We are the Plan? Q and A
Posted on Apr 02 2006 | Tagged as: books, faith, faith in action, justice, thailand project
This past week we had a few students over to our house who will be traveling to Thailand on a vision trip. The adults who came filmed the students’ reactions to the following questions. It will be fascinating to see how the answers to these questions may change after the trip. I decided to give the questions a shot. This is a long post so you may want to bite it off in chunks. How would you answer the questions?
1. There is an obvious need for us, who have so much, to help the lost, hungry and oppressed. What makes it so easy for me to let these needs pass by without responding?
| Before I went to Thailand in January the need was not “real” to me. What I read about children being trafficked into the sex trade from Northern Thailand was true. I know that it is true that a million children each year are being deceived into forced prostitution. I know that it is true that there are 27 million slaves in the world today. It was not until I met some of the people impacted by these statistics that it became more real to me. It is with this same language that Gary Haugen describes his response to the Rwandan genocide before he went to investigate the atrocities committed against the Tutsis.
Apparently thousands, maybe even millions, of Tutsis were being slaughtered by their Hutu compatriots in a genocidal hysteria sweeping across Rwanda. But like most of the great ugliness transmitted by TV across the world and into my living room, the terror in Rwanda just did not seem real. It seemed true, but not real - not to me (Good News About Injustice, 1999, p. 24). Even after having an experience that makes these issues both true and real to me I find that my compassion is sometimes limited. It fits into an unobtrusive box that is defined by me and influenced by others as acceptable demonstrations of compassion. My compassion can’t interfere with my life too much. It is encouraged and acceptable for me to write a small check to an organization that is dealing with these issues. I can do a clothing drive for the children. I can even take a trip to visit the people that are ministering to those who are in need and encourage support from my church. All of these responses are appropriate. Is my motivation to just make myself feel better? I wonder, how does God feel about the oppressed, hungry, and lost? What is his plan? |
2. Put yourself in the place of a parent of children born in the hill tribes of Northern Thailand. Your family has experienced severe illness and without money your entire family will be at risk of hunger, disease, and exploitation. You are approached by a “business man” from Chiang Mai (the big city) who offers to take one of your young girls to work in his “laundry mat.” He is prepared to give you a year’s wages upfront. How will you respond?
| Listening to this kind of situation breaks my heart. It makes me physically hurt. I have a hard time putting myself into this scenario, and even attempting to think through the pros and cons. It is beyond my comprehension, so I can’t even begin to think about how I would respond to such an impossible circumstance. It is easy to want to judge a parent that would be willing to do that, but they are in such a desperate situation, and I have never felt desperation. This kind of example compels me to seek to eliminate this kind of injustice, if even for just one family. I have to believe that these parents love their children just as much as I do, and if given a chance would choose a better option. Unfortunately they don’t have many options. |
3. Imagine your own elementary school experience growing up. What different types of safety surrounded you on a daily basis?
| Although there were some imperfections in my elementary school experience, I was never afraid of being trafficked into slavery. Just writing that sounds absurd. There was never a doubt that I would attend school or if it was a safe place. Many of the villages in the hill tribes do not have functioning schools. My day was routine; I got up at the same time, played each day, ate three meals a day, was loved, cherished, and protected. I was not expected to make a financial contribution to my family at this point in my development; people were pouring themselves into me. They were equipping me so that I might have options in my life. |
4. What do I have that is of importance to the people in the hill tribes who experience oppression, injustice, poverty and sometimes a lack of hope?
| I have learned that my preliminary response to problems is to want to jump to possible solutions. I don’t want to do that; it reveals my ignorance and arrogance. The issues that face the people of Northern Thailand are very complex. The context of their problems is in a different culture with a vastly different historical, spiritual, political, and economic system from my own. What I do believe is that Christ suffers with the oppressed, poor, and hopeless. I am called to join him in that compassion.
In January as we were on a train leaving Chiang Mai toward Bangkok; I felt a heavy burden for the people I met in Chiang Mai. It hurt me deeply to think of the ugliness and complex problems they would continue to face, while I was on a train heading back toward heaven on earth. They are resilient people in the midst of such hardship. I think I will try to suffer with them as best I can. I pray for courage from God. I pray that he will lead me to ways to take appropriate action. I want to eliminate the barriers that I have created that keep me from giving what I do have. |
5. What could the people in the hill tribes have that could be of importance to you?
| I found that the people in Thailand who are disciples of Christ realize, in a much deeper way than I, their need for God. They depend on him for survival and trust in his faithfulness. They put on the humility of Christ and understand the importance of dying to self. They are sacrificial and service oriented. I saw tremendous resilience and perseverance. There faith was inspiring to me. Many are facing such a stark reality and they have found Jesus as the answer and giver of hope.
