Who need God more? (Sharing of the Mission Trip)

The smiling faces of the adults and children, the genuineness of their hearts, and the hunger of their spiritual appetite, still stay in my heart, probably still will be for a long long time. 

We went to the very remote, hillside areas of the country, through many hours of bumpy rides on rocky roads and trials full of pot holes. Our driver has the skill more impressive than any New York City cab driver. He maneuvered our little mini-van through dangerous trials, steering clear from potholes and avoiding the traffic from the opposite direction. The rides were both dangerous and painful. The rocky roads were like doing massage to your whole body, every single inch of it. It actually hurt so much that my back was kind of bruised. One day we were on the van for more than 11 hours. We felt like we went through a serve basket ball game the next day. 

But all these are for a purpose. 

After all these travel, we visited 4 churches and gave them hymn books and pews. Also, about 4000 more hymn books will be distributed to the many churches in the area. Everyone welcomed us with their hearts, songs and with the best food they can afford. They gave us their best. We had wonderful fellowship in Christ even we had never met before. 

Two things I learned from the trip. First, I was touched by their spiritual longings to God. Even some of them are very lacking in material, but their spirit are very rich in Christ. They love the Lord with a pure heart. They long for God as the deer pants for water. 

PS 42: 1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, a God. 

PS 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 

They worship God in truth and in spirit; they worship God with all they have, wholeheartedly. Some walked 3 hours or more to come to the worship, and 3 hour or more to walk back home. Just come to worship their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The harder their situation is, the more devoted the worshippers they are. God reminds me of the teaching in Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, 

MT 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

MT 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. 

MT 5:5 Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. 

MT 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. 

MT 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 

MT 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. 

MT 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 

MT 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for their is the kingdom of heaven. 

I was touched by their genuineness and their dedication. Their actions speak to me that they love God. They love God with all their hearts, soul, mind and strength. I was touched by their dedication. With limited help and supplies, they keep worshipping God with joy and excitement. 

The second thing I learned from the trip is to ask why Christians in Northern America in general do not show the j9ille degree of spiritual hunger and thirst. 

How come we have so many Christians who are so different from them? Some “Christians” here look like they are being torture when they come to Sunday service. They are not excited about God or about knowing Jesus. They are not hungry or thirst for God. They go to church but are very dead spiritually. 

We do live in a rich country, but spiritually we may not be that rich in God’s eyes. Revelation 23 talks about churches. One is Smyrna and the other is Laodicea. Laodicea church is rich in material but spiritually wretched, poor, blind, naked and pitiful in God's eyes. They are lukewarm Christians. On the other hand, Smyrna church is in poverty and under persecution, but they are faithful to God and rich in God’s eyes. 

Spiritually, it can be harder to live in a materialistic place because of all the entertainment and distractions: People tend to live in a more relax mode and not as watchful because life in general is easier and not as difficult. Most of the time, nothing is urgent and God is not needed. To some, God is needed only as a ritual on Sundays for 2 hours and then they live their own lives for the rest of the week. 

On the other hand, if we are in needs all the time and living a difficult life, we will probably have more heart and time for God... because we need Him to help us. I pray that we don't need hardship to know that we do need God all the time. I pray that we who live in Northern America still know that we do need God, as much as those who live in the third world country. Probably we need God more than they do because we think we “do not need a thing (Rev. 3: 17).” Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, those who know they need God, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. I pray that God will always help me to see my spiritual need and humble me to know that I ALWAYS NEED GOD.