And You Think Your Life is Hard?

I just returned home from Bangkok, Thailand. I was there to research some health treatments. Whilst I was there I met two people that really made me stop and think about life…

The first was a massage lady. I visited a massage spa near my apartment and was amazed to learn that a 2 hour massage was just $8.25

I started talking to the lady who was massaging me – asking her about her life and if she had kids, family nearby, what her hopes for the future were etc

She told me she was 30 years old and had 3 kids – all girls – 5 year old twins and a 6 year old.

She showed me pictures of her girls on her cell phone. Really cute looking kids. Then she started to tell me her story. her husband had left her for another woman and her kids lived with her Mom and Dad – about 3 days away by bus.

She lowered her head and her voice fell to just a whisper as she told me how much she missed her girls. "I get to see them once a year. I miss them so much!"

I asked her how much she earned. "About Baht 8.000 a month" (about $232) She works 12 hours a day 6 days a week.

Can you imagine how hard her life must be?  She then shared her dream with me… "My dream is to marry a farang (Westerner). I asked why she wanted a Westerner and she told me. "Because western guys are kind and he probably wont beat me and will love my kids"

Did I mention that this woman (Like most Thai ladies) was stunningly beautiful? In Australia or America she would be beating guys off with a stick. I really hope she gets her dream one day!

The second person was a young street kid  that I almost trod on as she lay sleeping on a busy Bangkok sidewalk.

I looked at her and honestly thought: "This kid has not had a bath in 5 months"

It was a stinking hot day – the kind of heat that ONLY Thailand can create and there she was – fast asleep on the footpath.

I wanted to help but I only had a few hundred Baht in my pockets so I walked to a local foodstand and bought her some noodles.

I wish you could have seen her face as I gently shook her arm to wake her up and give her the food. Just for amoment, a fleeting moment, she looked like such an innocent young girl and when it dawned on her that the food was for her, she beamed.

As I walked away a Thai friend explained to me that she was probably addicted to sniffing thinners. I asked them "If this girl wants to change her life. is there anyplace she can go to get help? even to wash and shower?"

"No"

"But surely there must be some government department that will hep her or some Charity?"

"No she is a beggar – why would anyone bother to help her?"

"But imagine if she did want to change her life – she would need clean clothes (Hers were rags) and to wash before she could even hope to get a job – surely someplace must exist here to hep her? Some people we can call?" "Maybie some Christians would help her but there are so few of them here"

By now my Thai friend thought I was completely bonkers as they asured me "Chris this is her life – she is a crazy girl only a silly person would want to go near her!"

As I sat in the train on the way back to my hotel the thought struck me how unfair it all seemed.Think about it – this kid seems doomed to remain a street kid – even if she wants to change. It also made me feel very thankful that I lie where I do – in a society that truly cares for the individual and that despite the current financial nightmare, truly does abound with possibility.

Finally, I'd like to offer a challenge to everyone reading these words: Go and find someone in need – greater need than you and help them. help them with wild abandon.  A great teacher once said that it is more blessed to give than it is to receive – very true words.