The Darkness did not overcome it?

Okay, I have seen alcohol destory the lives of friends and families, but now I see how alcohol destroys a people. Today we traveled to a border town in Nebraska that sells alcohol to the Indians, who, by law, cannot buy or sell alcohol on the reservation. 11,000 cans of beer are sold a day between three stores. The population of the reservation is 35,000, but really, the population of the nearest parts on the reservation are closer to 17 to 18,000. So I went into one of these three stores today and it was like McBeer. There were no isles for perusing. A white man behind a counter with the all the types of beers laid out. The price chart was made from those number/letters you see on Fastfood places. This was no a liquor store. This was beer, fast-food style. 11,000 cans...18,000 people...every day and night. 50 percent of the population is under 19. When I was in this circle of ministers in the area they were talking about al-anon programs for teenagers. Teenagers. Indeed, the woman behind the counter told us how her 17 year old daughter had already been through substance abuse programs.

So we served food today outside of a Christian thrift store (where I got a cool shirt and Trivia Pursuit) and nearly everyone who came reaked of alcohol. A couple of guys at one point walked out of the alcohol store and swore at me. Being a tale white male isn't the hit of the party around here. I feel like today, as I saw the alcohol machine, I encountered the forces of evil described in Ephesians as "Kosmokrators" - cosmic powers. The evil of alcohol in this community is not simply one that leads one individual to waste a life, but one that brings down an entire nation. Many in the community and even in that dark town are hopeful that indeed, the light will overcome the darkness. Indeed, hopeful people are everywhere and I do hear a new Song, declaring the salvation of the Lakota people out of their misery. But today the full plight hit me.