Exodus Cry.

Isaiah 58:6-9 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness."

If I had to guess, I'd say everybody who has grown up in the church or has any interaction with "justice" has heard these words before. And so many NGO's and ministries have something along these lines in their Missions Statement. But the last few nights these words have come to life, not because I've read them more, or because I received some sort of "eureka" moment in my quiet time, but because THERE ARE PROSTITUTES IN THAILAND.
Big shocker right? The first few things that come to mind when someone mentions Thailand are: jungle, rainy season, white beaches, buddhism, and of course the not-so-hidden sex-tourism that drives this country's economy.
So far I've been here for 3 weeks and until a little bit ago it seemed that prostitution was just something you only found if you really went looking for it, kinda like you have to look really hard to find a coffee shop that still uses manual espresso machines in a big city, or a surf shop in the mountains. But such is not the case here. The streets that are all but empty during the day linking the cafés and markets together suddenly become lit up like Vegas' main strip as soon as the sun goes behind the mountains.

The tuktuk drivers come out in force.

The overweight foreigner men who are all but extinct during the daylight hours suddenly appear out of nowhere.

And of course, the poor women who have no other choice but to offer themselves to those men in order to satisfy their pimps so they can pay back a little of their "debt" or have a meal the next day line the streets on bar stools wearing the least amount of clothing they possibly can.

And I, as someone who carries the Holy Spirit inside me, upon seeing something so repulsive causes a combination of emotions at the same time:

The desire to VOMIT. (My stomach feels uneasy, even as I write this.)

ANGER at the disgusting selfishness of the men, the opression of the pimps, and the entirely corrupt system.

The sensation that you get when your sinuses open and you know tears are on the way, and the only thing to do is WEEP. (Weep for the girls, the men lost so blindly in their sin, and the ease of just looking the other way or becoming numb to it rather than deal with the issue.)

So that's what life has been like here in Thailand since the euphoric stage of living in an exotic place has been like. The pit in your stomach that sits knowing that God's children are lost in their own sin. And the only comfort comes from knowing that God has things under control, somehow. So please pray with me for the girls who are oppressed, the men who are trapped by their own sexual sin, and the system that seems content to see these women only as valuable as what they can profit from their bodies.

Psalm 146:5-7 "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the captives free."

P.S. The reason why this post is titled "Exodus Cry" is because it is a website you should check out: exoduscry.com. It is a movement of modern day abolishionists and intercessors beseeching our Father to end trafficking around the world. Be sure to watch "The Mission Briefing" video and the trailer for "Nefarious."

Lessons from life on the left side of the Road

It still gets me.
I still get the little panic attack whenever the vehicle we're in goes to turn and pulls into the lane that usually would be head-on traffic!
Like many things, I'm trying to get used to how things run here. Life in Thailand is awesome in almost every way, but here are some things that the team and I are having the most fun/difficulty with:

No bags on the floor.
In Thailand it is very bad taste for your bag to be on the floor, because they assume that inside your bag is your wallet, and inside your wallet is your money, which has the King's face on it. So by setting your bag/wallet/money on the floor, you are putting the King's face on the floor. Not a good idea.

Don't point your foot at anyone.
Here they're belief is that your head is the most holy place of you body (which should also not be touched unless it is a very small child. Another big thing we're trying not to do. Seriously...next time you visit your cute little cousin or see your little brother see how long it is until you touch their head. Especially when their hug puts it right where your waist is.), and your foot by simple logic is the least holy place of your body. Makes sense; its muddy, its rainy, you sweat a lot, its kinda gross. So by pointing your foot or even worse, showing someone the bottom of your foot is just about the worst cuss word you can say to someone.

Fruit is cheap...and weird. This little dude is called a Rambutan, it looks like a little puff ball with a little white egg inside. It's tough to explain the flavor...cuz I've never had anything like it before. And the other is a dragon fruit. Named rightly so due to its color. Kinda tastes like a kiwi on the inside.

Dragon Fruit

Rice is a way of life.

Self explanatory.

All in all we're becoming pretty settled here. There are still things that are way weird or just a little off, but in all honesty I love it and feel quite at home. Hope this gives you a little taste of what the little quirks in life are like 12 hours around the world.

We definitely appreciate your prayers and random quirks about life back home. Pray for unity and picking up the language quickly so we can do more than just smile and nod and really communicate to the girls/locals the REAL reason we are here.

P.S. English classes are going well; I'll have the BHJ staff bilingual in no time ; ) but please keep those in your prayers as well.

Boats, Planes and TukTuks

I’ve ridden all three in the last few days; each has a story of its own, and each a clear sign of God having a blast showing off how awesome he is and the delight he has in his childrens’ pleasure.

View of L.A. from the Yacht

Boats - I went to Venice with the original intent of seeing friends, relaxing, having time to just be with God and read and pray, and to live on an all “PB&J” style budget, but apparently God had other plans! I still had plenty of time to relax and enjoy being away from everything and just be with God, but He also allowed me time to experience a lifestyle I’ve always seen on television and magazines, but never really up close; a life of complete wealth in money. As a wrap up from the cliffhanger in LA last week; Leonard and I ended up having crazy adventures involving everything from Malibu beach houses, driving Mercedes-Benz convertibles to a day cruise on a 70 foot Italian Yacht. But the entire time I was experiencing this life of luxury, it was as if I could see through a different lense than I would normally. Everything seemed so shallow. While the furniture, electronics and vehicles were neat, it was impossible to not feel the looming aura of boredom and dissatisfaction with everything. Although I enjoyed every minute of my time with Leonard and his boss and friends, and while we had plenty of conversations about God and beliefs and his rags to riches story and my apparent paradigm to his, one verse kept coming up in my mind: 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

 

Planes – From the moment I got out of Luke’s car at LAX, I felt completely covered and taken care of as for the traveling ahead. The flights went perfectly. I slept through most of the 13 hour flight from LA to Taipei making it seem like I flew across the Pacific Ocean in about 2 hours. (Which is a big deal considering I have never been able to sleep for more than 20 minutes on a plane, car or bus in my life!) Had a small layover in Taipei, just long enough to stretch my legs, send a quick word home and then board the plane bound for Chiang Mai. All in all, everything went perfectly according to plan!

TukTuks – The very first reaction I had to the heat, humidity, lush, exotic beauty that is known as Chiang Mai, Thailand was “This feels strangely like home in Peru!” Peru wasn’t nearly as lush and green, but just the business of cars and motorcycles, the brightly colored medians, and all around craziness of it brought me back to when I was living in Peru. After stopping at a coffee shop and hanging out with the girls on the team (minus Natalie and Caitlin), we headed to the orphanage where I got settled, showered, changed and then starting working on a couple small work projects. But the real joy of the day first came after working and sweating a whole ton and soaking through the clothes I had just changed into when it began to POUR! I absolutely love rain, but it’s infinitely better when it’s still 80 degrees and you’re already completely soaked and hot from sweating. Standing out in the cascading torrent enjoying the beauty of the moment thanking God for allowing me to be here. And then secondly, of course, was when I met the girls. I cannot describe the infinite beauty and precious details of each one to do them justice. But even though very few words were shared, I loved looking at the newspaper while Ahreeya read in Thai, the multitude of smiles and countless number of “Sawatdee kha” I received, and the random miscommunications of it all.

It has finally hit me that I’m in Thailand, and that there is real work to be done, but I never imagined it would be so blissfully pleasant.