"Greater Things Have Yet to Come"

I hope everyone has heard the song "God of this City" written by Bluetree. It's a song that was written in Thailand, supposedly in the city I visited last weekend. Pattaya (the city I visited) is a city often compared to Sodom and Gomorra. Prostitutes fill every street corner, the night life is the main life, and while we were there we even found a bag full of needles floating in the ocean. Walking down the beach while I was there, I always had "God of this City" playing through my mind. This song that was written for this city seemed so fitting. He is God of that city! He is hope for the hopeless! He is light in the darkness. God has greater things for that city! As I sang, I so badly wanted to be part of what God was doing there! But what could I do? I don't know Thai. I live in Bangkok which isn't that close to Pattaya. How could God use me to help change Pattaya? Then I realized that what I am doing at GES is a small step in that direction! The students I am teaching will hopefully grow up to love God and will be able to, in their own language, make a difference in Pattaya.

God made this truth even more real to me when this week one of my students came to me after school and started asking me some really good, really hard questions. Kelly always asks lots of questions, but it's because she wants everything to make perfect sense in her head. She doesn't want to get any answers wrong, and because of this she is one of my best students. When she came to me after school she came with these same kinds of questions, but these ones were with a new sense of urgency.

"Miss Jill, how do we know God is real?"

"Miss Jill, can we believe in Buddha and in God?"

"Miss Jill, my mom and dad bow down to Buddha, but they still believe in God."

"Miss Jill, will my dad go to heaven if he believes in Buddha?"

"Miss Jill, I WANT to believe in God, but I just don't know what to do with what my family believes about Buddha."

The excitement that filled me as I did my best to answer all of her questions, was mixed with a bit of sadness knowing how hard it was going to be for this dear child to believe in the ONLY one who can save. It's not easy to believe in something, no matter how true you know it is, with no one backing you up at home. Kelly isn't the only one who asks these kinds of questions! There are so many students in my class who ask these kinds of questions every day. They want to believe! Please pray for all of them as I try to answer questions that come up. Pray that they will see that Jesus really is "THE way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him." Buddha isn't going to get them there. Pray that they will be bold enough to believe, despite what their families believe or think of them. It's going to be a hard road for these kids, but I have faith that God will bring them to himself and that they in turn will be part of the "greater things that have yet to come" in Thailand!