Pattaya has a reputation of being the capital for sex tourism and is full of bars, brothels and thousands of male and female night workers. When driving through the streets, it is an amazing menagerie of tattooed bodies, older men with pony tails walking hand in hand with very young men and women companions or sitting at one of the many, open street side bars with a late morning breakfast of beer and beer.
So it was not a huge surprise to see Phil (not his real name) struggling to climb the stairs to the second floor worship center yesterday. He was a heavy guy, probably 275-300 pounds, wearing a black “muscle man” shirt and worn cargo shorts. He was probably in his 50s with a graying go-tee that had a long strand of hair hanging down from the center of his chin. It flowed down over the Buddhist charms around his neck that went with the spirit strings that a monk had tied around his wrists. His eyes were quite bloodshot and he shuffled along using a cane. His legs were black from about halfway between his ankles and knees, down to his feet no doubt due to poor blood circulation.
We met him at the door before the Sunday worship began and introduced ourselves. He said this was the second time he had come. He sat in a chair at the back of the church and listened to a sermon about “Fathers” (This was “Father’s Day” in Thailand since it is also the King of Thailand’s birthday). Phil heard about fathers in the Bible who were role models for all fathers and he heard about the greatest Father of them all, our God, our Father. He heard how God can be our eternal Father if we trust in His way, Jesus Christ.
After the sermon we were able to talk more with Phil. He said he was “happy”. He said that happiness is “doing what you like and liking what you do.” He said, “I like sleeping with women and drinking all night. I was with two beautiful women last night, no, that wasn’t last night, but anyway, that’s what makes me happy.”
We asked Phil why he came to church. “I like doing different things on different days. On Sundays, I like coming here. But just because you like the milk doesn’t mean that you have to buy the cow.” We ignored that and went on to tell him that finding true happiness is when we fulfill our purpose in this world of having a relationship with our Creator God and knowing Him as our Father and Lord of our life. This went right over Phil’s head. “Yeah, I believe there is a God. My mother was Catholic and my father was something.”
We asked Phil if he ever considered what he would discover when he leaves this life. “Well, I will either find that it’s as good as it is right now or that it’s not. Either way, I’ll be glad that I lived it like I am right now.”
We told Phil that God loves him and knows him better than any other person in the world. We told him that God wants Phil to submit his life to God and to love and worship Him. Finding true happiness is when we give control of our lives to God and live for Him. Phil pulled out a book written by Dalai Lama and said that it talks about finding happiness in your head.
We don’t know why Phil came to church. Is he under conviction about his miserable life? Is he searching? Is he attracted to light while swimming in a cesspool of darkness? Or is he a wolf among lambs? Is he either demon possessed or demon obsessed? Is he a cynical presence of Satan’s disciple entering into the innocent, pure, assembly of new Thai and Cambodian believers to shock, disrupt and disturb? If that is the case, he’s not successful. The congregation is gracious and receptive to all sorts of beleaguered, soul-sick, wanderers coming into their sacred fellowship. They see themselves as God’s spiritual hospital and are not shocked when they get a case like Phil who is brought into the Intensive Care section of the soul hospital.
We don’t know about Phil. Later, after worship, lunch and fellowship with the people, we saw Phil lying over on the ground in the shade, taking a nap. It seems there is no hope for him. He seems so far down in the sewer that there is no hope for him to reach the surface and find the light of Christ that will give him true life and true happiness.
But Pastor San, Mai, and the other hodge-podge of new believers at the church, see some of themselves in Phil. The way they used to be. Maybe he reminds them of God’s power to change and save people, even when they are as low on the soul-train as Phil. Maybe they can be so patient and gracious with him because someone was once that gracious to them and gently led them into the Kingdom of Light.
But it is taxing, especially upon the two main leaders, San and Mai. It is very tiring and demanding with people constantly telephoning or coming to take a nap at their church-home. People come to them with their sin-driven problems. Strangers wander by asking for assistance, advice, or a kind word of hope.