I found God’s redeeming power in the lives of people I met. God is in the business of taking the broken and giving them a voice to heal the broken. After my time in Thailand, I want to admit my brokenness and offer that brokenness as a sacrificial gift to God. I found friendships. There are people in Thailand that I deeply care about. I want to support them and join in ministry with them. I honestly believe that they are giving me more than I could ever give to them. |
6. What could be considered blessings or accomplishments in our society?
| The American dream includes home ownership, retirement, two cars, two and a half children and a well paying job. In my circles it also includes a college education and a meaningful career. I seek things like fulfillment, meaning, and a sense of accomplishment. I have been given the tools to reach my potential. I get to dream and have a reasonable hope of attaining those dreams. I am driven by that hope. |
7. What do you think could be considered blessings or accomplishments for those in the hill tribes?
| I should ask this question of my friends in Thailand. It is an accomplishment if the children attain a high school education. It is a blessing to know more than their tribal language. Many in the hill tribes do not know Thai. It is estimated that (conservatively) two in ten children will be trafficked into forced labor or prostitution. So, freedom is a blessing. I am not sure what the dreams of a hill tribe person look like. I would like to learn. |
8. Knowing that today hill tribe children and their parents are facing danger and impossible moral dilemmas, what could be your immediate responsibility?
| This is a hard question. There are so many needs that exist in the world. I feel like I am frozen for a lack of hope. Do I have enough compassion to go around? It is tempting to avoid this whole thing and do nothing.
God has made it clear to me that I personally need to respond out of compassion for the oppressed and exploited children of Thailand. There are others in my school community that have had the same nudge from the Lord. That is why we are traveling back to Thailand in June with a team of thirty people. After much prayer and discerning, we are beginning to take responsibility by partnering with Remember Nhu, an organization dedicated to eliminating the use of children in the sex trade. Our school has committed to raising funds to build and maintain a home in northern Thailand for 60 children who are at high risk of being sold or deceived into forced prostitution or exploitive labor. This movement is a little scary and we know it will not be easy. We are praying that this response will lay the foundation for a long term ministry that will not only save children, but will also change our hearts and lives. |
9. How does God feel about the oppressed, the hungry and lost? What is his plan to demonstrate his goodness to the world?
| We worship a God of justice, who feeds the hungry, and searches high and low for the lost. Those priorities are clear in scripture and in the example of Christ. …Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:15-17 NRSV You hear O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defend the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more. Psalm 10:17-18 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 His plan is a little shocking. We are the plan. We are his plan to demonstrate the goodness of God to those who have experienced injustice, hunger and separation from God. It is out of the transforming power of Christ in us that we can be a light to the world. Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand–shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 I have recently been challenged to closely examine the things that Christ cares about. I have asked myself if I care about the same things. It is incomprehensible that Christ is aware of all the suffering in the world. He knows of every child in forced prostitution, every lonely widow, and every hopeless soul. In fact, he not only knows about them, but also is suffering along with them. He is seeking redemption for every last one of them. If only my heart were able to feel that kind of compassion for just a few. Gary Haugen writes, “Perhaps a next step in our development as children of God is a capacity for compassion permanence- a courage and generous capacity to remember the needs of an unjust world even when they are out of our immediate sight. This is the kind of compassion and courage I humbly pray for. But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what GOD is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously–take God seriously. Micah 6:8 MSG |
on 04 Apr 2006 at 7:04 pm 1 Jon Knapp said …
Very good and very hard questions Andy! I appreciate your honesty and and integrity to take on these questions personally and with your students to set you all on a path to bring the hopes and dreams of God to a hurting hopeless world. May God bless your journey. I am excited to see what God is doing with Westside through you and Steve. Keep living Matt 6:33.
on 04 Apr 2006 at 9:33 pm 2 Steve said …
Andy, I can only say that I am proud to work with you. These questions must be asked over and over of us as we continually grow in the grace of God dispite our ignorance. It is scary to be on this journey…but the action is on the edges…and that’s where we find God. Blessings on you Brother…It’s bright around you.