Well, yesterday was our last day at Got Pa Bong. It was a little surreal. I enjoyed parts of it, but because of how the pastor prefers us to "work" there was a lot of down time & not really any door-to-door type of anything. We had an incident with a young married woman & the issue of how the church helps a person who needs help but isn't following Christ. I see it as an opportunity for the church to express grace & love, but they seem to not want to help. It was not fun.
I am very sad about this village. There are 75 families & at least 60 of them have one member (or more) involved in some type of drug or alcohol addiction. Many families turn to selling amphetamines to earn an income. There are lots of complications with living in these northern Thai villages - many people do not have citizenship & cannot travel freely, they are not allowed to move or expand the land of their village & their education & lack of critical thinking make for a very bad combination. That said, God can change their hearts & radically change their village, but most seem unwilling to see the necessary spiritual change & are focused on the drug/money problem. They look down on those stuck in one addiction but allow family members to live at home while intrenched in a similar addiction.
I truly believe that if these people are willing to be changed, their circumstances will not have the same pulling affect on them. But sadly, many just hope for a solution & just pray for a fix in circumstance rather than a change in their lives.
Sadly, I too struggle with this. I am blessed to not live in a place where there is not opportunity to work, where I have loving Christians around me & that God is changing my heart. I know that selling drugs or working to produce drugs will never be something I turn to... but I often seek a change in circumstance rather than a change in heart. I'm blessed to see this connection & hope that it sticks!
We are going into one more village for one more day. Tomorrow we will be debriefing & heading back to Chiang Mai. Pray that the people in this village see God in us & feel His presence. Thanks again for all your encouragement - I'd be lost without it!!
I am very sad about this village. There are 75 families & at least 60 of them have one member (or more) involved in some type of drug or alcohol addiction. Many families turn to selling amphetamines to earn an income. There are lots of complications with living in these northern Thai villages - many people do not have citizenship & cannot travel freely, they are not allowed to move or expand the land of their village & their education & lack of critical thinking make for a very bad combination. That said, God can change their hearts & radically change their village, but most seem unwilling to see the necessary spiritual change & are focused on the drug/money problem. They look down on those stuck in one addiction but allow family members to live at home while intrenched in a similar addiction.
I truly believe that if these people are willing to be changed, their circumstances will not have the same pulling affect on them. But sadly, many just hope for a solution & just pray for a fix in circumstance rather than a change in their lives.
Sadly, I too struggle with this. I am blessed to not live in a place where there is not opportunity to work, where I have loving Christians around me & that God is changing my heart. I know that selling drugs or working to produce drugs will never be something I turn to... but I often seek a change in circumstance rather than a change in heart. I'm blessed to see this connection & hope that it sticks!
We are going into one more village for one more day. Tomorrow we will be debriefing & heading back to Chiang Mai. Pray that the people in this village see God in us & feel His presence. Thanks again for all your encouragement - I'd be lost without it!!
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