You'd never guess from the smiles

Thailand is the 'Land of Smiles'. But today God was showing me the brokenness just under the surface, His desperation for the lost ones around me. My heart grieved as one after another, I saw brokenness unfold through my day.
A woman whose Facebook profile is more important to her than real life. It is built on lies, she is broken about her reality of poverty and lack.
A girl who sheds crocodile tears and weaves stories to get her own way. Her father has a mistress his daughter's age.
A young boy of 10 whose broken heart burned with anger against his mother. She didn't have time to make sure he showered for the past 4 days. He felt he should be beaten for his behaviour.
You'd never guess from the smiles.

First, a wedding. What could possibly be sad at a wedding? The bride was a nominal Christian, the groom a folk Buddhist. The teenage couple already had a child. Yesterday the wedding party spent all day with a spirit medium, asking what demands the evil spirits would make, doing all that they could to appease them. Today the wedding ceremony was to take place. The Pastor had spent the past 3 nights sleepless, wondering how to conduct such a ceremony in good conscience before God, where evil spirits were being openly worshipped by one party while the other wanted to do 'the right thing'. If he didn't conduct a Christian ceremony, they would bow down only to demons on their wedding day.

The ceremony began at the bride's home. Outside, she had to serve whiskey to the groomsmen, which was downed in one, to loud cheering and applause. The father of the bride (not a believer) was already quite drunk at 9 am, the groom's party not far off. The Christian wedding ceremony then took place inside the house, the groom's mother in floods of tears, heart broken over her teenage son rushing into marriage and fatherhood. The ceremony was touching. The groom's friends and villagers ate and drank outside. "What's taking so long?!" someone shouted mid-way through.
55 000 Baht was given as the customary gift from the groom's parents to the bride's. They wanted it to be 80 000 but hadn't had time to save up for it. The ceremony complete, blaring loudspeakers signalled the drunken street party had resumed. I asked myself, what union does the kingdom of light have with the kingdom of darkness? I was reminded of the kings of Judah and Israel, compromising the worship of the Most High God by worshipping other gods, and us likewise worshipping our own thoughts on what is right or wrong, or permissible. And I felt Father weep over His children.

As soon as we returned from the wedding, my friend Mot called - her sister had been killed in a car accident. She was my age, I had just met her yesterday. Shock and tears were all my friend had, while trying frantically to juggle all the phonecalls, demands, decisions to organise the funeral and get paperwork in order. Her sister had not been a believer, and neither was the wider family. Mot, the only believer in the family grieved hard. She knew her sister was gone and the funeral would do nothing to change her fate now. I stayed with her a few hours, as people drifted in and out. Just yesterday we had been sharing with her aged grandparents, thinking Grandad didn't have long to live. Today we were confronted with the brevity of life itself, no matter how old we are. "All I can say is, I need to love people more. I need to love people while I can, because you never know when time will run out", she said.

Finally, I went to the market to buy some things and walk around to relax a little. I met two ladies while looking at some Thai silk. In a few minutes, one of them revealed she was worried about her 15 year old daughter who had got lost. She ran away from home 3 days ago after being beaten by her father. They've heard nothing from her and have no idea where she is. Her mother is a battered wife - all 6 children suffer at the hands of the father. I prayed with her, we wept. So did Father God.

On days like this, the world seems to cave in. There is just too much brokenness. Much of it is within the church. Those outside are even worse off. I know Jesus is the healer, and He lives in me. But the darkness can sometimes be deafening.