The Tough Topic of Thailand

Warning: Please make sure you read this before your children do- deciding then if they should or not. The topic in this is a tough one. Also, I am writing from the worldview that God is the Creator, and the Bible is my Authority because I am a Christ-follower. So the ideas and opinions in this are from a Biblical perspective. As most all of my posts are based around my relationship with God and His Word. Just a friendly reminder :)

SO... "sex" is big in Thailand. The selling of it, the buying of it, the exploiting of it. Everything that sex was not made for, you can see it here. Satan has twisted sex into a thing that man can use for his own purposes, rather than something made to show the intimate and committed union between a husband and wife. And sex IS a beautiful thing, when it is used for the purpose that God created it for. But when used for other purposes, it becomes a chain of iron that chokes and controls its users.

So why am I talking about sex? Because sex and sexual orientation was the topic at the youth camp I went to (the youth at this camp were ages 14-25ish). And after arriving I found out why such an "uncomfortable" but popular subject is discussed with kids as young as 14. Because it's popular, but abused here and has become an issue. STD's are so common, being gay/lesbian is widely accepted, and the thing that surprised me the most is how readily available and easy it is to get a sex change here.

It starts as the kids are growing up- they're labeled. So if a girl does more boyish things, or a boy does more girly things, then parents or friends will say, "hmm, they should get their gender changed as soon as possible." And this happens even when the children are as young as 3! Not ALL people do this here, but it's still widely accepted that sex changes are a part of life for some people. While not all get sex changes, there are still youth who believe that they are truly the opposite gender on the inside (boys thinking they are truly girls, and girls thinking they are truly boys). So they will either act and/or dress like the opposite gender, as well as refer to themselves as a guy if they are a girl, or a girl if they are a guy.

Then there's the common problem of men having feelings for other men, and women having feelings for other women. They have no guidelines for relationships- just their media and in their media anything goes. Sounds a little like, America, right? Yes, but worse. See we've had the Bible and Christian influence in our laws and history. Thailand, has not. Since they were never colonized by a "Chrisitan" nation, the Bible and God's values have been brought in much later. But the Bible's principles are foreign to them. And so they look to their media to dictate their values.

I'd like to tell you all a story about a young man who I met at youth camp, and I'll call him "Jeremy". Jeremy is about my age, and I had the chance to chat with him through the kindness of a translator. His story goes like this. Jeremy and a couple of his friends started dressing like girls at 15 years of age. Inside they felt they were truly women, and they had romantic feelings for guys as well. And he grew up believing that because he was more feminine, he was actually a woman. So they wore girls clothes ("mini-skirts," he told me in order to be the extreme), make-up, high heels, and started taking hormones in order to develop curves and breasts. And it worked. They acted female and were accepted as female. But Jeremy told me that He never felt accepted. I think the truth is that he never fully accepted it himself being female, and still felt male. He was confused.

And then Jeremy came to accept Christ as Lord and Savior of his life. I don't know the specifics on this, but I think it may have been at a Christian camp his friend invited him to. After coming to know Christ, he said he didn't feel right about dressing and acting like a woman anymore. So he stopped taking the hormones, and began dressing like a man again. And here he is 9 years later after first dressing as a woman, and said he still struggles with feeling like a woman sometimes, and having feelings for other men. But then, he also doesn't feel right acting like a woman anymore.

One of the first questions he asked me after we sat down was, "What do you see when you look at me?" I thought for a moment and responded that I don't feel uncomfortable around him (though I could tell he was uncomfortable around me, unsure of why I was chatting with him). I said that I could see he was a kind-hearted person and I wanted to know more about him. Then I asked him the question, "What do you think God sees when He looks at you?" This honestly stumped him. At first he responded with what he thought everyone else says about him, but I wanted to know what he thought Jesus sees when Jesus looks at him. And then I told him, "In the Bible it says that God says you are wonderfully made, every part of you, just the way you were born. He doesn't make mistakes when he creates someone. He has purposes for them the way He created them. When Jesus looks at you, He loves you, completely." Psalm 139 says it all about God's love for each of us as a beautiful part of His creation. I think this was a lot for Jeremy to take in. In a culture that says it's okay to change if you feel like it, accepting who you are as a beautiful creation of God is so foreign to him. We talked a little more about life, what he does now, and how he wants his friends to come to know Jesus. He loves Jesus and feels peace in his life that he never felt before, even though he still struggles with feelings towards men. He feels conflicted, but says God always gives him the strength he needs for each day.

So this is the situation in Thailand among the youth. Jeremy's story is not an uncommon one. Jeremy never took the next step to get plastic surgery to change his gender. But many youths are doing so now, and it's only going to get worse in a country where it's so easy to. I've heard it called the "generation of the sex change". But the question amongst Christians here is what will happen to those who have changed their sex, but then come to know Christ? How will the Church come along side and help them? How will they love them? These questions aren't easily answered.

But Jeremy's story went straight to my heart. I don't struggle with feelings for other women, or with feeling like a man. But I have my own struggles, my own temptations. And these temptations and the sin that results when I give in should never be considered "less of a sin" than Jeremy's struggles and sins. Just because you can't always see the sin that blackens my heart, those "hidden sins", doesn't mean it's not as deadly as the sin that we can see so physically manifested in this culture. All sin is hideous to God. I repeat all sin. And all sin is in need of God's precious grace and mercy that He gives through Christ. Jeremy and I both have Jesus, who helps us in our struggles, and who offers out forgiveness freely and wants to reconcile us back, and give us peace and satisfaction in Him alone. But what about the millions of other youth in this country searching for not just a sex change, but identity and meaning in life? Will you pray with me for the youth in Thailand?

Prayer Requests:
1. For this "generation of the sex change"- that they would want change, but the kind that deals with the heart
2. For mentors- that godly men/women in Thailand would mentor the youth and hold each other accountable (it's a privilege we share as part of the body of Christ to lean on one another- Galatians 6:2)
3. For Jeremy and his friends at the camp- for continued daily strength and seeking Christ for Jeremy; and for his friends who came that are not Christians (that they would see and want the peace Jeremy has)
4. For Thai Christians that they would see this problem and not be afraid to reach out and love those that are  going through different struggles and temptations than they are
5. For Thai Christians that might struggle with one of these temptations- feelings for the same gender, or men feeling like women, and women feeling like men- that they would seek God to change their heart and love Christ more deeply- and that after going through this would seek to pray for/help others who may struggle with the same temptations

I was reading in Jude at camp, and found this verse to be such an encouragement (verses 23-24): "Show mercy still to others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives [notice it says to hate the sin, not the person]." And I love how verse 24 completes this, "Now all glory to God who is able to keep you from falling away and who will bring you with great joy into His glorious presence." So, the glory goes to God, and it's His joy to hold and keep us from falling away and to usher us into His presence. I'm thankful that all strength and ability to fight against sin, to conquer the thoughts that enslave us, and to choose daily to follow Christ, rest in one man alone, Jesus. What a wonderful Savior we have. I pray the Thai youth can come to know this Savior and accept His help to daily live a life that pleases Him on earth, and to then be brought into Heaven with great joy by the one who loves and holds them in His hands.

Please continue to pray with me as we serve these beautiful Thai people together. Many thanks and love to you all :)

First and second picture are of the youth praying for each other at the camp-  this night they prayed that they would be able to live as examples of purity at home and that God would continue to be their strength as they fight to live each day pleasing to Him in a culture that makes it hard.