Austins in Thailand

As I write this my new friends are on an airplane heading back to Seattle.  Nine member of First Free Methodist Church in Seattle traveled to Thailand to bless everyone they met.  They blessed the Thai Christians; they blessed the 120 Thai High School students to whom they taught English; they blessed my family; I would even say they blessed the elephants they rode on as they played tourist.

A couple of stories:  Judy O’Brien was helping some Thai teens make boxes out of Christmas cards.  Of course, the images on the cards prompted some questions.  One girl asked, “Why do Christians worship on Sunday.”  We answered by explaining about the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Then this same Thai girl asked, “Why do Christians sing with so much joy?”  Wow!  We then acted out an impromptu liberation skit with Jesus as the champion and the Thai girl as a slave of the enemy.  After she was freed from her pretend prision I asked, “Are you happy or sad to be free?”  She answered, “Happy.”  I then smiled at her and stated, “That’s why Christians sing with so much joy.”

On the last day most of the students and the team cried.  They fell in love and had their hearts broken for the “least of these.” 

First Church made a real difference.  They touched lives.  They proclaimed the truth with their actions and words.  They loved.  They will never be the same.

** See the pictures by following the link on the side bar!  

 

I went for a walk in Seattle the other day. I walked through a neighborhood of houses, a few selling for $900,000. Then I shopped at Costco and wondered who was buying the enormous televisions for $2790. I also noticed that even duplexes in Seattle have three car garages for all the toys.

I contrast this with my last visit to Cambodia and Thailand. In Cambodia I talked at length with a young woman who was attending the university but hadn’t eaten for two days. In Thailand a few weeks ago I visited a village in the mountains with no healthcare or educational opportunities.

What’s going on here?

The Bible seems very clear to me in passages like Isaiah 58 and the entire book of I John that we have a responsibility, an obligation, a privilege to help all in need. Our ancestors in the faith like Francis of Assisi, John Wesley and Mother Teresa were models of Biblical Christianity. Scripture and true Christians of yesterday and today challenge us. It’s an uncomfortable challenge at times. But we can not ignore the challenge. We must have a response.

Every three seconds a child dies somewhere in the world from preventable illness and malnutrition. In one year that’s equal to more than the population of Michigan (about 10 million). There’s an increase of 80 million NEW slum dwellers every year –to add to the already 700 million.

The American church has a great opportunity. We can either take, use and abuse for our entertainment and pleasure, thus storing up no treasures in heaven or we can be Biblical, do the right thing and care for the poor wherever they may be found.

John Wesley had some good things to say about these issues: First, ultimately everything belongs to God; second, resources are placed in our care to use as God sees fit; third, God desires that we use these resources to meet our necessities; fourth, Spending resources on luxuries for ourselves while others remain in need is robbing God! Wesley challenged the people of his day, and ours as well, to embrace simplicity.

Here is the challenge for all of us: Can we all live more simply so others can simply live? Can we all live in balance? Can we obey the scriptures and live radical, free, blessed lives of sacrificial giving and change the world?

 

 

 

Author’s note: names are fictional but the facts in the stories are not.

Cambodia: Last year Somkien’s husband left her with five children. Because of her poverty and lack of education she has no way to support her family. Three of her children are boys, so they can become novices at the Buddhist temple where they will receive both food and education. But what about the two girls? She can not feed them. If they were gone she could find work or a new husband. She decides to sell them.

All across South East Asia this story is replayed with various scenarios. Some parents are heartless; most have few options; either way, it’s the children who suffer. Governments can always do more and officials can easily be bought. Many factors make the buying, selling and smuggling of people the most profitable illegal business in the world today. This is the new slavery.

According to the Trafficking in Persons Report published by the US State Department in 2005 an estimated 1 million men, women and children are smuggled across borders each year. 50% of these are minors. All are destined for a life of misery.

Burma: Fourteen year old Htin-lee was bought two years ago for US $200 by a man who told her mother she would be sewing clothes to sell to tourists. Two days later, after arriving in a busy crossroads town in northern Burma, she is informed that she will not be selling clothes. Instead she will “come with a room�. When she asks what this means her owner states that business men are lonely.

We are “Free� Methodists. What is our response to this information?

In the 1860s, in America, some courageous men and women took a stand for freedom. They saw abuses in the church and spoke out against unbiblical actions of the Methodist church at the time. These people became Free Methodists. One of the freedom issues was over the issue of slavery in the United States.

Today we are faced with slavery issues again.

Thailand: Lek’s husband was involved in an accident at his work and can no longer support his family. A friend from Lek’s past, now married to a Japanese man, told Lek she could make a lot of money working in a Thai restaurant in Japan. Lek agrees to go. Her friend arranges the details and lends Lek the money for the flight. However, once arriving in Japan she realizes that she has been tricked and sold for a great deal of money.

Somkien, Htin-lee and Lek are all deeply loved by the savior. Our savior’s message is a holistic one. Christ came to set us free in every way and bring healing to individuals and society. Our savior calls us to follow him.

What can Free Methodists do? They can change their world one person at a time. For example, International Child Care Ministries gives hope to situations like Somkien’s. We can continue supporting ICCM. Our missionaries in every field are aware of the trafficking of people and are working within their sphere of influence to bring freedom to these captives. We can continue supporting our missionaries.

What else can we do? We can learn more about this situation. We can pray. We can call our churches to embrace a new abolitionism. We can ask our Superintendents, Bishops and others in authority to seek ways to combat slavery.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?�
Isaiah 58:6