Lessons from the Other Side of the World

I recently had a chance to take a trip to the other side of the world. I was able to travel to South Asia and saw what another culture looks like and to see how God is moving in that country. This was no small trip. It took about 30 hours of travel to end up ten and a half time zones away (yes I said a half time zone). 

In the city we visited we got to experience a culture very different from the one we live in here in Central Iowa. The food was amazing, coffee and masala chai were everywhere, and the people were some of the nicest people I’ve met in my life. Some without much to call their own and yet abundantly generous with the little that they had. 

Our group had a chance to tour some slum areas and share hope with the people we met there. The hope we shared didn’t have anything to do with material possessions or any promises of a better life now. Rather, the hope we shared has an eternal impact. A hope that lasts long after the things of this world have all rotten away. Many of the people we had talked and prayed with had already heard this beautiful gospel story, and some had even put their trust in Jesus. 

We participated in a prayer meeting in the home of a local Christian family. This one bedroom apartment had a small living room, a smaller bedroom, a tiny kitchen and a squatty-potty/shower combo bathroom. Yet, this home was filled with people who loved one another and wanted to share the gospel story of Jesus. They worshiped in their native tongue, shared encouragement, and learned what it looks like to abide with Christ Jesus.

Our group happened to be in town during one of the largest religious festivals of the year. Everyone in the city that is a part of the majority religion takes part each year. The wide spread festivities reminded me of being in America around Thanksgiving or the Super Bowl. The town was grid locked at different times as people celebrated this festival.

In order to celebrate properly, each family had to purchase a statue of this particular god they were worshiping. They would bring this clay statue into their home for anywhere from one to seven or nine days. The wealthier the family, the larger the statue. Some were about 12-15 inches tall, some four or five feet tall, and some in the city were over thirty feet tall. A form of worship would take place and the statue would be decorated and painted. After the appropriate number of days, the statue would be carried down to the waterfront where it would be dunked into the water and dropped to the bottom of the sea, never to resurface.

It was interesting watching this custom. It was moving for me, but not in a good way. Several local people were excited that we were there for the festival. When I asked them why they did it or what it meant for their religion there were some mixed answers. Most did it because they had grown up doing it. Only one had what felt like a real answer. 

Two high school students had stopped me one day in order to complete a homework assignment. They were supposed to interview a foreigner about their experience in the city. (Not sure how a 6’2” blonde Dutch kid stood out in South Asia…) They asked me what I had thought about the festival. I told them that I felt sad. As they asked me why I explained a little about what my faith believes.

In their celebration they had worshiped a statue made with human hands. Christianity worships the Creator God who holds the entire world with His hands.

In their celebration they were hoping to obtain favor with their god in order to have health for the next year. Christianity celebrates not what man does to appease a god, but rather what our God did to defeat sin and draw His people back near to Him.

In their celebration they carried their god statue down on a wooden board to a body of water. In Christianity we believe that our God carried His own wooden Cross to a hill He would be crucified on.

In their celebration they dunked a statue in water and dropped it to the bottom of the sea never to return. Christianity celebrates that Jesus suffered, was killed, and was dropped into a grave in the earth… and that three days later Jesus conquered death and rose up from that grave.

The contrasts are stark and drastic. Jesus is like no other god. Jesus is like no other prophet. Jesus is the One God who created the world that he later walked on and was nailed to a tree that He Himself had spoken into existence in order to conquer the death that separated humanity from Himself.