innocence for sale.

But that’s not why we send teams there.  We go there because behind the markets selling pearls and purses, across the street from the beaches and restaurants is a strip called Bangla Road.  And on Bangla Road there are no secrets.  There’s no camouflage to protect the tourist from what is going on behind closed doors.  Signs advertise exactly what you can buy.  Women dance on bars along the streets.  Neon lights and loud music might sound bright and cheerful, but they are anything but.

Women are for sale here.

Sex is for sale here.

Innocence is for sale here.

Virginity is for sale here.

Passion is for sale here.

and hope is stolen here.

light is extinguished here.

dreams are killed here.

So that is why we go.  Because we believe that every little girl should be able to respect her mother.  Because we believe that every woman deserves dignity.  And because we believe that we carry the power of the Holy Spirit with us when we walk onto those streets and into those bars and onto the beaches.  

It is draining.  It is exhausting and it is hard work.  It’s hard to believe things for women who’ve stopped believing them for themselves.  It’s hard to convince women that freedom is possible.  It’s hard to love the men who take advantage of these women night after night after night.  And so our Real Life team that’s there now has fought to stay hopeful, fought to keep sowing into the ministry there, fought to reach out to stony faces each night.  

But last week something happened and they were invited to play in one of the bars where they’ve been ministering.  So they played what they knew and they worshipped Jesus in the middle of pole dances and strippers.  The speakers stopped pulsing with the heavy bass and calm invaded the chaos for a few moments.  And as they sang, hope returned.  Light invaded.  Dreams grew.

Check out the full story here.