Overcome Evil with Good

I don’t know if this has something to do with having many male teammates and having just watched Batman Begins or if this is something God is wanting me to focus on (perhaps both), but I have recently been struck by Romans 12:21 when Paul says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  I’ve been dwelling on the reality of both good and evil in the world and questioning my role in that duality. 

Having just returned from a rejuvenating retreat in Kampala, I thought I’d enter Mundri Town ready to dig deep into the mire of broken systems, sin, sickness, and poverty.  Unfortunately, I had forgotten just how deep these pits are, and how much I hate to get my fingers dirty.  Early our first morning back, our team was called to drive a laboring woman to the clinic.  The baby ended up dying and the woman was driven to the hospital to receive further care.  Sadly, this is a way of life in S. Sudan.  I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve stayed awake listening to the monotonous beating of a funeral drum at a nearby compound.  It quickly becomes background noise, like chirping crickets or scraping tree branches along the roof of my tukul. 

My sense of futility here in S. Sudan has been stronger than ever, and I don’t know if it will ever completely dissipate.  However, I have found hope in God’s word, as it exhorts me to continually show love, despite all circumstances, in the pursuit of all that is good.  Romans 12 reads,

Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good… be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality… Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 

I have seen so much love since I’ve returned to Mundri.  Our neighbors greet us with open arms and invite us into their homes for a meal.  The teachers at Kotobi smile from ear to ear and joke with us like we are old friends.  My friends in town sit beside me, wanting to hear EVERYTHING about my time in Kampala.  People are still offering puppies to Gaby and Liana, who lost their dog over a month ago.  The people in Mundri know pain.  They know sadness and destruction and still choose love everyday.  They trust that the Lord will bring them out of the mire and they keep on moving.  Maybe that is how evil is defeated—simply by clinging to Good in the face of evil.    

The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

-Romans 13:12