January 27th, 2017
Last night was one I will never forget. I’ve tried to put words into what my eyes saw and my heart experienced, but words will never be enough. No Facebook post or Instagram picture will ever do this story, any many other stories like it, the justice it deserves. But, alas, I will try to put words to this.
Last night we went to the oldest red light district in Bangkok with the intention of meeting people and sharing the gospel. I had no idea what to expect. We paired up into teams of 3 and went straight into the distracted, chaotic Pat Phong Street. It also just so happened to be the lunar new year, which in Asian culture is HUGE. There were loud firecrackers exploding everywhere, and men dressed as dragons dancing around to the beat of drums. It was dark. The darkness hung in the air like a blanket, suffocating and heavy.
We pushed past the distractions and saw a group of girls in the street holding up signs and obviously looking for men. We walked up to one of them and began a conversation with her. She was young, innocent looking, and had a smile that could light up a room. We asked if we could just talk with her and she looked confused. She explained to us that she was working and couldn’t talk. No one came to here to just talk. So, we went to her Madame, aka lady pimp, and asked how much an hour with the girl would cost. After all, time here is precious, and these girls had many customers. If we wanted to talk then we had to pay. To us it was worth it. They were worth it. So, they took us up to the infamous 4th floor and I held my breath, not knowing what to expect. As the doors opened, we were led to a room where we could choose which girl we wanted to buy. One girl stood out to me in particular. For safety purposes I will call her “Precious”. Eyes wide open and hands clasped, she basically begged me to choose her. I didn’t understand why until later
All three of us payed to spend time with 3 girls. As we began to talk to these girls I was struck by their humanness. That sounds stupid but it’s true. These girls were funny, loved Selena Gomez, and sang karaoke songs with us. They were so young but carried with them a burden I can’t even image. When I asked Precious if she liked working here she only replied with, “They pay me a lot.” My heart broke. Shattered. Spilt over. What do you do? What do you say? We only had an hour and time flies by quick. We talked to them about their story, and then told them the best story. The one where God sends His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him can be saved. The one where Jesus has called us all loved and worthy and redeemed.
The girls didn’t accept Jesus into their hearts that night, but the Lord showed me something else. As I was talking with them, I was also facing a door where men would come and go all night. No one had to tell me what was on the other side of that door. And it dawned on me that even though these girls didn’t except Jesus right then and there, they got to have an hour break from having forced sex that night. Looking into Precious’ eyes that night as she begged me to choose her was enough for me to understand the depth of that truth.
I left the 4th floor with a heart that broke for all the right things, and a story that needed to be shared. Yes, that place was dark, but John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” Today, I’m believing that. I’m putting my hope in a big God who never stops shining because He is making all things new. And I pray we would be a body of believers who put skin in the game and go be the light we were called to be.
