World Awareness was intense. I can really see the change it caused in me. I find myself complaining less and appreciating what I have more. I’m glad this LTE so closely followed UPG, because I believe there is a deep connection there. Christ always went to the sick and hurting. Healthy people don’t need a doctor. If we are called to resemble Christ, we should go and care for the least of these just like He did. This includes the people who are targeted and beaten for no reason, like the people in the movies we watched (these movies were about WWII, genocides, and prisoners of war during the Korean war). Jesus didn’t care what others were calling the woman at the well; he called her “daughter.” As we go out to tell others about the love of God, we should go with this attitude: anybody we come across is a child of God and they deserve Christ just as much, if not more, than Americans do. Americans don’t understand what we have in Christ. Why is it that you don’t find many radical Christians in America? What would this country look like if all of the professing Christians actually lived it? The lost people of poor and impoverished countries treat the knowledge of Christ like gold when they find God. Why do we treat it only like mere fool’s gold? Why do we continue to search for fulfilment while we throw our Bible among the rest of our worthless treasures, as if it belonged there? Ever since World Awareness, I have been convicted by my lukewarm Christianity; God spits out my half hearted praise every day. But when all is said and done, I repent of treating Him like the Christ America sees; I praise Him for his everlasting, fulfilling, fervent love for me, His never ending, necessary, absolutely perfect grace and His undeserved, overflowing, passionate mercy over me. I know how much I need Him and I’m aware of what his presence in my life does to me. So why then do we sit here and watch the world go to Hell? Why do we sit here, completely oblivious and content in our ignorance as the Devil reigns in some and slaughters others? It’s time to stand, Christians! God isn’t a God of genocide, racism, or prejudice, nor is He quiet. We shouldn’t be either!!
My UPG experience was something I will never forget. The weekend passed by much too quickly, but I got a lot out of it. Even though it was only a day and a half, a lot happened! From waiting for our missionaries to sitting in our tents, soaked, in the pouring rain, it was a worthwhile experience. As we were setting up camp, our missionaries were looking for us. When they found us, we greeted them very peacefully and led them to a spot just outside our camp to set up. We then started sacrificing everything they gave us as gifts to our tree that we worshipped as our god’s manifestation on Earth. We made them sacrifice their food and bow to our tree as well. After a while, the men left on their own expeditions and the woman stayed behind. This is when a lot of teaching started to happen between the tribal women and one of our missionaries. She stumbled over our language for hours, trying to tell us about her God. Despite the missionaries’ persistent efforts, we continued to get distracted. Night fell and the government’s bonfire stirred up our emotions. The chief and witch doctor became hostile toward the missionaries, but a few of us were confused as to why the government killed our friends, for we knew the people who were martyred and we really adored them. After a ceremony around our fire, in which our story of creation was told and the missionaries were warned not to talk about Jesus, a couple of us snuck off to talk to the missionaries. While we were around their fire, the government came and questioned me about what the missionaries were saying. At that point, they hadn’t mentioned Jesus, so I was able to keep them out of trouble. After the government left, the word of God really started pouring out from them. The importance of the gospel hit me, personally, when I was sitting at the feet of the missionary who knew our language the best; we called him Bichil. It was dark, the fire was fading and smoke was billowing all around him. He said something really powerful about God and his arms were outstretched like he was ready for a hug. At that moment, another government vehicle passed from a far away distance and the headlights casted a silhouette of Bichil that was very surreal and beautiful. As a lost person, it was hard for me to not be captivated by the obvious presence of God around that campfire and in those missionaries. My character knew there was something more than the god I had been worshipping, but I still had too many questions. As a saved person, I acquired a deep burning for the people with empty religions and hopeless beliefs. This Life Transforming Event changed my perspective on world missions completely.
(When I say language, I mean something similar to pig Latin. We just took English and twisted it a bit. If you didn't know how we twisted it, it sounded like another language, which the missionaries had to figure out and learn.)
And that was UPG :)
- the importance of memorizing scriptures
- to focus on HIM
- to be a radical Christian, not a cultural, lukewarm Christian.
- to open up and to pour out to others
- to trust him with my weaknesses, especially physically!
- to live a life of a renewed woman, with a pure heart and a clear conscience.
- and to take all that God has given me with appreciation and respect
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