Susan LaffertyAltars marked the path of Abraham. God said go and he obeyed. He moved his tent to the next place, built an altar and worshiped. Altars marked his encounters with a holy God, a covenant-making God. Some marked sacrifice and absolute surrender—holding nothing back from the One who called his name.
As we moved our “tent” across the world and established home in the temporary place, I thought of Abraham and Sarah. I drew strength from their journey to a place they did not know.
Oppression runs rampant in our world today. Trampling the poor. Persecuting the faithful. Trafficking the helpless. Destroying innocence. It’s splashed across screens here in America and on the other side of the world.
I’ve looked into the eyes of those caught in this evil. Devastated by it. I’ve heard their stories. I know those in the thick of trying to reach and rescue and rehabilitate and restore. It’s no simple task. No quick “glory story.” It’s hard and messy.
The gospel is the only answer. This I know with all my heart.
But some days it feels like darkness is winning.
The early 1960s in Indonesia were years of political upheaval. The Communist party was strong and growing in power. There were protest marches in our city against Malaysia and against the British.
I remember the air raid drills in Surabaya when I was 4 or 5 years old. The siren would blow and every light had to be turned off. We sat in the dark until the siren blew again. If it happened during dinner time, Mom put a sock over a flashlight and fed my baby brother by its faint glow.