The transition from Malaysia to Thailand has been an
interesting one. To go from a place where we couldn’t talk about what we were
doing to a place where we are open to discuss anything we want has been
amazing.
Since we have been in Thailand we have had the opportunity
to experience a lot of the different things in Thai culture. We have visited
three Buddhist temples and been apart of one of the major festivals in
Thailand. I have eaten more PadThai then I ever thought I would in my entire life and have had more sticky
rice then I ever thought possible. Our meals normally consist of going to the
outdoor market, pointing at some mixture of vegetables and meat that is in a
bag, getting a small bag of sticky rice and hoping that is tastes good. At the
market we can buy an entire meal for around 30 Baht, which is about $1.00. It
is interesting to think about the exchange when I go to buy things. My first
thought is, “I don’t want to pay 250 Baht for a pair of amazing Thai pants.”
But then I realize 250 Baht is about $9 so I end up buying them. Things are
relatively cheap anywhere you go.
So the thought of things being relatively cheap also applies
with the ministry we are doing. We are working with Lighthouse in Action that
reaches out to the women and men that work in the bars here in Chiang Mai. We
have been asked to form friendships with the prostitutes, the transvestites,
and the homosexuals that work in these bars. At first thought most people would
think, “Why would you ever surround yourself with those people or be careful
they might try to do something to you.” It is actually the opposite. The people
you have to look out for are the customers. The men the go into the bars to buy
these girls out for the night are the people you really have to look out for.
It also doesn’t cost much to buy a girl out of the bar for the night. It
normally cost about 1000 Baht which is about $33. So it is very cheap!
The thing I have realized in doing this ministry is that
most of these girls don’t have a choice in being there. They have been forced
into this work one way or another. Some were sold by their parents or others
were forced into it because they had no money to pay for school. Whatever
reason they have for being there most of them do not enjoy having to do this.
(Our ladyboy friend, Pong in red, setting her lantern into the sky on the bar street)
So here is a break down of our day. Wake up for devotions so
that we as a team can continue to feed into each other spiritually, eat
breakfast, either go back to sleep or go work at the coffee shop, shower around
4:00pm, if it is your meal day you figure out where the rest of the team is
going to eat for dinner, dinner at 6:00pm, debrief, worship together at 8:30,
leave the house at 9:00pm and walk to the street which in Thai means “Sin
Street,” walk up and down either praying or talking with the girls that we have
formed friendships with in the bars, arrive back home around 12:30am. Then wake
up and do it all again.
In arriving here to do this work something that has been
spoken over our team is to love through our actions. All we can do is walk down
the darkest street in the city and radiate the love of Christ through our
actions in order to show His love through how we interact with people. Most of
them just want someone to talk to that isn’t trying to get anything in return
from them. We have been called to the darkest place to bring in the light of
Christ so that people will see His love through us. These girls are starting to
see that we are different then the other customers that come into the bars.
They are starting to realize that we just want to sit and talk with them in
order to find out more about their lives. We genuinely want to get to know them
as a person not as someone that can be bought for sex. We are interested in who
they are as a person and that is all. It is so encouraging to see that the
girls and lady boys (transvestites) are beginning to notice that we are
different when we go back to the same bars night after night. The Lord has big
plans for this place and we are His stewards in helping those plans come true.
