Disturbing Joy
In case you haven’t heard Wipe Every Tear was given an amazing house in Thailand. This prompted our trip this month. We arrived at the beginning of the month with a hope and a house. Our first few weeks were spent cleaning and meeting with wonderful people in Chiang Mai.
One of our first few nights was spent in the bars. We grabbed a bus into town and tried
to orient ourselves to find the red light district. A nearby British man noticed our quizzical demeanor and came over to assist. He asked where we were going and I told him we were going to the boxing ring. This sparked the following conversion:
“Honey, you don’t want to go there you don’t know what that place is.”
“I do know, that is why I want to go there.”
“Sweetie, that is the red light district.”
“Yes, that is why I want to go there.”
“You don’t get it. But you can follow me, I will take you there.”
He took us through some back alleys toward our destination as my partner Chelsea explained what Wipe Every Tear is about. At some point the Britt turned his attention back to me and explained how he had a couple Filipino house maids and how they had escaped from a terrible trafficking situation. Then turned our conversation to the trafficking situation in the middle east and the horrors of it. Which sparked our next conversation:
“I wish I could go there (the middle east).”
“It’s horrific there, you don’t get it.”
“Yes, that is why I wish I could go there.”
“I hate do gooders!”
At this point he is so disturbed by me that he removes himself to the other side of the street. I am literally laughing out loud now. Because, it is this man who doesn’t “get it”. I’ve seen 40 women in the Philippines walk out of the red light into the glorious light of God. I’ve seen their hearts healed and filled with hope and then experienced the same in my own heart. I have a reason for my joy as I walk into the red light district. I also recognize part of my joy is unexplainable. Part of it is a stirring in my spirit that created an appetite for this adventure.
A minute later the man returns and begins to speak again about the trafficking horrors of Asia and the middle east. I reassured him that I understood. This is when he apologized for his reaction to me. By this time we had reached our destination. The man gave us a sarcastic “good luck saving the world” as he veered off into one of the bars.
It is interesting that when you have a joy amidst a tragic situation people think that you must not see the tragedy. I wonder what other place calls for, desperately longs for joy more than those who are being stripped of joy through oppression. Jesus didn’t fill me with a hope and joy to go and give a high give to others with hope and joy. He gave me joy to walk into the darkness. He gave it to me to go and give it to His beloved who are in the darkness. The disturbed British man included in that beloved.
I was disturbed by this encounter as well. I’m stirred to pray to be more disturbing. Isn’t that what Jesus has done for us? So disturbed our view of life that we believe impossible things. We believe not for nothing or some misty distant future. We believe for right now and the three beloved girls that just moved into the Chiang Mai safe house.
