Photo by Reuters
So much has happened in our 3 months in Indonesia. Not only in terms of the church plant, but we have been welcomed by a terrorist bombing in Jakarta, an earthquake (that we actually felt), and now another earthquake in Sumatra Island.
The death toll is slowly rising as more bodies are being found underneath the rubble. The 7.9-magnitude earthquake in the coastal city of Padang several days ago brought down malls, hospital, universities and houses.
I was talking with a pastor who has worked with World Vision when the Aceh tsunami hit back in 2004. It was good to get his perspective on things. He said that people are not as in shock regarding the recent earthquake disaster compared to the 2004 devastation of Aceh. When I asked why, he said that close to 200,000+ people died in Aceh and “only” a little over 1,000 people have died recently in Padang. Since the recent earthquake disaster does not measure up to the Aceh earthquake, people are just not as concerned.
It was sad to hear this but it really describes the human heart. Why is it that we “get used” to things? We first experience the shock and awe of things and then after some time we just go back to our daily lives.
But I don’t think we should ever get used to seeing people spend a Christ-less eternity. There were many people who passed away without knowing Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in this earthquake.
This puts a greater burden for our team to pray for the lost. We see so many people who are living every day without knowing Christ. May the life of one person always concern us, especially when they do not know Christ.
Please continue to pray that God will use even tragedy to draw people to His mercy and grace.