Sunday, May 31, 2009

hinduism

I can't believe we only have a couple more days in Bali.  Tomorrow we have the day off....I'm excited.  I can't complain though.  We have spent the past few days at the beach.  The mornings were spent doing beach evangelism (i.e. talking to local vendors and tourists).  Both days I ended up talking to Balinese Hindu women that were selling things to the tourists (and when I mean selling, I mean attacking =))  I asked them many questions about their beliefs while at the same time trying to be bold and share my beliefs.  It's hard though.  There is nothing in these women that think they need to change their religion.  What's even harder is that even though they believe/worship many gods, they still claim it is only one god, just like Christianity.  I asked why they are constantly giving offerings to their gods and she said for good luck.  She went on to compare Hindu offerings to a Christian going to church and singing songs to God.  I told her the reason we worship and praise is out of sincere love and adoration.  We love the way He has worked in our lives.  She responded by saying they love their god too.  It is SO HARD because although we know Christianity is SO different from Hinduism, they think it is very similar.  Defending your faith is not easy.  I just want them to understand and it's hard not to get frustrated.  The one thing that is so different between the 2 religions is that Christianity is all about LOVE and FREEDOM.  I had to rush out of this conversation because it was time to meet the team.  As I left I looked at her and said this one thing, 'you do NOT have to work for your God.  Jesus came and died for you to set you free from rules and giving sacrifices.'  I don't know if she understood because her english was very broken but my prayer is that something stirred in her.  Hopefully something in that conversation brought her a step closer to knowing Jesus.  I want these women to know that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for them already.   I want them to know that God is a God of love who desires what is best for us.  My prayer is that they would come to know this, whether it be through dreams, people, creation, or whatever!  I believe He is working but Indonesia needs prayer.  

1 comment:

  1. hey katy!yes,wat u've said to that Indonesian lady does haf an impact..it mite not look like a big impact..but by what u did,God used u to plant God's seed in her..just by sharing wif her bout ur faith in God and christiany.She may think it's similar,no difference,so why shud she bother so much?but the point is,God used u to meet her,to talk to her and DID plant God's seed in her.. =) who knws,next time sumwhr in her life she meets othr Christians and do experience God's love and that seed u planted for God GROWS.amazing! =)

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