Picture a young girl in her early teenage years, living in a small village in Thailand… dreaming of a different life, a better life for her and her family. But what options does she have in her village? Family trades only go so far. So this girl, at her young age, does what she can to move to the big city… Chiang Mai. But without an education, without money, and without a plan she believes the only thing she can do to get to Chiang Mai is to agree to work in bars, to sell herself to men, almost all of which are foreigners, for single nights at a time to make money. She keeps little money for herself to stay in the city and sends the rest back home to her family. Weeks turn into months, months turn into years.
This is the story of so many girls in Thailand. They believe they have no other options but to fall into this lifestyle, a lifestyle that has been cyclical through the generations of their families and through the decades of this tourist filled city.
My team, along with two other teams within our squad, has been assigned to do bar ministry this month. We have been given the opportunity to go out and meet these girls, hang out with them, and communicate love and hope to them. I can’t even imagine the pain, hurt, and confusion these girls are carrying each night as they stand in front of bars, beckoning for customers to sit with them and then ultimately purchase them for the night.
It’s a heavy sight to witness. It’s sickening to see how accepted this practice is in this part of the world. But judgment is not the answer. We do the same exact thing in our culture at home. We buy into lies of how we are supposed to live, what we are supposed to do to be successful, who we are supposed to look like to be considered beautiful.
I am not going to pretend I have anything to offer to these girls. I am a broken person as well. But I pray the joy that I know from the Lord is attractive to them… that as we hang out with them, ask them questions about their lives, play pool with them, and show a genuine interest in them and not what they have to offer in these dark, desperate bars, they see something different in us that strikes a cord in their hearts.
These girls, the men purchasing them, the owners of the bars, everyone aware of the extent that this terrible practice has taken over this side of the world, you, me… we are all looking for what will satisfy us, what will make us feel pretty, successful, worthy, what we think we need to do to take care of those we love. But everything we need is free and open to us. God offers His perfect and righteous love freely to anyone willing to believe. His love is the only thing that will truly satisfy.
Please join me in praying that God wins the hearts of these broken men and women. Please pray that the guard that they have learned to put up over the years comes down so that they can see that true joy doesn’t come from doing whatever it takes to get money and that their value doesn't come from the work they do. Please pray for Colin and them men on our teams that will be talking to the customers of these precious women. Pray for compassion, pray for conversations, just pray! Just in my short time here I have started to learn just how real the power of prayer is. It’s a very necessary part of our ministry here.
We have hope in God and His power. He wants His children here to know Him and accept His love. And we pray we can be just a little part of His big plan for this place.
