Week 1 - Discovery sans Voyeurism

I have been in Bangkok nearly a week. Last Saturday was Boston to Chicago to Tokyo to Bangkok. Immediately off the plane, we were welcomed by our hosts Ezra and Hannah (not their actual names). They have been in Bangkok for several months now. The accomodations are simple and spacious. As the lone single male, I was given my own space on the third floor landing along with my own restroom. My floor mates, Jeff and Emily, are married and the other two servant team members, Melanie and Bethany, stay on the floor below.

The primary purpose to this past week has been discovery. Indeed, discovery of discovery, inasmuch as that is the phase in which Ezra and Hannah find themselves. They are searching for unique places God can use them. There are many parachurch organizations in Bangkok, but the needs here are legion and the ground is rocky. God has led our hosts to the red light districts, ministering among the bar girls and particularly to the families of immigrant beggers whose children are considered at risk to become entangled in the rampant prostitution industry. Ezra and Hannah have also been partnering with local churches in other areas of outreach.

As we learn about our hosts' ministry opportunities, we also have been immersed in studying the Thai language. On our second full day in Thailand, Ezra began teaching us. Our primary focus for this first month will be learning Thai during three hour lessons every day. This will be the basis for our ministry in the red light district, particularly for the girls since Ezra, Jeff, and I will be focusing our outreach toward the Western male tourists in those areas. Still, it will be an important resource for everyone on the team as we build relationships with our Thai neighbors and others with whom we will come in contact.

Concurrent with our language studies, we have been charged with teaching English in three different forums in partnership with a local church. The first is a Christian club at a local university and the students are current university students or recent graduates. The second is an outreach center near the Klong Toei slum and the students are children and young adults from the surrounding community. Both of these are weekly--Wednesday and Saturday--and have each had their first session over the last week. The third is a day camp for students and will take place over two weeks in mid October.

Gospel work among the poor has a distinctly romantic tone when you are sitting in a Boston cafe or a Dallas bar. Actually being here in Bangkok has muddied the water. The needs are enough to overwhelm the saintliest person and it is difficult to discern how one plays a part in God's sovereign will over a time as brief as four months, of which one sixteenth has already past. At these moments, the practice of knowing nothing but Christ and him crucified is paramount. That's where the work gets done, not individually, but as the sacred Body of Christ. This is why work done outside of Christ, however earnest, is essentially fruitless. It is, in fact, a double sin of tainted compassion and demonic presumption. Only as the gathered body of Christ can we do the work of the One who sent Him: redemption of the whole world, soul and body.

"Only a steel man came to recover...Only a real man can be a lover." - Sufjan Stevens

Prayer Requests:

--That I would be given the true gift of tongues. Thai is hard and I am embarrassed to use the little I know. Pray that I would work hard at learning it and be bold to use it.

--That we would be effective English teachers. Teaching English is also hard and I have no experience doing it. Pray that we, as a team, would work diligently at this task. It has the potential to develop important ministerial connections for Ezra and Hannah, who will continue working long after we're gone, and to establish a new, vital educational resource in one of Bangkok's poorest areas.

--That the Spirit would continue to pour love into my heart. I am, by nature, an uncompassionate wretch. But, in Christ, I can become a conduit for God's love. If I let my eyes stray for even a moment from the Cross and its call, I will fall flat. Pray for my fixed gaze.