Travel light: Audacious prayers

“But if you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become thorns in your eyes and in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you live.” Numbers 33:55, HCSB

As we move into the places God has for us, we must deal with the sins and issues before us. Otherwise, they will continue to enslave.

I stood on the top of a mountain in the city where we lived in northern Thailand. We’d been there a few months, and colleagues and I had come to the top of this mountain to pray over the city. I’d not yet found a ministry, but on that mountain, I prayed an audacious prayer: “Lord, shut down the sex industry in my city.”

God took that prayer and grew it into an entire ministry to exploited women and children in that city — a ministry that continues to this day. Some women and men have come to faith in Jesus Christ. Some have been baptized. Some are no longer involved in prostitution. Through the faithfulness of Christian workers, the gospel has been shared with countless women and men in the city's red light districts. Light is penetrating darkness in some of the city’s ickiest areas.

Finding the place God has for us involves confronting the issues and sins before us. Christian workers who move into a new area often spend time “mapping” the area — understanding the culture, the language and the sins that enslave. These often differ from people group to people group. If Christian workers fail to help a people group confront and drive out their “cultural sins" as they are growing in their faith, those sins will maintain a foothold and may resurface later to enslave them again.

The same is true in our own lives. Instead of “cultural sins” we sometimes call them “pet sins.” What sins are such a part of your life that you fail to recognize their power over you? Gossip? Gluttony?  Selfish ambition? Materialism? Greed? The list goes on.

“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” Jesus said in John 8:32 (HCSB). With the help of the Holy Spirit, take some time to “map out” your own heart and examine the sins you take for granted. Then, ask God to help you drive them out so that you can be free to be all that He created you to be. Remember, He wants the best for you, so that through your life you can make Him known.

This week’s reading: Numbers 23 – Deuteronomy 2

Post #10: Discovering how to live missionally through a chronological reading of God’s Word.

#travellight

Travel light: Justice matters

“God saw the Israelites, and He took notice.” 

Exodus 2:25

The issue of human exploitation is as old as the fall of man. Satan exploited Adam and Eve’s vulnerabilities in the Garden of Eden, and with their fall, the human experience was forever marred. From there, human exploitation subtly weaves its tentacles through the stories of Cain and Abel; Abram, Sarai and Hagar; and Joseph and his brothers.

Throughout those stories, however, we see a God who cares for hurting people. When Cain thought no one was looking, God saw and executed justice on Abel’s behalf (Genesis 4). To Hagar, He was “the God who sees” (Genesis 16). To Joseph, He brought good out of evil, to bring about “the survival of many people” (Genesis 50:20).

In keeping with the theme of justice for the oppressed, the Book of Exodus begins with the Israelites in slavery in Egypt. They cried out in their misery, and God took notice, sending Moses to rescue them and foreshadowing the coming Messiah, Jesus, who rescues us from the slavery of sin.

January is human trafficking awareness month in the U.S. This month, your heart may have been touched with poignant stories of men, women and children victimized by human trafficking and oppression. You may have been compelled to take some sort of symbolic action. While these actions certainly help raise awareness of the problem, remember this: Not a single victim will be freed because we disappear from social media or mark a red X on the back of our hand.

But God will take notice as we cry out to Him on behalf of those who are oppressed.

This week's reading: Genesis 48-50, Exodus 1-15
Post #5: Discovering how to live missionally through a chronological reading of God’s Word.

#travellight

A World AIDS Day remembrance: Three ways to lose your heart.

Dec. 1, 2010. World AIDS Day. I stood on a busy sidewalk in northern India. Cars and trucks whizzed by on one side. On the other side, an open sewer and a high, concrete wall separated me from a catacomb of brothels — a den of human trafficking, oppression and violence against women.

Until that morning, I hadn’t known World AIDS Day existed. Until that trip to northern India, I’d had no “real-life” interaction with AIDS patients. I knew only what I’d read or seen on TV. But on this day, AIDS had a face, a name and two small children.

Her name was Ajunta.* She was 27 years old. Her husband had died of AIDS a year before. Given her illness and her status as a widow in Indian society, she had no means to feed her family. To earn the cash she needed, she turned to prostitution.

Then, two Indian pastors visited Ajunta, hoping to learn more about how to minister to HIV patients. They shared the gospel with her, and Ajunta became a follower of Jesus. She was baptized and began sharing Jesus with other women like herself — women in desperate situations.

Ajunta’s story rocked my world and changed the direction of my life and ministry. Ajunta, I realized, was a woman just like me, simply trying to provide for her family. Her story brought my soul to its knees.

And as my soul cried out for justice, God spoke. He used the conversations with Ajunta and her friends to compel me to begin a gospel-focused ministry among exploited women in the Asian city where I then lived.

God also has used my experience with Ajunta to allow me to share with countless faith groups in the U.S. how they can be involved in ministries to exploited people around the world. He is bringing His people together to “speak up for those who have no voice.”

So, on this World AIDS Day, in honor of Ajunta, here are some practical steps you can take to help hurting women:

1. Pray.

Oswald Chambers said, “Prayer does not equip us for greater works — prayer is the greater work.” Pray for exploited women as if they were your daughters, sisters, granddaughters or nieces. Ask God to open your eyes to the exploitation around you and lead you to minister in your community and across the globe.

2. Learn.

Investigate ministries in your community and around the world that are helping hurting women. Find the gaps and determine if or how you can meet those needs.

3. Go. 

Once you identify the needs, get involved! Take the first step. Visit a women’s prison. Provide a meal at a women’s shelter. Teach English to a refugee family. And don’t limit yourself to U.S. borders. Take the risk to travel overseas to hotbeds of exploitation and oppression. Serve alongside Christian workers who are striving to offer help and hope to exploited people who have yet to hear the name of Jesus.

This World AIDS Day, begin the journey to be an “ambassador of reconciliation” among those who are lost and dying. Let God rock your world with His heart for the hurting among the nations.

*Name changed.