i’ve spent countless hours reading blogs and watching videos. i’ve heard the stories, done the research and sat through the orientations. i thought i knew what i was stepping in to.
i’ve been down bangla road a handful of times now and i am still at a loss for words. the flashing neon and thunderous music are enticing from a distance. as i commence the trek down the street i begin seeing signs i could never before conjure up. ‘blowjob bar’ is offering free drinks tonight. ‘win a girl in tonight’s raffle’ another venue boasts. perversion and lust surround me as i continue taking steps down bangla road. i’ve never been in such an environment but my teammates tell me it’s not a far cry from bourbon street or the las vegas strip.
there are over two hundred bars on bangla road. fifteen hundred women and ‘lady boys’ [men dressing and acting as women] work in these bars every single night. these women are being taken advantage of on the daily. their sole purpose in the bars is to appease their customers who come from all over the world; europe, australia, your neighborhood. in this town these women are little more than property, a commodity that has become anything but precious.
i just walked into the pit of hell.
the darkness and despair that lingers over this place is something i have never seen or experienced. the brokenness of the women in the bars and the desperation on their face can sometimes seem like too much. the pain and abuse has made them desolate souls just trying to survive. and the men. the men in this area, residents and visitors alike, are broken, too. they are searching and lost. their eyes hold nothing more than an empty void. they long for intimacy and acceptance and have resorted to ‘renting’ a girl in an effort to gain legitimacy and approval.
the enemy is here. he is alive and well.
but, jesus is here, too. he’s storming bangla road in the form of twenty five fire-breathers this month. and he’s loving the men and women of phuket through a handful of full-time, dedicated men and women at SHE. he’s pursuing the hearts of these people in a radical way. kingdom is coming to bangla road this month, in big ways and in small ways. the heavens are shaking and things are shifting in the spiritual realm.
it’s a dark place. the darkest i have ever seen, to be sure.
but there is light in me and in the women i’m with. and light can’t help but pierce the dark.
please continue to pray for us as we minister this month. pray for the women who work on bangla road that their hearts would be open to receiving the Lord and choosing a new lifestyle. pray that redemption would fall on this city in both the men and women.
