Instead, the story leads viewers to believe that the beauty and cultural history of Thai Buddhism are now being eroded by Christianity - a foreign belief system. More than that, the story implies that conversions are being bought or manipulated by unscrupulous missionaries in exchange for rebuilding work.

Rob Griffioen, a member of the O2W team, was interviewed for this program. Despite the CBC's approach, the parts of Rob's testimony that made it into the final cut of this program spoke of the true transforming power of Jesus Christ.

The CBC program tells the story of a group of people whose village had been obliterated by the tsunami. A European aid group had offered to rebuild the village in exchange for one thing: conversion to Christianity. According to the CBC reporter, this story is not unique. And while Rob Griffioen doesn't claim that such things have not happened with other Christian groups, he is very clear in stating that his team is not interested in such "conversions." According to Rob, "We don't want to put tags or strings on this. We're not interested. We want people who are really steered towards the Gospel of Jesus."

In this interview, Rob sets an example of what MBMSI believes as a whole. We believe that only through a freely chosen response does one experience the transformational power of Christ's forgiveness and freedom. This is why it comes as no surprise that some of these bought "converts" changed their minds and reverted to Buddhism. As Rob strongly affirms, such "manipulation can never work in the long term. It's not real." These people have put their faith in material possessions and in mankind. Following Christ is all about putting our faith in the Living God.

Christ has never promised us that if we believe in him we will have a big house. He never said that we will have abundant finances, or that we will be impervious to any natural disaster. What Christ did say was that if we believe in him we will have eternal life, and that through this promise, our lives will be transformed forever.

The CBC reporter interviewed several people who had become disillusioned by false promises. However, not included were the stories of people who had experienced the true promise of transformation through Jesus Christ. This story, though unfortunately omitted from the CBC program, is a story that Rob and Judy Griffioen and other members of O2W have seen first hand.

Having been there for two years, the Operation Second Wave team has seen examples of abusive relationships healed, families knit back together, physical miracles performed, and freedom from oppression granted. All these things have happened only because of Thai people choosing to accept the grace of Jesus (see our latest issue of the Witness magazine for one of these powerful stories).

In describing their reasons for going to Thailand, Rob and Judy Griffioen state that after the tsunami, "so many faces revealed the empty stares of shattered lives and the fear of another tsunami. We knew that God had given us a message of peace these desperate people needed to hear." MBMSI sent teams to Thailand to help rebuild the homes of people affected by the tsunami. But more importantly, we sent teams to help rebuild lives.

-Written by: Mark Klassen