Bangkok is one of my favorite cities so far. The people, culture, city, travel, etc…are all so different that it simply amazes me. Thailand is nicknamed the country of “Smiles” and how true it is. Everywhere you look there are smiling people.
We had a temple tour today in which we took every form of public transportation possible and rode all around the city visiting the Buddhist temples. It was certainly an education as I did not realize the hold that religion has on Thailand. Statistics say that 94% of the people in this country are Buddhists. 94%? That is an awful lot of people believing in karma, spirits, and merits/demerits. As we toured we were led to pray for the strongholds that grip the people here and for God’s glory to be revealed to them.
It was a hard day to watch all the devout people praying and offering their meager wages to a statue. As I rode home on the bus I found myself sitting alone next to the window as Bangkok streamed by outside. People everywhere, going about their daily lives in a city that is so gripped by the sex industry, poverty, and misconceived religious ideals. I propped my arm against the open window and just began to pray as the city sped by. I was listening to my ipod and Matt Redman’s song “All Over the World” was playing loudly in my ear.
I cried out silently to my Abba Father. How can we reach all these people? See that one, God? The little lady hurrying home with her groceries? How about that one, the man talking on his cell phone? How about that man there who ducked quickly into a “massage parlor?” How can we tell them?
I found myself weeping for the people of Thailand. The people who are trying so hard to achieve Nirvana and make sure they continue to have more merits than demerits, the people who smile on the outside. What is going on inside? The weeping turned to intense praying for this country, this city, these beautiful people. God spoke quietly through the tears. LOVE THEM. Don’t just pray for them and leave, but truly love them. Serve them, smile back at them, boldly speak the Word of God to them.
I don’t want to be one who just watches the city pass by while I am on a bus. I want to be one who reaches them. One who brings them the Good News! Paul is so clear in Romans that if we don’t tell them, who will?
“How, then, can they call
on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the
one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone
preaching to them?” Romans 10:14
