We have been in Pattaya, Thailand for a week and that doesn’t seem possible. It’s flown by so fast already and I know I won’t be ready to leave this place. We are spending the next week and half in Pattaya and then we will head to Bangkok for the rest of our time in Thailand. Pattaya is a beach town in Thailand that is known for sex tourism.
We are spending our time here working with the Tamar Center. Check out their website to read a more detailed description of our ministry this month! The women from the Tamar Center are absolutely amazing and we are blessed to be working with them this month. Their center focuses on offering jobs to women who want to stop working in the bars/prostitution. They have a coffee shop/bakery and hair salon where women can work or they can make products to be sold such as jewelry or cards. They also offer English classes to women who want to learn. We have been helping with the English classes and doing bar outreach in the evenings. We do a lot of prayer walking and sitting down to talk with women who work in the bars. Hearing their stories breaks my heart, but I see the Lord bringing redemption to the women in Pattaya through the Tamar Center.
This is a picture of the tourist area of Pattaya. Most of the streets near the beach are lined with bars.
This photo was taken on one of the streets lined with bars near the ocean.
Our second day in Pattaya we went on a prayer walk along the beach. I’ve never been in a place this spiritually dark and it was a bit overwhelming the first day. My heart broke for the women we passed who are selling their bodies to make ends meet. My heart broke that they feel this is the only way to provide for their families. My heart broke for the men we passed who come here to Pattaya for sex. My heart broke for the loneliness, the brokenness, the pain we saw in eyes and faces. And in the same moment, God reminded me that He brings beauty from ashes. He is still God and God is still here. His redemption is still being seen in Pattaya at the Tamar Center and through other ministries. And while it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by how huge the issue is here, it’s worth it for one. It’s worth it for one changed life. It’s worth it if one woman walks away from work in the bars and comes to know Jesus. It’s worth it if one woman feels the relentless love of her Heavenly Father.
When walking along the beach, I kept thinking about the Dominican and how everything became personal when the women who were in chains and needed freedom were people who were my friends. I was thinking about how passionate I am to see them find true rest and freedom in Christ. Everything we are doing to pursue moving back is worth it for one changed life… and it’s the same for every woman in Pattaya and every woman in Africa and Europe and the States and at the coffee shop in line in front of us and at the grocery store. Every ounce of love we pour out is worth it for them. It’s like Mother Theresa said, “small things with great love.”
It’s all so worth it. For one.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 1:3
