Never a dull moment. That's all I have to say...
....Okay, maybe I will say a little bit more.
It really has been an incredibly busy last few weeks for the DTS students here in Bangkok. School. Workshops. Outreach. Ministry preparation. More outreach. More school. Rugby tournament. Homework .... trying... to catch... my breath!
But we have today off, which is lovely.
I feel like I am still processing a huge amount of information at the moment. We are learning and experiencing so much. This issue of human trafficking is growing closer and closer to my heart. It's so different to actually be here working with the kids than just learning about the issue from afar. Here I am hugging them, trying to speak very awful broken Thai to them, painting their faces, learning their names (which can be a challenge in itself), and seeing where they live. It puts things in perspective. And when I am sitting across from the children on our way back to the slums on the Songthaew, I am able to catch a calm moment and quietly think. I observe the little girls giggling and singing a song in Thai that I don't understand at all (but am immensely enjoying, nevertheless), and I just think to myself - it's children just like this, isn't it? These happy, completely normal little children who are at risk to be trafficked into a life of slavery. Could that be true?
And it is true. These are the at-risk-kids. It's children just like these who are being taken, traded, and sold into trafficking rings (and even in some cases, the children themselves are running away from and voluntarily joining the sex trafficking industry). They are being taken to brothels. Exploiting. Drugged. And forced to dance on the sides of the streets, and sold for a night or sometimes an entire day for next-to-nothing. They are filmed and photographed and used for material in child pornography videos. They are abused again and again by pedifiles or people who just want to try something "new."
And it's not just sex trafficking that is an issue. Forced labor and beggar rings are just as bad and maybe even worse. The children are forced to work (sometimes on fishing boats) with no compensation. They are drugged, raped, and abused by their captors. In beggar rings, the children (and sometimes even infants) are drugged and forced to beg on the streets or sell different items. Infants are drugged so heavily sometimes they die. If the children survive, the affects of the drugs are devastating. Development is stifled and, consequently, many children sometimes suffer from mental retardation. The children live in fear and absolute confusion. Often times if the children don't bring in a certain amount of baht to their captors, they are terribly beaten.
How do you help these children? What can you do? How do you bring justice?
I don't know the answers to all these questions. But I know what the Lord has called me to do. And I am following Him, one step at time. I know I rush things sometimes (okay. Maybe most of the time). My passion sometimes passes over planning and preparation. So I know that God has a plan in place, though I don't always know the step after the one He has told me to take. And I know right now, I am to learn about the issue. Seek Him. Deal with all of my own personal "stuff." And trust His lead. He told me this is my calling, and He will "open the doors" for me. So that's what I'm praying. God, open the doors that need to be opened. And close the doors that need to be shut.
So please keep praying for me as I process these things and trust the Lord with my calling, giftings, and training. I miss you all back at home! :)
