SHE

First of all, I am oh, so blessed that I get to sit in a
Starbucks in Thailand, listen to beautiful prophetic music and pray over this
city as I look over Bangla Road. I am listening to Jason Upton Freedom
Reins.  Looking out to Patong, out
to the streets that are lined with bars, filled with thousands of women who
believe their only worth is what someone will pay for them.  They actually have to decide their
worth, give themselves a price tag. 
Who remembers their names? 
Some are just the numbers they wear on their shirt.   We are here giving hope and a choice.

We are working with SHE ministry here in Phuket.  We go to Patong Beach, a huge tourist
town known for their beautiful beaches and women…..  or should I say beautiful women and beaches.  SHE is an amazing ministry that goes
out into the bars at night and brings them out of that life.  It is shocking how many of these women
are miserable.  Most of them don’t
have a choice but they are desperate to get out.  They come from small, poor towns in northern Thailand.  Their families send them to cities like
this to make money for their families. 
They get stuck.  There is no
way out.  They don’t know how to
support themselves and their families. 
They live above the bars so they have no place to go if they leave.  SHE gives them a place.  They are taught how to make jewelry and
bake.  Women will come through,
learn these skills and open their own stores and restaurants.  Some have stayed in Phuket and some
have been able to go home.  They
are hearing the gospel and bringing that home with them. 

We have only been doing ministry here for about 3 days and I
already have seen things that will forever be in my memories.  There is such a strong pain, a piercing
in my heart every time I walk down Bangla Road.  You can see the sadness in their eyes.  You can feel the darkness.  This is not how we were created to live.   These women are desperate for a new life.   You can see the relief in their
eyes paired with a bit of confusion when they see we only want to buy a coke
and play connect 4.   We don’t
want anything from them, we just want to hear their stories.  For that half hour, they don’t have to
entertain the man that just sat down. 
 We are here giving them
hope and a choice.