Lately a common question I have been getting is “why?”.
Why are you moving to the Philippines?
Why are you choosing to move to another country instead of staying in the states?
Why not get a steady job with a reliable paycheck?
The word “why” rings in my ears.
I want to share my why with you.
Last year on the World Race I saw deep brokenness and poverty. I saw hurting and lonely people. I saw people yearning to know their worth and value. Far off stories became real life people. They became friends with names and stories and families.
And now, I can’t pretend that I didn’t see, that I don’t know.
I can’t forget the smell of the garbage dump in Guatemala or the shacks of the families who lived and worked in the dump.
I can’t forget the people in Haiti still living in houses made of blue tarps, who have yet to be able to re-build after the hurricane years ago.
I can’t forget the extreme poverty in Malawi, yet the extreme joy among the believers.
I can’t forget the little children in the Philippines, addicted to drugs that curb their appetite and help them forget about their hunger.
I can’t forget the orphanage in Honduras and the little boy who ran eagerly into my arms, seeking love and affection.
But the thing that gripped my heart the tightest, was the exploitation of women, specifically in Southeast Asia.
In Thailand we spent many evenings going into the strip of bars a few blocks from the night market. We went in to meet women, to get to know them and their stories. We played pool and Jenga while chatting and getting to know each other.
The Father has given me the eyes to see these women as He sees them – as His precious daughters.
In the bars we also met the men who go to the bars to purchase women. It is easy to look on them with disgust and anger.
But the Father has also given me the ability to see the men through His eyes. They are His sons, lost and lonely, seeking intimacy the only way they know how.
I can’t pretend that this isn’t happening. That women, some of them my friends, are being purchased and sold daily, multiple times a day even.
In the Philippines alone it is estimated that there is close to 500,000 women being sexually exploited. 100,000 of those women are under the age of 18.
So I ask why should I live a comfortable, “safe” life while they are living a nightmare?
Why not go?
