.jpg)
Thailand
Behind Thailand’s beautiful beaches, booming tourism, and the country’s ever-smiling faces lies a terrible secret: modern-day slavery fueled by poverty. Thailand’s red-light districts attract an ugly side of tourism.
Families go into debt in order to pay for food, rent for their homes, or even to build bigger houses. When debts are called in, the young girls are sent to Bangkok or other tourist cities in order to provide for their families. While the males go to the temple as monks in order to earn merit, it’s the responsibility of the female to provide for her family.
Cambodia
Cambodia’s story is “same same but different”:
Cambodia boasts one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the temple Angkor Wat. However, the delicious food, beautiful scenery, and kind nature of the people mark the true wonders of this small country.
Cambodia is struggling to heal from one of the worst genocides in modern history. In just a three-year period, one in every five people died, decimating the population and trapping the people in terror. A predominantly Buddhist culture, Cambodians struggle with the concept of hope for the future. They have never heard of grace. They have never felt forgiveness.
In addition, the hopelessness of the people left behind is unimaginable to much of the Western world. How do you have commerce, government, and business without education? How can you rebuild your economy without educated professionals?
Ministry:
For both Thailand and Cambodia, the keys to ending poverty is two-fold: receiving both the unconditional love of Jesus and an education. Practically speaking, educated children grow into educated adults who are able to secure jobs and provide for their families.
For ministry you will split into two separate teams to serve in both countries. In Thailand you will work with some partners that want to bring hope to those trapped within oppressive cycles– poverty, family patterns, and the sex trade industry. Depending upon which ministry you are paired with, this could mean visiting with children in the slums, teaching English to a variety of ages groups, playing sports with kids, visiting a village, manual labor, going to Monk chats, and building friendships with women in the bars. Prayer and intercession will be crucial part of your ministry in Thailand.
In Cambodia, you will work with children at local orphanages to share the Father’s love and acceptance. You will also help with construction projects around the orphanage and partner with the local church to reach the community in the surrounding area.
But most of all, you’ll be sharing hope.
Interested in reading more stories about what Passport is doing in these countries? Click here to visit our blog and see the impact.
