If you have been following any of my posts, pictures, or heard from me this month, you know that Thailand is quickly becoming one of my favorite places on the race. Though our pictures may look like mostly fun and games (not a lot about Unsung Heroes lends itself to the typical ministry photo ops), The Lord is doing major work here. I love our ministry this month, seeking out, encouraging, and serving alongside existing ministries in Chiang Mai. I love the friends I have made here in the city. I love the pulsing vibrancy to life here – it invigorates me. I have (half) purple hair. I can use chopsticks in noodles, soup, and rice. I can catch a Songtaow (red taxi truck) or Tuk-Tuk (glorified, multi-passenger go-kart) and somewhat successfully tell them where I need to go. I have not crashed and burned as the UH Leader for my team. I have eaten a bug, squid, and mystery meat on a stick. I can say hello, thank you, and a few random numbers in Thai. I feel bold here. I feel alive here.
So many people have so many things to say about my time here. How easy would it be to let these things define me? How easy would it be to let others define me because of these things?
Identity theft is something we are ALL a victim of. We let the enemy lie to us and tell us what we are worth. We let the world judge us and define us. We count our “likes” (or even our blog views) on social media to determine how important we are. We put our identity into the wrong hands, and it is taken from us.
Thailand is a country fraught with identity theft (and not just the “be careful which ATM you use” kind). In fact, just short of the grand ol’ U.S. Of A., I’d say it’s probably a leading country for identity theft. The country and people of Thailand let so many things define them.
To be Thai is to be Buddhist.
Children are expendable.
Teenagers are a lost cause.
Daughters are only worthy of selling themselves in the bars.
Sons will most likely go to jail.
You must save face at any and all cost.
You are not a man unless you have been with a woman.
If others don’t think you are worthy and beautiful, you are not.
Oh, Thailand how my heart breaks for you. How the Father’s heart breaks for you.
He is weeping for this nation because you are listening to and believing LIES. You have allowed the enemy to steal your identity and tell you that you are worth nothing! Why do 90% of girls rescued from bars return to them? Because they believe that is all they are worth. Why have 90% of Thai men been with a prostitute at least once? Because that’s what the enemy tells them they must do. Why are 98% of these people blindly following Buddhist teachings? Because they must fit in to the culture the enemy has established. Marriages are broken. Image is everything. People live in ignorance, ignoring the beautiful truth in front of them.
Thailand, take your identity back.
Then put it into the Lord’s hands.
He is the only one who can define us. We are worthy because He says we are worthy. He died…chose to DIE painfully and brutally…because He knew that you are worthy. I have experienced God’s heart for this country, and it is one of passionate, desperate, and healing love. He yearns for the people of Thailand to turn to Him. He is broken for the under-representation of the Thai people in heaven.
During an intercession (prayer time) for Thailand, the Spirit showed me that God is declaring Isaiah 61 and 62 over this country. His believers and missionaries here are the Oaks of Righteousness, and for Thailand’s sake God will not keep silent. He has called her Desired and Sought After.
God is fighting for Thailand.
He wants her identity.
Fight with Him. Pray for the people of Thailand. Pray for the missionaries and believers here. Pray Thailand will see her true identity – the identity that can only and always be found in Christ Jesus.
“The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.”
(?Isaiah? ?62?:?2-4? ESV)
