured out what to do with that one."
Wow. The entire postmodern worldview, concisely summarized in five sentences, straight from the mouth of a postmodern. It was enlightening... and it made me terribly sad.
But the most telling part of what Bev said was at the end. Postmoderns haven´t figured out what to do with the problem of death, and they walk around terrified because of it. Just like the Quechuas, who also spend their entire lives in bondage to that same fear. Maybe the two worldviews are not so vastly different after all.
And that realization brought to mind this passage:
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." (Heb. 2:14-15)
The whole reason Jesus came is to free all mankind - the Quechua, the British, the American - from that fear of death and the bondage that comes with it.
Rejoice, O Christian! The grave has no power over you! You have been set free!
2 comments:
Great story about Bev. Sad and true comment about post moderns...
Kel, That was as good of an explanation of anemism as I have ever heard. The Zambian people are also anemistic. Unfortunately, they often turn to the witchdoctors for answers, they are so in bondage and fearful. When we teach the churches on spiritual warfare we have tremendous response. They want another way, but don't know an y other. There is so much work to do there (and everywhere). They need more laborers to go and tell them. Lord help us to do what He wants us to do. Love you! Mel
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