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Global Urban Trek 2008
Loving on LepersJuly 20, 2008
On Thursday we were able to visit our teammates living in Praphadang, the leprosy community here in Bangkok.
Similar to Bible times, lepers here are pushed to the outskirts of the city and have settled there, separated from the rest of society. Because of the language barrier, none of our team has been able to explain the reason for six college students living and working there for a month.
Host families told stories of how people in the community (most non-Christian), keep asking them why a bunch of rich American young people would come live on their floors and eat their food when they could stay in a hotel. The answer is simple and it lies in the message of the Gospel.
Jesus is our example and when He came with Good News, he humbled himself and came to earth and lived among the people He was serving. So when Janet was able to explain why we are living as poor people, among lepers especially, she explained the Good News of Jesus Christ. For me, this message of Christ sounded more beautiful than ever before even though it was spoken in a language I cannot understand.
One of Janet’s prayers for us during orientation was that the people around us would encounter us and in doing so, would encounter Jesus. I really think that prayer was answered. People who don’t know about Jesus have seen what He’s about through us young people in the way I believe He has always been calling us to show Him to people. Somewhere along the way, we were the ones who changed the Gospel to accommodate our own dreams.
One man we met in the leprosy community shared with us a Thai saying: “The thinnest elephant is still stronger than the fattest mouse.” He meant that we, as educated Americans, will always have more power and privilege to affect change than a large portion of the world. After he said that, I felt like he was counting on me.
Why God gave me such a position and left him blind and disfigured is a mystery to me, but I know that I have a responsibility to not only be an advocate, but to be a friend to people who for too long have had Christians throw money at them but never touch them, never visit them, and have never been willing to live out the Gospel among them.
Leaving Praphadang, I had tons of discomforting questions running through my mind. Would it be right for me not to live like this forever? Would I ever grow closer to Jesus if I did not live among the poor and forgotten or at least concern myself with them more?
I don’t know about what God calls everyone to, but I feel like I have to live this way, among people like these, or I’m going to miss out on something.
- Jessica
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