Disappearance of Junior Thai Football Team
The attention of the whole world has been captured by the plight of 12 young footballers and their coach who are trapped in underground caves in Thailand.
News of the disappearance of the boys first emerged on Saturday 23rd June. Although they were known to be in the cave, because their bicycles where found outside the entrance, nobody knew exactly where they were located in the cave complex that stretches for more than five miles.
Extensive efforts were made to locate the boys, involving Thai navy divers, army personnel and caving experts from abroad, including Britain. For nine long days the search continued while the boys’ families waited outside the mouth of the cave, hoping against hope that the boys would be found alive and in good health.
Good News Discovery
Finally, the hopes and prayers of the families and many other concerned people around the world were answered on Monday, when the boys were found by two British cavers.
There was great rejoicing at the news but there was concern also because the flooding that had trapped the team in the first place meant that only trained and experienced divers could make the journey from the cave entrance to where the boys were trapped.
At the time of writing there is still no assured plan to bring the boys home safely although a number of possible options are being considered, including training the boys to use scuba diving equipment, waiting for months until the water recedes naturally and searching for alternative access points into the cavern where the boys are trapped.
Extraordinary Efforts on Behalf of the Boys
What is so extraordinary about this whole incident is the worldwide interest it has generated and the hundreds of people who are actively involved with the rescue. As well as the navy divers and army personnel, there are now road engineers, water pumping specialists, even bird watchers who are expert at locating hidden holes in the ground that could possibly lead down into the caves. The specialists are supported by many volunteers who are helping, for example, by providing food and water.
One volunteer is reported as saying, “I don’t know any of them but I consider the boys in the cave are my brothers”.
Contrasting Circumstances
It’s difficult to read this good news story without contrasting it with the many other circumstances around the world today where people of all ages are losing their lives whilst desperately seeking asylum in other countries, or where whole populations are being denied food and medical supplies because they happen to be caught up in conflict that is none of their doing, or people who are being trafficked into slavery or hooked on drugs or any number of other desperate man-made plights that lead to loss of lives.
Right in the beginning of the bible, in the first book of Genesis (the beginning of all things), the man Cain is challenged by God as to the whereabouts of his brother Abel, whom he had just killed. In his reply, Cain says, “I don’t know, am I my brother’s keeper?” We all need to consider that same question in regard to our attitude toward the welfare of others.
The bible tells us to love our neighbour as much as we love ourselves and the bible is equally clear that “our neighbour” includes everyone – those we like and those we don’t like, those who agree with us and those who disagree, those who are our friends and those who are our enemies.
Many people ask why God allows so much evil in the world when He has the power to control it. A better question might by why God is so patient with mankind that is responsible for so many of the atrocities.
We are all Accountable to God
The fact is that God delays only because of His patience and not because He doesn’t care. Far from it, the day is coming when we must all give an account before God for everything we have done in this life and then we will have to face the consequences.
Again in the first book of the bible, the words of God are recorded, “For your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man.”
Thankfully, God has made provision whereby anybody, no matter what they have done, can be made right with Him, and that is something that every one of us needs.
In a sense, it is easy because God offers forgiveness as a free gift but at the same time it is costly and it can be tough because what God requires of us is to surrender our lives fully to Him and to start living them His way. Not everyone wants to do that and it is a personal choice for each of us.
However, just imagine what a wonderful place this world would be if everyone chose to go God’s way instead of our own way.
