Tales From The Field
A cool wind blows, the sound of waves gently lapping against honey colored sand is barely audible in the background. A group of young soldiers march out into the night air. They’re battle field not one of the physical but one of the mind and the spirit, Pattaya.
Faces of prostitutes petition these brave young men and women, on the surface they beckon to come forward and be lost in the forbidden, but there is something else struggling underneath, something locked between smiling teeth. There is something broken, there is a hopelessness and longing for a something, for truth, for meaning, for value. A young girl no older that 14 stands on the cool sidewalk, quivering in high heels barely able to stand, slightly smeared mascara makes its home just below puffy eyes. She tries to force a smile as one of the soldiers passes by but her dark eyes betray the fear beating in her chest. All transpires in a second and the moment is gone. Somewhere in the city of Pattaya a soldier lays his head down and weeps for that girl.
Pattaya is a city infamous for its sex trade, waves of tourist from around the globe flock to its bars, brothels, and message parlors every year. I’ am that soldier. My brothers and sisters in arms, fellow missionaries. Our battlefield ,one of and upside down kingdom, ours war strategy one that seeks not to destroy but to save and redeem.
The enemies are numerous in this battlefield. Lust spews poison smokes threatening to blind eyes and cloud judgment. Pride beckons with twisted fingers ,clawing at the chambers of the heart, it whispers “You are better, holier than these men”. The deceiver makes his nest here, deep in the shadows he lurks like a roaring lion ready to devour, fat and bloated off the sins of man. We do not lose hope,
For we are brothers and sisters in arms, and we serve an much more powerful force. A Force of light, purity, and holiness, We serve the Lord. We walk the streets late at night praying for those we meet, having conversation with strangers from different nations and tribes than our own, and ripping our hearts for the suffering we encounter. This is all part of being a servant, a missionary, a Christ follower .
This week in Pattaya taught me a lesson that will not be soon forgotten. That we are only able to carry our own cross into this bleak war-zone because Christ first carried the Cross for the whole world. That He who is fully God saw the darkness, the darkness of the past, the darkness of the future, the darkness in Pattaya and came down in the form of weak human flesh. That He faced every trial and every tribulation that plagues mankind . That He was beaten, torn and crucified .That the sin of the every man who has and ever will walk the earth was laid upon Him. That with his death he atoned for the punishment that that sinned merited, and with his resurrection we too have been resurrected. Restored, reborn, sealed with the promised holy spirit, given power to go out to the ends of the earth and proclaim that forever Christ is king and forever he will reign.
We are soldiers and our Lord is strong, and He won the battle we could not fight.
