Light and Salt

Hey all:
Its seems like a long time since we , now Y7s, had our thanksgiving as a closure to our 2 years serving in this ministry...
I remember the first meeting we ever had, the many obstacles we had to overcome, but God had been faithful to us throughout...

Anyway since I was requested to contribute, I could share a bit of the experiences I had... out of the environment of the school; i.e. the army, where the y6 guys soon will get to enjoy.

Many a time we're placed in a comfortable environment where we can choose who we want to mix with, and how we want to do our life.... I guess many a time we tend to stick to each other and not really talk to people we don't really talk with. But in that case, it leads to the problem, we don't talk to people when they need us to show the love of Christ, we have so to speak, "hidden the light under a bowl", since Jesus did call us to be the light of the world(Matt 5:13-16) .

In the army, its a different ball game all together. One will get thrown into an environment, where we do not choose who we want to work with, we simply are made to be with people we might not want to work with or be with. I have met smokers, atheists who really hate God, and much more. But I guess as a Christian , we still need to learn to love them the way Christ did. I must confess that it is something i find it really hard to do... especially when I met people who did nothing but try to agitate me, swear at me, and people who cursed at God.

Another calling we have as Christians, is to be the salt of the earth. I have met countless number of people professing to be Christians/Catholics etc. Yet when you look at them, you see no difference between them and the world. They swear, they engage in idle immoral talk, they make lewd jokes... Even more so in the army, where there is a pressure to follow the crowd, where it is considered weird, even to the extent of "not being man" if you don't laugh at the lewd jokes, sing the vulgar songs, and 'join the crowd' basically... In time to come, many of us would be placed in a situation where we will be under pressure to do what is not correct in the sight of God.

I also remember a time where I trying to talk about God, and the reaction from most (even the 'Christians') was this:

Don't talk about religion, its taboo, let people be what they want to be.

Many of you might have also heard something like this:

I love my friend, I don't want to make him uncomfortable, so I wont talk to him about God...

But if the person really did love his friend, he would want to make sure he was saved...

Essentially, I guess you'll get the gist of it, as Christians we need to be different. We cannot 'lose our saltiness' under pressure. Just because the whole world does something immoral, doesn't we should follow. Just because by sharing the gospel, we're seen as freaks, doesn't mean we should stop sharing the gospel.

Finally I have one other thing to share... John Wesley once said something like this:

I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.

I guess, no matter where we maybe, we must always be ministers for God. For me in the army BMT, I managed to find a group of Christian brothers to meet every night to share and pray for one another. I've also managed to talk to a friend and encourage him in his walk for God. I have also been ministered to by other brothers who sat down to talk and pray for me when i was feeling down and upset in camp. I guess, I thank God for providing all these for me and being so faithful. And I also believe that "God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."(Phil 4:19), as long as we remain faithful in our walk in Him, no matter what the circumstances.

In His Love
Emil