This is a blog written by Christy Linhart and I and this happened on our Race Day last week…
Last week we had a race day from our squad. However on this race only 5 members of every team were allowed to race. So Courtney and I went out on the streets of Bangkok to do a little ATL and prayer walking. We were told that the area that we were at looked like a normal street during the day (and for the most part it did) but at night it turned into a ‘Red Light District’ area. (We soon found out why we were told this.)
As we started out, we headed down one street and passed an elderly man begging for money. We were informed earlier in the day not to give money to any beggers, as most of them were under the control of the mafia and wouldn’t receive any of the money given to them anyways. But the man was feeble in appearance and it was extremely hot outside and he had nothing to drink. I looked at Courtney and told her on the way back that I wanted to stop in and get him something to drink.
We continued down the street taking turns praying to God whatever came into our hearts and minds. We sat down at what turned out to be a bus stop and continued praying. We noticed directly across the street from us was the Embassy to Pakistan. We began praying for the Muslim community in Thailand and all over the world. As we prayed, several women dressed in Muslim attire passed us. We also repeatedly saw the same Western men (white men) walk by us as we prayed against any pursuits toward the Thai prostitutes.
After covering that area of the street with prayer, we went back to give the elderly begger some water. At this point, both of us were dying of thirst and we had only been out for an hour. As I handed the bag with a bottle of water to the man, he held his hand out to take it, however instead of fingers he only had nubs. The man was probably suffering from Leprosy and had already lost several digits. As he took the bag, he looked down into it to see what we had given him, in hopes of food. Yet we had only given him water. So Courtney wanted to get him some food on the other side of the street. (At this piont, there was nothing with him. He had no water and no food and the hot afternoon was just beginning.)
We crossed the street and immediately the atmosphere changed. There was a darkness and oppression in the air. Courtney and I began to pray and as we saw the first bar we prayed for the women and the men inside. As we continued down the street, we quickly came to the next bar that was again filled with white men and Thai prostitutes. One table had an American man surrounded by three women, another table had a young Thai woman hanging on to every word that this American man was saying and the man was eating it up. Table after table we saw similar interactions between the men and prostitutes. We began praying in front of the bar, pacing back and forth for a good 5 to 10 minutes. When I looked up, I told Courtney to look up. The women were all gone. The men were still there but the women were gone! (And 30 minutes later when we came back by, the men were still there but the women were gone!)
Immediately after this, a man selling Viagra to older Western men was busted by a cop! God had already started intervening in these people’s lives! It was amazing to see God answering our prayers in such a real way and so fast! As we headed back to meet up with our friends, Courtney stopped to buy fruit and chicken-on-a-stick for the begger we had met earlier in the day.
When we stopped to give him the food, we noticed that not only was the bottle of water from us there but also more water and a bag of food! Someone was also putting money into his cup as we stood there. God was literally delievering this man his daily bread
right in front of our eyes!
When we went back to meet our squadmates at the coffee shop Mark S. told us that there was a Western man checking out every woman who walked in the door and staring at the lingerie in the department store next to the coffee shop. Team Awaken was in the coffee shop praying and this man kept moving tables and finally moved outside b/c he was so uncomfortable. Evantually we went upstairs and saw Allison at the internet cafeé and told her what God had done. When we looked over, low and behold, sitting next to Allison there that man was again. He was looking at an Asian girl website so we went to pray. It seemed he could not escape the World Racers. It was like God was intentionally putting him around Christians and prayer the entire afternoon. All in all it was an amazing day and we saw God’s hand move and work in a real and obvious way.
It was a good lesson at the beginning of Thailand of what praying with authority can really do.
Phillipians 4:5-7
“Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
By the way – Our team did not win the race but we came in 2nd place! Concrete won (congratulations!!) and they decided to give our team $50 for the ministry fund. We plan on using the money to use for ministry with the prostitutes.
