Operation Extreme Love, Pattaya, Thailand - Day 2, Tuesday

Today, like every day, began with a time of worship and prayer for the people of Pattaya. And then we had an excellent talk from Dianne Doell, who together with her husband, founded the Mercy Centre. What they have achieved is quite astonishing. And what a heart this little old lady has. Nothing to look at at first glance, she becomes more and more of a giant the longer you listen to her. I would be delighted to find that at her age I am just like Dianne. What a role model !  Amongst other things, she spoke about how faith needs the trigger of compassion so that you become the one willing to put yourself in the gap. Out of this insight the Mercy Centre was birthed, an organisation that abounds in projects that do exactly that. 

Outside the children's ward

In the afternoon, I went to the children's ward at the hospital with The Bridge Children's Centre, an organisation that mainly offers after school care, occasional night care, and support to single-parent families where the mother works in the bars and brothels at night. We packed up food parcels, toys and baby blankets, and off we went. I had asked to hand out the baby blankets. This turned out to be a wonderful thing, because I went with an interpreter into the neonatal wards and spent time talking to mothers of 2 and 3 day old babies. I itched to hold those little ones, but had to be content with a touch. I did get to cuddle a 5 month old for a while.... They were all just adorable!!!

In the evening Mike spoke on the topic of Sonship and Identity Issues, and about servanthood that flows out of knowing who you are as a child of God rather than servanthood because you are trying to prove something. It was a challenging but beautiful talk. Afterwards he prayed for anyone who felt insecure about the love of the Father... 

And then it was time for Treasure Hunts! The basic principle in a treasure hunt is that you ask God for clues about who He wants you to speak to (treasures), write down whatever comes to mind, and then go out looking. I think Treasure Hunts will be fun - once I stop being intimidated by them... 


Our group had a rather random collection of clues. Mine included beach, sadness, broken, and the song 'Beautful Things'. I also had a sense that some of my treasure would not be found that evening, but the next day... As a group, we had a very successful evening... our team chatted to a couple of bar girls, one of whom ended up asking to go to Tamar. In Buddhism people can request a blessing, so it was lovely to ask if we could pray for a blessing from God for them; this was well received, and proved to be a way of caring for people, because they would then open up and share what problems they had and what blessings they needed. A few members of our team had a clue about a fortune teller, and so we went off along the beachfront, where someone remembered seeing a fortune teller in the afternoon. Sure enough, there she was, spreading cards for a lady who had come to her for advice. We waited patiently until she was finished, and then asked if we could talk with them. I ended up chatting with the lady who had come for advice - her name was Pet. As in so many cases, I felt a burden of sadness coming from her. I asked if this was true, and she said yes, she was very sad, and she then told me of many problems that she had. She spoke fairly good English, but we were also helped by our interpreter, the wonderful Meaow. I said that God loved her. She asked how I knew this. So I told her about God speaking to me and Craig about coming to Thailand a year ago, and about me not wanting to come at all.

Pet, you are loved....

She laughed at this. I said that when I prayed, God kept asking me: ‘Will you go to Thailand for me?’ And so I asked Him why He wanted me to go... and He said it was because He loves Thailand and He loves the people of Thailand. And so I came to Thailand. I said that I felt sure He sent me because He wants me to tell the people I meet that He cares about them. And I said that this evening I had asked the Lord to show me His treasure and I had meandered here and there and then I had come to her. So I had this message for her, namely that God loves her, and that He sent me all the way to Thailand to look for her because she is treasure, and she matters, and He knows all about her and her problems. And she put her head in my lap and cried.... and so did I!  And then I asked if I could pray for her and she said yes, so I did and I suggested that she ask Jesus for advice every day about her situation and listen for His answers, and she said she would do this. We invited her to come to the banquet that was being held by the team with Tamar on Thursday. And we gave her the contact details for ‘True Friends’, an agency that helps people in Pattaya. And we hugged each other for what seemed like ages. She kept saying: 'I don't know this kind of love....' It was hard to leave....

I find in the night-time I often feel overwhelmed with the pain and sadness of the things that are happening to people in this city. I find tears running down my cheeks at regular intervals. This is true of many of the team members. It’s hard. But you know, we can choose not to feel - but then we don’t care either. And it is out of the caring that possible answers and solutions come. I asked God what to do with this sorrow. And He said that our tears are pleasing to Him, because they are the tears of compassion, and that He can use them. But to keep offering them up to Him as prayer, so that the burden does not become too heavy for us to carry. So this is what I have been doing in the night hours... praying for every woman and boy and child who find themselves trapped and in bondage, psychological or physical, to this horrendous thing called sex tourism...