Thoughts on Freedom

(Written Wednesday Night)
How do you free someone who doesn't want freedom? That's the problem we spent the afternoon discussing today.
Many people talk about rescuing the girls involved in the sex trade or the bars here in Thailand. There is research on it, foundations dedicated to it, and plenty of organizations dedicated to raising awareness about and money to fight the sex trade. But what good do they do? After talking to Rodney and Phimpha about it, it sounds like nothing worthwhile is being done.
Part of this is because of corruption and greed. Phimpha calls it using the "pity stories". If you tell enough people about girls who have been trafficked or forced into prostitution, you can fill them with pity and they will donate money. Then you can buy yourself a new car or a better house or nice clothes. If you tell your donors that you are going to build a house for girls rescued from the bars, you can get the hardware store to write up a fake bill that says they charged more than you actually owe. Then you can keep the extra for yourself. It is too costly to actually make a difference when fighting the sex trade: you have to commit to work with the girls long term, you must set up aftercare programs or live with them full time. You will not get paid much, and you will spend all that you have. And who would want to do that?
Another problem is the danger. Say you did find someone who was willing to put in the time, effort, and money to try to fight trafficking. If they started to make a difference, chances are they'd end up dead. Corruption is the norm in this country. Most of what happens in the bars here is "illegal", but so many of the police officers and government workers are involved in all the shady business that no one is going to do anything about it. Rodney told me about a place where they used to live that was right next to a karaoke bar. They were talking to the police about it one day because it was illegal: it was not registered or licensed, and there was more than just drinking and karaoke going on...Anyway, the police officers said very politely that they were sorry, they just couldn't do anything about it. Turns out, the bar was owned by the chief of police. If you fight them, they will kill you. There is no incentive to follow the law because most of the time there is no consequence if you are found breaking it.
Finally, we come to the question that I asked at the beginning: how do you rescue someone who does not want to be rescued? Most of the girls involved in the sex trade in Thailand began working in the bars at the age of 12 or 13. Once they have been in the business for several years, many realize that having sex is an easy way to make money. They stop valuing their bodies because they have learned not to care about what men do to them. If they are taken out of the bars ("rescued") and taught a trade, they might be able to make some money. But the amount they make in a day or a week pales in comparison to what they could make in a half hour back in the bars. So why stay away from the bars? If you care more about money than you do about your body, there is no reason to stay away. So once a girl is "rescued", she more than likely will find her way back to the very job that she was rescued from.
So how do we free these children? How do we fight the greed and corruption and lies? How do we teach girls that they are valuable when their entire culture says they are not? How can we bring perpetrators to justice when the workers in the "justice system" also own the bars? I keep thinking of the verse "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free," (John 8:32). We need to get these people to understand the truth--the truth about God's love and the truth about their own worth. We need to change the entire culture. Only then can we truly set these children free.

Wow---it's February already!

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long between updates! Life has been pretty darn busy here these days. Right now I am sitting in the middle of the forest at a research center that has free wifi...unfortunately the Internet is down so I can't check my email, but it's raining so I don't want to try to drive home on the moterbike. SO I figure I might as well write an update since I'm stuck here anyway! :)
As you might imagine, a lot has happened since I last wrote to you in January! I will do my best to fit most of it into a readable update and not bore you too much!
One neat opportunity we had last month was helping out at an English camp at a nearby school. This camp was a one-week thing they put on for 6th graders and 9th graders because these grades take standardized English tests at the end of the year. Since Rodney and I are native English speakers, we were asked to come and help out. It was a lot of fun! Most of the time we would just read the English parts of the lesson so that the kids could hear how words were pronounced, but we also did a bit of teaching about grammar, etc. It was a good chance to meet a bunch of people in the area as well--one of the days I got to play basketball at the school and I hung out with the 6th graders during their lunchbreak a couple days. Lots of fun! We visit our pastor friend in that area a lot, and every time we drive by the school there are students who recognize us and wave :) We were also able to build relationships with some of the teachers there, which has been good. Just last week we went over to the school to pray with one of the teachers who has been having some family and financial trouble. It is cool to see how God can use something like a local English camp to get people interested in Him!
With the Australians gone, I did a lot of helping out around the house during most of January. Dang and Anun (The Thai couple that works with us) took a week off near the end of the month, so there was a lot to do! There were a couple days that week where I stayed home with just the two year olds and the disabled guy that we take care of. Interesting seeing firsthand what it takes to take care of them every day! I have a lot more appreciation for Dang (The Thai lady) now that I can really see how much she does every day! Now that they are back from their vacation, though, I have done a lot of travelling around with Phimpha and Rodney, which I always enjoy. Phimpha is always busy visiting someone or going to meetings or working with the ladies' ministry or the church, so there is always something to be done!
Another change that happened just two weeks ago is that Rodney fell and sprained his ankle pretty badly. This has kept him out of a lot of the action for the past couple weeks, but he is finally improving to the point where he will probably be back to normal in a few days. (That is a cool story in and of itself---when he fell, he was sure the foot was broken, and when they went to the hospital the first x-ray showed a break. They needed to x-ray it again to be able to treat it, and everyone was praying for it at that point....The next x-ray showed no break! Sounds like a God moment to me....)
God has been doing some pretty neat things lately here, though it's hard to describe everything that's going on. A couple weeks ago, Phimpha and I went to a worship service/prayer meeting at another church and there was a pastor from California who was speaking about the fact that God wants to see a revival happen in Thailand. He believes that it's going to start with the women, and then the men will catch on and help to lead it. He has been staying with us for a bit over a week now, and has been teaching at pastors' meetings and at the ladies' group that Phimpha leads. Seems like God is preparing a lot of people in Thailand to do some big things....a lot of change needs to happen in the church in order for them to be more effective in reaching out to the community. And maybe this is the time when it will happen! Only time will tell, but I think God has big plans even though we don't know what they are yet! Exciting, huh?
Well this is getting pretty long, but I'd like to ask for prayer before I end! Please pray for some English classes that we are starting up! (I think I already mentioned them---the ones on Saturdays and Sundays) Also, prayer for Rodney's ankle would be appreciated, and also that we would clearly see God's leading in this revival--that we would know what our part in it is!
That's about it! Thinking of you all and praying for you! :)

Hello everyone!
I do not have time to write a full update now, but I just wanted to throw a note up here to let you all know that I am in fact still alive and in Thailand...just in case you were wondering ;)
we start English classes this week at a local church, and we are always busy with meetings and helping people out. Also, we might have three more girls come to live with us soon! We will probably find out tomorrow.
Well, gotta run! I will try very hard to update you soon.
Hope you are all doing well! As always, any prayers are appreciated.