Riding the Bus

Have you seen the "Pursuit of Happyness"? Its a great movie with Will Smith about a man who overcomes great odds to provide for his family.  In that movie there is a section of his life that he calls "riding the bus." It shows the extent of what he will do to provide for his family, as well as the hardship it takes for him to succeed. You also get the sense that because he had this experience he is a better man because of it.

How does this relate you ask? Well Jess and I were talking the other day about how our experience in Thailand also has  had a "riding the bus" effect. We often find ourselves hot, tired, annoyed at traffic, dealing with difficult people, squished, over our heads, unsure what to do next, and literally riding the bus. We ask ourselves "is it all worth it? What is the purpose of putting ourselves through this type of trying experience? Instead of riding the bus can't we just take a taxi for once? IT WOULD MAKE LIFE SO MUCH SIMPLER!!!" 

Well the other day I had a sort of revelation, while riding the bus none the less. The reason we come to a place and work with the type of people we do, the reason we ride the bus, is because that is where you see Jesus best. When you are among the masses, bumping shoulders and sweating on each other is when you finally get to the point where you need Jesus to enter your life. With out that experience I do not think I would naturally rely on Jesus. It is also where you see the faces of people that Jesus loves more then you ever could. You get to literally be Jesus to the sick and needy.

If I had not been riding the bus I would not have been riding slow enough to notice the at least 15 street prostitutes working on the side of the street. I would not have been able to have the time or want to pray for them.

So although I am a great proponent of restful experiences, I wanted to let you know that I recently have been challenged to look at the opportunity I have to be among hurting people and see what God wants me to learn from it. I hope it challenges you.

We leave in 2 weeks. Pray for us as we try to transfer back to life in NYC. Pray Jess gets a job.
Pray that we will continue to see the people God has given to us to minister too.
Pray for little Earn who got in the motorcycle accident. We found out her left side of her brain is totally dead. This makes rehabilitation much more difficult, but God is greater!