When the call was put in my heart to do the World Race, I specifically chose a route that included sex/human trafficking areas…mainly Thailand…because for years this issue has been on my heart. I figured this would be my opportunity to finally get involved and see for myself what this monster really looks like…but before we arrive, we are told that we are doing "bar ministry"….
BAR MINISTRY!!!!!!!!!!???????!!!!!!!! Who cares about bar minstry…I don't want to speak to bar hoppers…Jesus turned water into wine…who cares about having a drink or two…I want to get to the nitty gritty of human trafficking.
Little did I know, God was placing me right where He wanted me to be…bars are the main fronts for the human trafficking industry. Here is what I've been exposed to at a glance:
Girls….no, excuse me….beautiful, young and scantly clad girls in heels, mini skirts, make up, hair fixed, jewels, and smiles, line up outside of the bars. A man (bar patron, potential client, john) enters the bar. He is followed by all the the women lined up outside. They offer him a fun and affordable night of "karoaking". They give him the prices….1 hour for 200 baht ($6 USD) accompanied by the girl(s) of his choice. He chooses. The girl(s) goes with him. The rest (the ones unchosen) file back outside.
This cycle repeats from 9pm to 8am. On every corner. In every bar. For miles and miles.
I have seen this process with my own two eyes.
The RED LIGHT DISTRICT is what trafficking areas are known as. And it is called the same in many different cities in many different countries around the world.
Girls are stolen or sold. Pimped. Purchased. Returned to "owner". And the cycle repeats.
Every night my team of girls go out. We split up in 3's. We hit the streets. We search for the bars. We go in. We talk to these girls who are being trafficked…against their own will.
I have made friends with several of them. They are nice girls. I met a pair of sisters. One 21, the other 19. Both sold into trafficking by their parents in efforts to "provide monies" for their families. I imagined me and my younger sister out their, against our will, subjected to violence, rape, and abuse.
I met a family, who owns a bar and runs the entire operation. The father oversees the girls on the corner. The mother does the bidding. One son is called the boss. One son watches the 2 year old granddaughter who is at the bar every night in the midst of "karoaking and fun".
In other bars, there are 8 year old boys who sell flowers all night to the men soliciting services from the trafficked girls. Lady boys: boys sold as sex slaves and made to wear skirts and dresses. After all, some clients have "different" fetishes.
My ministry…..each night I go out and talk to the girls: how are you tonight? what do you do for fun? Do you have facebook? What is your favorite color? Do you like Beyonce?
Each night I try to treat them like a human being. Like a person who is worthy of love and interest. Like a person who deserves to be thought about and cared for. And as they open up to me, I share my testimony of who Christ, the hope of glory, is…
For now, this is the way God is using me in the fight against human trafficking. (And of course intercessory prayer.)
Please pray with me as our teams hit the streets and pray for freedom and justice. My prayer is that these victims called Ladies of the Night would be made Daughters of His Marvelous Light!!!!!
More to come…
