Right now I’m on a bus for a 26 hour ride from Chiang Mai, Thailand, to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I’m not really sure where to start…. This month has meant so much to me. I hope this blog will give you a glimpse of our time in Thailand!
This month we worked with Lighthouse In Action, a ministry whose vision is to help girls get out of sex trafficking and find a better life by giving them the hope of Jesus. We lived at Zion Café, a coffee shop that provides work for girls who want to leave their old lifestyle of working in the bars and come work here. The café is located about a 5 minute walk from the red light district in Chiang Mai.
Ministry this month was a variety of different things. We helped downstairs in the café everyday, visited the slums to play with kids, talked with monks at the temple, went on prayer walks, did bible study with the ladies at Zion, helped clean, and went to the bars in the red light district to make friends.
I loved this month so much, and I enjoyed every part of ministry! Everything we did was built around relationships: getting to know the girls in the café by working with them, going to the slums twice a week and making friends with the kids even through the language barrier, and going out in the evenings to the bars to meet new friends. This is what I loved about Thailand and Lighthouse In Action: the focus on friendship and relationships.
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Spending time at the bars wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be…. The first night was a little overwhelming, but I realized that the women who work there are just normal people who need to be loved. Many of them work in the bars because they feel like it’s their only option, like it’s their destiny in life because of their past. It’s an easy way to make money, and once they start working there, it’s difficult to leave. Some of the women are probably there by force, but it seemed like most we talked to chose this job because they think it’s their only choice. It is really sad to see them selling their bodies for money… they seem happy on the outside, but when you really get to know them deep down they are hurting and want to be rescued.
A huge part of bar ministry is prayer. Prayer was emphasized so much this month, and I’ve seen how it really works. If we wanted to go out to the bars that night, it was mandatory that we prayer walk in the morning through the red light district. This is a very dark area, with a lot of strongholds of the devil. But every time we went out to pray, I could feel God’s presence there and knew there was nothing to be afraid of. Sometimes we even sang worship songs, which was really powerful.
We also took turns interceding for the group that went out in the evenings. Half our team always stayed back to pray for the team that was out at the bars. We quickly learned that intersession is just as important as making friends with the women, because without prayer they wouldn’t even be open to talk with us. Prayer moves things in the spiritual realm, way more than we realize, and I’ve seen that to be true this month.
It was amazing to see how God was already working there before we even got arrived. Zion Café is a popular place for World Race teams to visit (there are always teams coming in and out), and we met several women in the bars who had friends from previous WR teams. We saw notes posted up in certain bars with scripture verses, and stickers saying ‘she’s worth more’ – proof that people from Zion had been there! We knew that God’s presence was already there and already moving; we just got to be a small part along the way. And even though it was a hard goodbye, I have peace leaving, because I know God’s going to keep working in the lives of our new friends even after we’re gone.
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This month was also PVT (Parent Vision Trip). My mom was able to come out to Thailand to visit and join in ministry for a few days!! It was so awesome to show her around and be able to do ministry together! During the time she was here, we got to visit the temple, talk with a girl we met from Germany, play with kids at the slums, meet my friends at the bar, participate in intersession while others went out to the bars, prayer walk, shop for souvenirs at the night market, visit a waterfall in the countryside, eat Thai food, and celebrate Easter together with the squad. It was pretty amazing to have my mom experience life on the Race, even if it was only for a few days. I’m soooo thankful she was able to come!!
That’s about all I have to write about Thailand…. To wrap it up, this has been one of my favorite ministries, countries, and months, right up there with Japan. And for those of you who know how much I love Japan, that’s saying a lot! I’m so thankful for Lighthouse In Action, and for the hope and light they are bringing in a dark place. And I’m so thankful that I got to be a part of God’s work in the beautiful country of Thailand.
So what’s next? We’re on to month 8, heading to Cambodia to work at an orphanage!!! I have mixed emotions about leaving Thailand, but I am pumped and excited for what this next country will bring!
