oh goodness. seriously. How do i write about all that's occurred in my time in Thailand so far? All that God has been doing in me and through me? Well, i'll give it a go and see how it turns out because it's high time i give an update to those who care and are praying for me and my team and Thailand. I've been suffering from some sort of writer's bloc, i swear...but here goes.
Let's go back to Chiang Mai, where i was in the north of Thailand. Our time at Abba House was such a time of blessing, encouragement, and relationship. From teaching the girls English to leading Bible studies with the guys and sharing our walks of faith (as well as cups of 3in1 coffee) with each other, i can't begin to fully describe how much God blessed our time there. My eyes have been opened to see just how strong His love is...how He can transform lives and hearts that the world has trampled and left to the dogs. I too have experienced a change in my heart, a mending, if you will, although my struggles are minimal in comparison to those of the people I have met here.
After spending a month with the wonderful men, women, and children of Abba House, my eyes have been opened to how far-reaching God's kingdom is and to the role i can play in expanding it. Oh the stories i would love to share with you in person!
But now the journey has led my team and i here to the tropical tourist island known as Phuket. (You know it's funny..i didn't even know it was such a tourist paradise destination). Now before you begin to envy me and my travels, i must say this island has quite the dark side. From the beaches of Patong to the bars of Kata, this place is known the world over for its sex industry. A woman can be bought as easily as a beer here, and it's seen as just as normal to do so. But get to know any one of these women beckoning the mostly Western tourists into the bars, and you will discover it's not the job she wants to do. Although the majority of the women seen in Phuket's open-air bars are there voluntarily, they would rather be running their own salon or designing their own line of clothing, as a few have admitted to my team and i. But with little education and limited resources, they haven't been able to see their dreams come to reality. They not only work to provide for themselves, but many have the responsibility of supporting their parents, siblings, and extended families, many of whom live in the northern more rural villages of Thailand. My heart goes out to them, especially as i see a girl no older than myself on the back of a moped with a man three times her age.
But my team and i have joined an organization here that seeks to show these women that they are not just tourist attractions that can be bought, that they are beautiful and have a value that no amount of money can buy. This organization, called SHE (Self Help and Empowerment) is unique here on this party-hard island in that it offers women vocational tranining, employment, and counseling. Our goal is to share God's love with them and to show them a way out of lives that have only dragged them through the mud.
A few nights a week, we go into the bars to speak with the women, in the hopes of developing relationships and introducing them to SHE. It's a strange sight, i am sure, to see us young women walking down streets known primarily for sex, beer and pole dancing. Even stranger to see us sitting at the bar, laughing and playing 'connect-four' with the girls. But hey, wouldn't Jesus be in the same place if He were still walking the earth as a man? I think he would be. And he asks us to be his hands and feet, to usher in his kingdom and show God's love to those who are broken...and i must say that includes the drunken men who stagger down the streets looking for love below the neon lights. Even though they anger me, these men who come from across the world to buy sex are just as desperate for something more in this life. They are just horribly misguided.
So, as my team and i are amidst our third week in Phuket, please pray for us and the work we are doing these next few weeks. Pray for the beautiful women we are reaching in the bars, for the relationships we are developing with them, that their eyes will be opened to the Light and Life that is in Christ, that their dreams can be realized. Pray for spiritual strength and protection for my team and i, for wisdom, discernment, and the power of God's love to flow through our words, actions, and smiles. And really, pray for the dark spiritual strongholds here in Phuket and in these women's lives that convinces them they are of such little value.
If there is one thing i can leave you all with, it's this: God's love is real and strong...and I can see it at work already here in Phuket.
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