Change is a comin

This is something that has been on my heart over this past week, and it's something that I believe if we grow to adopt to have priority in our own lives than we would begin to see the world change. I want to start by telling you about this beautiful daughter of the King of Kings, that has left a huge imprint on my heart. She was one of the original seven girls at Eden House, when Vern and Audrey first started this ministry. So she has been and seen it all from the beginning. And I have had the privilege to spend some time recently with her, while she is home from university, and our conversations have been so full of the Spirit and eye opening for me, that I can't help but share.

She was born in the Northern Hill tribes of Thailand, and a huge percentage of these people are not even accepted as Thai citizens. Which means they will never be able to own land, drive a car, or get an education past the 9th grade to say the least. These people are ostracized and neglected. Having this assumption about them makes life that much harder for these people who already have many things against them. Injustice, corruption, and evil found their way into these areas, because of lack of opportunity and education.

I asked her about her life at Eden House, and when talking about her time here, her voice is filled with so much thankfulness and gratitude. She explained to me that if she hadn't come to live at Eden House, she probably would have had to get married at a young age and start having children. She also said that the risk of something very bad happening to her would have also been high. The knowledge that her future would have not been the same is something very real to her. And as I listen to her story, I think of all the girls that have never been given the chance of this opportunity, and my heart aches. Then she says something to me so raw and captivating that I almost want to start crying. She says, "If you treat people as they are, they will remain as they are, but if you treat them for what they could be, they will become what they can be". And as I heard the words, the symbolism in that moment almost overwhelmed me. Here is this beautiful woman, who from birth was dealt a card of hardship, who had the opportunity for someone to come into her life and tell her she could be more. And look at her, she is in University, about to graduate, and have a life outside of forced marriage, prostitution, or slavery. That in and of itself is so beautiful, that I could just weep because of God's glory in it. And then she has the wisdom to grasp a concept that a lot of people have not grown to understand. So I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up, and at first she says, "I don't know." But then I say, at the end of your life, you could stand before your Maker happy and fulfilled because of doing......what?" And she then said, "I want to help people see that they can be more and realize what they could do." And at that I felt like my soul was about to burst into happiness. The world WILL change! If we start seeing the potential in people instead of what society says about them. The world WILL change if people are given affirmation about how Christ sees them. The world WILL change if we choose to sacrifice self for the progress of others. It will change. Her story has pulled the strings of my soul into action beyond what I even think is capable, and it's something that if we accept as priority I believe our Maker will smile down on us. A famous man once said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." And I would say, "The people will change, if you see them as changed." God is working. My perspective is changing. And through it all, God is good.