It was another humbling day at the Boys' Prison. We didn't have a translator and I was muddling through some thoughts about God's plans. One young guy that has never been with us before was asking several questions about why we were there. His English was slow but we were communicating pretty well and he was passing on my replies to the rest of the group.
When we got to the always inevitable question of "Why did you come to Latvia?", I could tell my answers did not satisfy him. He was searching for another question and finally, with no sarcasm at all, asked "Why are you so good"? Talk about being shell-shocked, speechless, not knowing what to say...I was all of those and more.
What do you tell someone that sees you as maybe the 'most' good person he knows? How do you tell him that you are just a common sinner that is worse than any boy in that prison? That, but for the grace of God, you should be punished just as he is? I don't think I did the answer justice but I tried to explain we couldn't claim the title of 'good'. We were just following God and He was the one that made it possible for us to be there. The 'goodness' that he was seeing was really not us at all, but God.
I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't completely sure of everything I said. Maybe one day in the near future I can come back to that question and explain my thoughts more clearly.
Have a good week!
-Mark-
[Also, today we were asked if the Indians in Texas still wore feathers on their heads. . .John Wayne movies have done a lot to advance the ideas of Cowboys and Indians.]
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