I mean it's one thing to take advantage of the salvation that we have in Jesus personally, but what about fighting for the opportunity for others to obtain it as well?
To be honest, I find it really amazing the guts and culture of the young people who are fighting for democracy in Hong Kong under what is popularly known as the Umbrella Movement.
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| Completely unrelated to the movement - some friends and I sporting an umbrella. |
Their goal is to ensure free elections in 2017 for their next governing official, and many of them are considering the idea of traveling to Beijing on November 10 in an attempt to crash a world wide economic cooperation forum where Chinese president Xi Jinping will be hosting American president Barack Obama among other world leaders to talk about future international relations.
What Hong Kong youth want is freedom! though, and their revolution is essentially a battle of wits to see who can last the longest in standing up for their interests... the idealistic millennials who cry out for universal suffrage; or the heavy-handed government who heartlessly turns a cold shoulder to their own people's appeals.
And I'm really impressed... this type of revolution inspires me for various reasons:
For one, the protesters are peaceful, determined and intentional. For another, they make up a grass-roots movement that has arisen and been stimulated with virtually no resources or overhead supervision. It has rather been propagated by use of social media and non-violent resistance, and it is spearheaded by 2 seemingly unlikely leaders such as Joshua Wong and Alex Chow who are only 17 and 24 years old respectively.
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Who would have thought that a couple kids like this could shake up one of the world's largest cities? (it's actually ranked 46th, according to Wikipedia)...
I don't know; but if these guys are able to make such a significant impact on their city for the progress of democracy in this specific context – than I like to think that I too can fight in unconventional and significant ways for an even more important cause in my own city here in Colombia.
...A while back some friends and I went to the left-winged National University here in Bogota to give
out bread and speak about peace in the middle of the 'Plaza Che' to any student who cared to spend a few minutes discussing the teachings of a revolutionary far more important than the infamous Ernesto 'Che' Guevara.
His name is Jesus, and while Guevara's revolution is old news now compared to the Internet Revolution that took place in Cairo back in 2011 or this new Umbrella Movement that is taking place right now in Hong Kong – Jesus' teachings, authority and way of life far surpasses any other leader's movement that ever was or that ever will be in all of history.
...I fully believe that Jesus' teachings are truly worth propagating, and just like we have started to see glimpses of hope for change in dictatorial countries such as Egypt and Hong Kong (which represent far greater segments of territories deprived of religious freedom and other democratic ideals), perhaps one day these countries in the Middle East and Far East will be transformed and impacted by the gospel of Christ which is even more important than differing systems of government.
How are you going to represent the Lord in your own country and city? How can you start influencing other cities and countries as well - perhaps even in Africa, Asia and the Middle East?
Do you have the guts?
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"It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom." - Horace Greely
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