June 19th

Yesterday during our lunch break all of us girls went on a hike; which was a beautiful hike. We walked to a huge Dao temple straight up the mountain. This temple is the headquarters for daoism in the country.  It was amazing to see, however, we all just felt the deep dark sense that came with it.   Most people here live in poverty however they go to the elaborate temple and burn "god money", incense, fruit, and much more to their idols. Many were praying and casting lots. As sad as it is to see it makes me so thankful we worship the one, true God and for the sacrifice he made by sending Jesus to die for us.  We could feel the Holy Spirit within us while we were there.  Romans 5:5 says “God has poured his love into our hearts. He did it through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given to us.” We all took turns praying which gave many of us goosebumps in the 90 degree heat. God is so good and we know one day every knee will bow and confess that He is the one, true God.

Within our culture we might not pray to our idols but we sure have them. Even though the people here have it wrong, they sure have faith in what they are doing. If they can have this much faith and go pray and worship their idols; us as believers in the one, true God can take a lesson from their faith and apply it to our lives. 

                        Getting ready to hike- You can see the temple in the background

                                                                        At the top

                                                             

                                                  They have thousands of gods they pray to

Matthew 18:20 “Where two or three gather in my name, I am there with them”

If your reading this I encourage you to take a moment and say a prayer-

We prayed for the darkness to be lifted and that Christ will shine 

-The new orphanage will have a big cross on the top that will be seen from many angles and we praised God for that.

- For the children in the home and thanked God for the opportunities they have to live with a Christian families and that they will come to know Christ

-For the children that end up going back to their families that they will have a glimpse of Christ which was shown to them at the home and bring it back to their family.

-We praised Him that we are His temple and that we don't have to have to go to an elaborate building to talk to Him.

-Ultimately we praised God for His forgiveness and the price He paid.