Not A Typical Sabbath Afternoon Outing

It's out in the middle of nowhere, set at the base of a hill. It's not a place where tourists read about in travel guides or plan to go to during their vacation here in Thailand. It is the Wat Phra Bat Nam Phu Temple just outside of Lopburi. But it's not just any Temple, it's a temple that cares for dying AIDS patients.

Twice a month, a group from the College make the hour-and-a-half drive out to the temple. People with AIDS in Thailand are still very stigmatized and alienated from society - they are lonely and hurting. Since most of us don't speak very much Thai, we can't really visit with them, but we gave them something that isn't hindered by language barriers: human touch. We gave them massages. There are no doctors, no nurses, and no one to try to ease their pain, so for a little while we did what we could to help them. We massaged their feet and legs, hands and arms. Their bodies are wasting away, so their muscles are very soft and easy to massage.

The last lady I worked on was in the TB ward. On this ward, we needed to wear masks, so she couldn't even see the smile that I was trying to give her. But I think that she could see it in my eyes, because even though she didn't smile with her mouth, it seemed like her eyes lit up in response to mine.

Once these people come, most of them never see their families again.....mostly because their families don't want to associate with them any more. Once they die, they are cremated and their ashes are dumped in a huge pile out back. They ashes aren't claimed, nor are the individuals remembered in any way. But in the midst of that ash pile, Jesus knows who every piece of ash belongs to, and weeps over them.

As I was in that place of so much sickness and suffering, massaging a man whose body is scarred with the effects of his disease, I couldn't help wondering, "How am I really helping this man? I may be giving him a few moments of relief, but really, what does a few moments matter when the rest of his life will be filled with this unending pain?" As I continued to think about it, I remembered the verse in the Bible that says, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did it for Me." So I guess, even the few moments of relief that I was able to offer those people was worth it, because that's what Jesus would've wanted.