Buddhism! Human Trafficking! This religion and business can define a majority of Thai people. 94% of Thailand is Buddhist and over 2 million Thais are engaged in the sex industry in one capacity or another.
But these things seem so different from each other. Buddhism is a religion that worships Buddha, seeking to do good to receive good karma with a hope of achieving enlightenment while human trafficking is an evil industry which exploits women to make money. Yet, this month working in Chiang Mai, talking with monks and bar girls, the Lord has been showing the huge connection between these two entities and how they have spread a dark spirit over this land. It is the spirit of EMPTINESS.
In many conversations with different bar girls, there is a common thread in all of them, a drive to be empty. Every night they sell their bodies, trying to convince men to buy them for a night. When the girls are talking to a client they seem happy and overly flirty but as soon as that man passes or leaves the bar, the girls attitude takes a 180 turn. She becomes sad, disappointed and often heads to the bar to get a drink. In those moments you see what the girls are really feeling. Rejection, low self worth, sadness, depression. They use different vices to empty themselves so they don’t have to feel these emotions. I remember walking through the streets of the red light district in Amsterdam and looking into the girls eyes and seeing nothing. They all gave off a blank, dead stare, an EMPTY stare and the similarities of Thai prostitutes is overwhelming. These girls have no hope of something better to come, no hope that there is someone is taking care of them or watching out for them. With no hope they try to fill the void so they don’t feel the pain and frustrations that surrounds them.
Now Buddhism….In Buddhist, the ultimate goal is to achieve the state of enlightenment. After talking to a couple of monks about Buddhism and what they believe, I have found that achieving enlightenment is completely emptying oneself of everything. Monks meditate each day and spend their time trying to empty themselves of every human emotion, thought, action etc to become truly empty and that is when you become enlightened. I look at this religion and pain fills my heart. How could you want to be empty? How could you want to feel completely stripped of any human emotion? I think this idea of emptiness is so foreign to me for two reasons. In American society we are always looking for something to fill up the void in our lives, whether it is alcohol, men, drugs or work. People are constantly looking for the thing to make their lives worth something, to give them value and Buddhism calls people to do the exact opposite. It calls people to strive to empty themselves instead of try to fill a void we all have.
But more importantly, my confusion comes more from Christian perspective. as a Christian we are constantly asking the Lord to fill us up.
Romans 15:13 says May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy spirit.
The Lord fills us up everyday with his love, joy and peace that we may overflow and begin to fill the people around us. But the things that he fills us with is not something that can easily be emptied. I see it like this sticky liquid which is impossible to ignore and get rid of. It is something that can fill the emptiness that so many of the Thai people feel on a daily basis. So as I have encountered a variety of people this month my prayer has been that I overflow God’s love and joy into their lives, that they may begin to experience what true love really is. We can be an example of true love that never leaves us or forsakes us, we can bring hope into peoples lives, showing them there is more to life than seeking emptiness.
As I have been learning this in Thailand, I am also realizing this is not something that I can use just in Thailand but where ever I go. People all over the world are looking for ways to feel the void in their life that only God can fill. They use different methods but it all comes down to the same quest, to fill what is missing. In the great commission, Jesus called us to go make disciples of all nations and I think this is a good place to start. To strive to allow the love, grace and joy the Lord has filled us with to overflow into others lives, giving them a taste of all that Jesus has to offer, creating a craving for more of Him. I challenge you to strive to be an example of Jesus’ love and grace to the people around you! Let the Lord fill you that you may overflow in the lives of your friends, family, neighbors and anybody else you meet. For this is how we begin to spread the kingdom!
