Do you know the verse in I Peter that compares Satan to “a prowling lion seeking someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8)? I have never known that statement to be as true as it was while sitting within the red light district last week, surrounded by 30 bars. (Yes, 30 bars. I counted them, and this does not even include the bars along the street outside of this little alley way “cul-de-sac”). Most of my squad can attest to the evil that is felt here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Some say they feel a darkness, some feel a heaviness. For me though, it’s an eeriness, and one that I started to feel when we first got to Thailand on our bus ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. This eeriness isn’t necessarily constant however. It more or less comes in waves. For instance, walking through the streets it is fairly minimal and sometimes near non-existent, whereas sitting in a buddhist temple, it is very much present.
And sitting there, during the morning hours within the red light district, there is a feeling of something being off. A slight eeriness to the emptiness of the bars in the morning. Why is this? Well, my reasoning is that this is one of the devil’s favorite lairs to prowl around in. For its not just the souls of the prostitutes he seeks to devour, but those of the men in the bars who buy them, those of the people selling the women in the bars, and even those of the World Race missionaries sent to minister in the bars.
We had been told that bar ministry is exhausting. Both spiritually and emotionally exhausting. Last week during bar ministry, I was already seeing that to be true, and we hadn’t even done bar ministry at night yet. That may happen this upcoming week.This past week, our work looked like prayer walks in the morning, ministry in the bars in the afternoon, and then intercessory prayer at night. It was hard though, hard and somewhat discouraging. We will more than likely never be able to see if our visit to the red light district in Chiang Mai will have any impact at all. When doing ministry throughout the day (and what I’m assuming it will be like at night as well), the main purpose is to build relationships with the prostitutes. Simply, become their friend.
When on the Race, you’re only in an area for a short period of time. Especially, here with this particular organization in Thailand. We’re working with a ministry for a week before moving to one of the organization’s other ministries. So, naturally, I thought “how in the world am I supposed to witness to them if our first priority is to become their friend, and we only have a week to do it?” In all honesty, it didn’t seem too probable. In addition, it seemed bizarre to me to randomly walk into a bar and strike up a conversation with a prostitute. I thought it was going to be awkward, and it was having thoughts like these that I realized I really just did not want to do this ministry.
That, right there, is one of the ways I believe Satan likes to attack the Racers while on the field. He feeds discouraging thoughts that the ministry is pointless, and will in no way be fruitful.
That is just not true.
God brought me to the realization that even though our time with the ministry is so short, we still have a powerful impact by merely showing love and friendship to these girls who do not receive genuine love through their line of work. They are used to people coming in to buy them, but God has us coming in to love them. And showing love and friendship turned out to be fairly simple, whether it was going in and talking with them about their family, playing pool with them, or even watching a Thai soap opera with them while they tried to explain it to us.
It was God’s light that we exuded through love and friendship that was used to combat the darkness that Satan brings with him while lurking throughout the red light district. So, hopefully in the future when another World Race team comes through Chiang Mai, the girls in the bar will see the same love and friendship through this new group of people that another group of people once showed them in the past.
And maybe, they will notice that there is something different, and it can become apparent what that difference is: Christ.
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