Day 11. Thinking about beauty.

I'm going to a wedding today. Weddings are a time when most girls like to dress up and look beautiful.

For this wedding, I am putting on the same outfit I have worn for past 11 days. It's not really something I would normally wear to a wedding, and I don't really care what I am wearing today. But there have been times in my life where I have placed a lot of importance on what I look like and feeling beautiful. I have grown in that a lot and learning that my identity comes from Christ and is found in my beauty on the inside. I'm not saying that I'm perfect in this area, however, and I continue to pray that God would allow me to care more about what is on the inside. When I look at myself, and when I look at others. 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, "³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight."


In thinking about beauty today, I thought about beauty in the context of the culture in Pattaya, Thailand. When I went there last summer, I noticed that there is a HUGE desire for Thai girls to look western and what the western culture deems "beautiful". There are places all over the mall in Pattaya for skin whitening (yes, they want to make their skin white), teeth whitening, hair treatments, nail treatments, and many other cosmetic treatments. The prostitutes in Thailand obviously want to keep up their appearances, because the more "beautiful" they are to the western visitors, the more customers they have and the more money they make. There is also a strong desire for many Thai girls to get a western boyfriend. I'm sure there are a myriad of reasons why these girls go into the sex industry. Sometimes, they are forced into, but sometimes it's a "choice". (I've talked before about the gray area when it comes to choice.) When I was there, I heard from missionaries and former prostitutes about reasons that girls prostitute themselves. One of these reasons is the need to feel loved, beautiful, and accepted. Many Thai fathers are not active in their daughters lives. They do not show love to them. Boys are much more favored than girls. This can lead girls to seek this affirmation from men. Men who do not treat them as a beautiful creation of God, but as an object for sex. Their minds become warped into thinking that the Johns and the pimps love them, when it is anything but love. 


Sometimes, it seems hopeless. These cultural norms seem so difficult to overcome. Yet, I have heard stories of how God's love can transform. It can pull girls out of this life and into a life where they feel loved and accepted by God. After being in prostitution, their minds need to be renewed and restored, and that is why after-care is so important. Many girls, who come out of prostitution go back to it later, because they have no other means to satisfy their desires and find fulfillment. 


I've mentioned some organizations that provide after-care before. Here some that I have mentioned and a few more. Read about them and considering giving to their cause. 
Somaly Mam
International Justice Mission
Love 146
Streetlight USA
Shared Hope International

Psalm 56:13 says, "For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life." I have been set free from death. I believe that God wants so badly to see every person in slavery set free from a life of death. I am praying for many women to be set free and see themselves as beautiful creations of God.

Today, I decided I smell a little bit. I'm still deciding if I want to wash my outfit.