As I walked around I was almost overwhelmed by the color of gold… it was everywhere. I asked our guide if it was real and she said probably not, but all the people thought it was. Imitation. Just like the god they were worshiping.
Incense was burning continually and there was a continual tink, tink, tink of coins being dropped into cans. Not just one can. There was a continual series of cans with worshipers trudging by, dutifully dropping in their money. Wealth given to appease their god and the spirits.
Money wasted.
They don't know their god isn't real. Even his image is an imitation of real gold. This fact sticks in my throat. I can't swallow it. Where are their lives going? What are their lives like?
Today we got to walk around Chiang Mai on a scavenger hunt. On our walk around the city we visited a temple. It happens to be a festival day, so the temple was full of worshipers. I don't have the right words to describe what I feel when I see people bowing down to an idol.
They are literally on the floor on their face worshiping an image. For some reason I thought we had left that sort of thing in the Old Testament. But nope, it's very real.
They serve a god with no power. No grace. No love. They are truly lost.
What do I do with that?
I don't quite know, but I know what I am doing now. Here's an update.
I'm back in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I love traveling… except the swelling that still resides in my ankles from sitting for so long on the planes. I managed to watch a couple movies, sleep, and eat free food for what seemed a week:)
I am so blessed to be back in the same place I got to visit last September on the World Race. I am with Emmi, the same contact I had last time I was here. Once again I am blown away by what God is doing in her and through her in Thailand. For the next two months we will be working her ministry, Lighthouse in Action.
We will be going back out to her home village to do a home stay with a Buddhist family. We will work in the rice fields with them, eat with them, sleep in their house, and ask the Lord to be used as a vehicle of His love to them.
We will be meeting college students through fun game nights, teaching English, and being at Emmi's coffee shop. Through our relationships with them we hope to share the good news of Jesus.
And we will spend intentional time hanging out in the red light district, being a kind smile to the marginalized of this country with the hope that they will encounter true Love through us.
It's gonna be awesome.
This country is very lost. But I am a part of what God is doing here. There is so much hope for Thailand.
My friend Jessica Robins and me. She is leading a trip to India this summer. I also got to work with her this spring in the office.
If you'd like to see a video about Emmi, our host please go here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sQacdkYccRw
Her story is amazing.
