This morning we went to the boarder of Thailand and Burma to pray over the area and meet the people. It's a broken community with the highest sex trafficking rate and illegal drug use in Thailand. There is a small river that divides Thailand and Burma. People go back and forth all day long.
Each night as it gets dark boats and trucks full of young girls cross the boarder and are forced into having sex with older men. We know it's going on, so why can't we stop it? It's because the police are often involved and play a large part in getting the girls involved. Sick, right?
As we walked up and down the river a sense of heaviness filled the space. Vendors lined the area with their own stands. They were selling cigarettes and disturbing sex toys. They offered them to us, but we were told not to look them in they eye. Instead as I walked by I prayed that God would fill this place. He did.
Myo was our guide through the area. Five years ago Myo participated in all the illegal activity on the boarder. One day he was laying down on a bench intoxicated when a group of missionaries approached him. For several days after that they invested in him and shared the love of God with him. In Myo's words, "I was born again right over there on that bench. God saved my life."
Myo serves God in every aspect of his life. He's started schools, shared the gospel, and made a huge difference through prayer and dedication in his area and for his people. He's full of knowledge and loves the Lord with every fiber of his being.
I was walking alone with Myo ahead of the group. We were talking about school, and the plans I had for my life. He suddenly stopped, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Bethany, I have a gift for you. I want to give you a key. I want you to use this Key to open every door you possibly can. I want you to open the doors that will lead you to Jesus and to his people." My eyes filled with tears and I hugged him.
As we were about to load back in the car we prayed over Myo. We asked him how we could pray for him……. he didn't hesitate for a second and said, "don't pray for me. Pray for my people."
His humble spirit and strong desire to touch his people with the Love of Christ brought me back to a message I shared at a children's home yesterday.
"If I could speak all the languages of the earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love on others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
You see, Myo loves his people. He posses all the qualities that believers do, and shares the gifts that God has given him. But Myo is not jealous of the people that have more than him, or prideful of the things he does have. Myo loves with his whole heart. He loves his people because they were made in God's image. He loves the men who sell girls into sex slavery right by his house. He chooses to love the people who sell illegal drugs and make his community violent. He loves because his God first loved him……. the same Myo that was laying on the bench living a life of sin…….until a group of missionaries came along and decided to LOVE him……….
Love your people today. Love them even if you don't want to. Love them because the same God that made you, made them. You don't need any other reason than that.
