Compared to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, Thailand has been a pretty big culture shock. First of all, the 12 hour time change rocked my world. I couldn’t fall asleep at night but at lunch time I could barely keep my eyes open. On the plane they woke us up at 2am for a meal and I don’t even know what meal they were trying to serve me. Another part of the culture shock is how the Thai people view us as foreigners, especially being foreigners in a city that has so much tourism, like Phuket. One of the girls that has been in Thailand for several months told us that the Thai people don’t really like us to pick up their children because they assume that the reason any foreigner is here is to be on vacation and when you are close to the city of Patong that means that you are usually participating in the sex industry there. When I first heard this I was really angry. I didn’t think it was fair for people to judge me because I am a white foreigner. I was also angry with the people who come here who have now affected my reputation and how people look at me.
This feeling of being judged by those around me has come up in other ways too. On Bangla Road, where all of the bars are, there are people who stand in the street and promote the bars. When they approach us and we tell them we aren’t drinking or interested in going to party they are always really confused. It used to bother me that people were constantly making assumptions that I was Phuket to drink and go to strip clubs. Then I realized how ridiculous I was being. The people want me to come to their bars because that’s their job and most of the people who come to Phuket are there to go to bars. The assumptions they were making were valid based on the circumstances. If anything, it’s sad that people haven’t felt love from the people who visit Patong. The more I think about it the more I realize that this is another part of living for God. The Bible has many stories about people sacrificing what they want for God. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, Esther risked her life to save her people, and Jesus gave everything for us because God asked him to and because he loved us. Like these people, God is with me too and I can give up my self-image for God so he can work through me.
God appointed my team to be here and we are supposed to give up everything for him. That also means putting God’s work for us before our self-image, how people think of us, and our reputation. It means putting loving others the way God wants us to love them before what we think is best for us. If I place how people see me above being the person that God created me to be then I’m not dying to self. God wants all of us and the more we give to him the more he will use us. How much of your life have you been giving to God? Up until now, I know I’ve been giving him parts of my life, but not all of my life. I hope that in this next year I learn about how I can give everything to God and I know I will see great things come from that.
