I wanna say a big Thank You for your support over the past few weeks for my trip to Thailand with the Micah Network in October 2008. I just got back on Thursday night, went to a wedding on Friday and got quite sick, but am now doing better after going to work this morning. A few people have been asking how the trip went so here’s my summary..
BANGKOK:
- I arrived in Bangkok and stayed with my dad at his friend’s house. It was one of the few times in my life I get to spend with my dad so I treasured the opportunity, the wisdom and the pain/pleasure 
- I got to meet a Thai woman who lives with ex-sexworkers and works with current ones to be their friends, living locally in a tourist sex street. We also got to meet an American woman who started the home a few years ago. They are called Beginnings, and they make sure the women get a good education (2 are at university, 1 at bible college and a few are in high school) so they can break the cycle of poverty and prostitution, but they also teach them arts and crafts, some of which can be purchased to support their activities. I will post an interview soon…
- Post-conference, I went to Church Of Joy on Sukhumvit 14 where I met a minister who’s working with Inmates in around Bangkok. He invited me along to a re-hab/jail just outside of Bangkok. It was a surreal. There were all these 25-35 year-old men in t-shirts, shorts and thongs sitting around making umbrellas in this opened-planned wooden house where they usually hang out. We sang some songs and heard from the preacher, who focused on Faith. So I sang Amazing Grace in English and also in Thai (so people sang along which was very cool). It was amazing that so many words came out of my mouth about the grace of god in my life and about the perfect Father we have in him. I never knew I could speak Thai for that long. Finihing with John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ (the straight version) proved to be a good choice as everyone seemed to know it and made me a lot more credible These men were brothers in Christ who have committed their lives to following his way and love to sing. They have had amazing oppportunities to sing in big churches and fundraiser events attended by Princesses! And they are helping to open a church where half the members are ex-prisoners.
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- World Cafe Session, MIcah Network HIV consulation
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- a church meeting in a cafe in Bangkok
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- Peter B & Ricky @ Micah Global HIV Consulation
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- A Plenary Session
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- Peter B, Musa & Ricky – cool kids from the music team :)
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- Rattan (India), Greg Manning (AUS), Ricky (India) & Peter B
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- Grazia (Bolivia) & Peter B
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- Ricky (India), Musa (South Africa), Patricia, some of the delegates & me
PATTAYA:
- I spent the first 1-2 days hanging out with a guy from India who used to be an injecting drug user. We shared the same room at the conference. We got along well, which was important because we were playing together every morning at the worship time. (He brought along the Sahara song book, from the ‘rehab community’ he was a part of.. and so most of the songs we sang at the conference with 200+ leaders from Evangelical churches and organisations were chosen from the context of a flawed, repentant community of believers who hope in Christ for better days, against all odds. To me, the songs themselves weren’t spectacular (yes, we’re talking classics like Shout to The Lord, I will enter his gates, Create in me a clean heart…) , but the spirit in which we sang them was beautiful.) He also did a song by himself on the last day by Keith Green, which, again, is not my cup of tea, but was done with a greateful spirit as he shared his amazing journey and the work that he is doing now to help other in his community not to have to go through what he did.
- Our worhip team was made up with a charismatic gospel singer form South Africa who pretty much took the lead role (thank god!), a very competent Aussie pianist who’s volunteering in Hong Kong, a couple from North-East Thailand who are starting up a HIV/AIDS centre, a Thai male youth pastor who used to be a dancer in Pattaya, and my long-time friend from Bangkok who is a worship leader and very accomplished vocalist from Bangkok. We practiced from 7.00-9.30pm every night and had to be ready to go by 8am every morning. During the day we participated in most of the talks, discussions and workshops run by experts and leaders in the field of HIV/AIDS, theology, treatment activism, etc.
- Daily I was being blown away by the stories of church and community leaders who are living with HIV. The stigma they face in seeking help and treatment means that it took them a long time, sometimes years, before they get the care that they need. This is unfortunately true in the evangelical churches around the world. It made me think about what it would be like if I was living with HIV.. would you guys still be my friends? The consensus was that sometimes we have made it diificult for the sick and needy among us (and in the world) to seek help because of our self-righteousness. The real victims in the world are the voiceless women and children who pay the price for arrogant men like myself who think we’ve got it all figured and who oppress others in the name of masculinity and misuse scripture in a way that Jesus would totally disapprove. Another point is that people who are ‘different’ (for whatever reason) don’t need our symphathy, as we often think,… in fact they want to be adopted fully into our community as a valued friend, a brother or sister in the human family. The courage and love I saw in Pattaya will remain with me for a long time.
- The musical input that our team provided was not just a time for people to ‘tune-out’ or ‘relax’, etc. The spirit of the songs we sang together was one of unity. There were so many opinions and points of view on issues, and many people there believed that music was one of the things robust enough to help hold such a diverse community together for 4 days. The solo songs that we did were geared towards story-telling and reflection. People appreciated our input and loved the music. We also showed a music clip/interview/reflection thing that we made with U2′s ‘Stay’ in the background, which went down really well.
- I had many amazing conversations about faith and how to live it out in an imperfect world. Some of these people were: the spanish intepretor (the entire conference was translated in to French, Spanish and Thai) from Peru who’s been studying in New York, an English lady who lives in Switzerland and represents UNAIDS, and the guys in the worship team. Overall, there was a sense that together we can hope and work for a better world where love is the new economy! And evangelical christians (More than 420 million people around the globe!) are the ones with the resources and humulity to change the world.. if we will but do it.
Thanks again for this amazing opportunity to work and play with some very groovy people from around the globe, I have gained so much from sharing with everyone there. And to think that it all began as a casual introduction of Greg (who organised a lot of the conference) to me when we were playing some songs together earlier this year! I hope and pray that you also get to be part of something small but life-changing and life-giving in and through your circle of friends, and that you don’t hesitate to call on me for support, anytime.
Take care, have mercy and love justice
Peter
