Back to the first day of the youth camp. After lunch, I led worship with a few English songs. I picked ones that I thought they would know, or that were simple enough to try and sing along even if they didn't know the language.
After that, we split into small groups. All of the men went into an upstairs room to discuss the message. Even though there were older guys (including pastors) in the room, they seemed to be looking to one of us Americans to start things off. Shailesh had told us about this in advance, so I made sure I was ready with something to say - I began by mentioning the story of Daniel, and how he had made the decision to trust God before the challenges came. Before facing any of his trials, he made a choice - he would not eat any of the king's food, which would "defile" himself. Instead, he chose to obey God, which in itself is an act of trust; with his actions, he was stating that God's way was better. I think this was key to his success in remaining unphased through his later experiences.
The group was mixed American, Nepali, and Indian (who spoke Hindi and some English), so we had things translated back and forth in all of the languages. After talking about Daniel, I related how the basic truth that "God is good" has gotten me through some situations, allowing me to still trust God and his goodness, no matter what I'm going through.
Others gave their own testimonies. One story that stood out was a Nepalese man who was converted to Christianity as a boy, but his father still kept the Hindu gods and idols. The father had a room where he kept them all, and would go in and make all kinds of noise with his songs and prayers. He usually locked this room, but one day he left the door open when he went out of the house, and the boy went into the room and cut all of the idols to pieces with a sword. When his father came home, he was very upset. The boy said, "Father, I had to do it - you left the door unlocked, and all of the idols began to fly around and argue and fight one another!" His father answered, "That's ridiculous - they're just idols; they can't fly, or move, or see, or hear, or talk." And the boy answered, "Exactly! So then why do you worship them? They cannot do anything!" I thought this was hilarious, and was pretty good thinking!
After the discussion, we prayed in groups. I prayed for a man's swollen ankle - it was his first time coming to the church. He seemed to indicate that it felt better, but I wasn't really sure. Then, I prayed for a boy who was the only Christian in his family - his father was a witch doctor, so he was praying for protection and help within his family. Everyone there felt very encouraged by the message, worship, and fellowship. I talked with Pastor Timothy for awhile afterwards - he pastors a nearby church in Tansen, the 2nd-oldest Christian church in the city (Tansen Church is the oldest.) We both agreed on how great it was to meet someone from such a different culture and instantly feel like you know them through Jesus.
After that, we split into small groups. All of the men went into an upstairs room to discuss the message. Even though there were older guys (including pastors) in the room, they seemed to be looking to one of us Americans to start things off. Shailesh had told us about this in advance, so I made sure I was ready with something to say - I began by mentioning the story of Daniel, and how he had made the decision to trust God before the challenges came. Before facing any of his trials, he made a choice - he would not eat any of the king's food, which would "defile" himself. Instead, he chose to obey God, which in itself is an act of trust; with his actions, he was stating that God's way was better. I think this was key to his success in remaining unphased through his later experiences.
The group was mixed American, Nepali, and Indian (who spoke Hindi and some English), so we had things translated back and forth in all of the languages. After talking about Daniel, I related how the basic truth that "God is good" has gotten me through some situations, allowing me to still trust God and his goodness, no matter what I'm going through.
Others gave their own testimonies. One story that stood out was a Nepalese man who was converted to Christianity as a boy, but his father still kept the Hindu gods and idols. The father had a room where he kept them all, and would go in and make all kinds of noise with his songs and prayers. He usually locked this room, but one day he left the door open when he went out of the house, and the boy went into the room and cut all of the idols to pieces with a sword. When his father came home, he was very upset. The boy said, "Father, I had to do it - you left the door unlocked, and all of the idols began to fly around and argue and fight one another!" His father answered, "That's ridiculous - they're just idols; they can't fly, or move, or see, or hear, or talk." And the boy answered, "Exactly! So then why do you worship them? They cannot do anything!" I thought this was hilarious, and was pretty good thinking!
After the discussion, we prayed in groups. I prayed for a man's swollen ankle - it was his first time coming to the church. He seemed to indicate that it felt better, but I wasn't really sure. Then, I prayed for a boy who was the only Christian in his family - his father was a witch doctor, so he was praying for protection and help within his family. Everyone there felt very encouraged by the message, worship, and fellowship. I talked with Pastor Timothy for awhile afterwards - he pastors a nearby church in Tansen, the 2nd-oldest Christian church in the city (Tansen Church is the oldest.) We both agreed on how great it was to meet someone from such a different culture and instantly feel like you know them through Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment