(This blog contains pictures that are not appropriate for young eyes… so please use caution when reading through. This is reality and this darkness needs light)
Welcome to Thailand. The land of the free, the land of smiles, the land of beauty. I cannot believe that I am actually spending a month of my life living in Phuket, Thailand. After spending a few days at the YWAM base in Bangkok, our new teams disperse and found the appropriate buses to our ministry locations. Double decker buses with complimentary snacks, reclining seats, and pink blankets… no complaints after coming out of Africa…. Hello Asia!
We arrived around 8 am near our new home this month, and were picked up in a pickup truck by Cindy. We ate rice soup at a little stand off the road, and after a little nap at home we packed back in the truck to head to Patong for the afternoon. Cindy and Dana, our ministry hosts this month, had a meeting to attend and wanted us to follow up with some new believers in the shops along the streets in Patong. We were given a box of Thai bibles, and some evangecubes to help share the Gospel with. I laughed inside at the idea of the cube that seemed elementary, but was instantly humbled at how enamored each listener was by the images of Christ’s life on this block. Most had never heard the name Jesus Christ before.
After spending no more than an hour on the busy, tourist infested street, my whole team could no longer ignore the darkness that was all around. It was in the side-by-side bars that lined the street, the foreign men in their muscle tees walking with two little Thai women on each arm, the foreign and local women walking around in hardly any clothing; it was even in the trash that lined the gutters. You can hardly walk down that street and not observe the pollution of some Western influence with both Starbucks and McDonalds at the end of the street, and the stimulus of loud music, naked women, and alcohol.
I was only on this street for a few hours, one afternoon, and was shaken by what I saw and felt. I’m not working in the red light district this month, most of the other A Squad women are, but I am still impacted by the immense need for love in this dark place. I have had the Jonathan David Helser lyrics to Wreckingball in my head for weeks – You can’t stay away, when love starts singing. This is my prayer for all of the women and men that walk up and down that street. To let love ring true in their ears and hearts, and for them to be wrapped up in love so deeply, that all of the darkness is brought to light. Please pray for these women that are enslaved to such a gross and obligatory way of life, selling their bodies to provide for their families; please pray for the men and women that travel in and support this darkness. Jesus is needed on this street, in Phuket, in Thailand, he is needed everywhere and I pray that when his love is singing…. Others cannot turn away. Please join me in singing his love.
Rachel and I shared Jesus with this woman and after praying for her, gave her a Thai bible. When we walked by her an hour later, she was reading her bible… there is hope.
