There is no way to begin to express the joy I felt the
evening of April 15, 2009.
Ironically, it was also my sister’s twenty-first birthday, and perhaps
the best way for it to be celebrated since I could not be with her.
The initial night we walked into Patong we first found
ourselves on a street called Soi Sea Dragon at a bar about halfway down the
road. The first person I spoke to was special. I knew it from the moment we
met. I did not know how I could have known, because she was the first woman in
prostitution I had ever met, but I somehow innately knew that God had a hold on
her heart and something was going to happen with her. To be completely honest, I doubted this nudge in my heart. I
assumed I was overly optimistic (a problem I tend to hold) of the situation and
was genuinely a little fearful my hopes for her would not be fulfilled. Nonetheless,
my heart was drawn to her and I knew I would spend the following days pouring
into her over bottles of Coke and games of Jenga and Connect Four.
Her name is Ice (pictured left at her bar– on the left side of the image). The first time I asked, I couldn’t
understand what she said. A few nights later I asked again, but this time
requested she spell it so I could pronounce it better. She said, “My name is
Ice, I-C-E” in her beautifully thick Thai accent. Ice is thirty-two years old
and has a ten-year-old daughter living outside of Bangkok with family (we have
since discovered that yes, her daughter’s name is “Cream”-LOVE IT). She has come to Patong to support her
daughter with a “lucrative career” in prostitution. Unfortunately, this is the
case for many women in Patong and an extremely common story you will find at
each bar. Morality seems to have
an entirely different language when one speaks of starving your child or
selling your body to support her.
Women are generally treated poorly in the Thai culture with
domestic abuse at outlandish heights and sexual abuse and/or abduction of young
girls running recklessly. Many men
are also prone to leave their wives and children, or leave their pregnant
girlfriends in a hurry. No one
seems to blame the men here, though.
Rather continue the abuse by employing these already maltreated women as
bar girls to sell drinks and their bodies.
My friend Ice has discovered that though the situation
seems grim and hope a foreign concept, there is a way out. On Good Friday we told her about SHE as
she came to lunch with us at the center.
With the weekend came Songkran (the madness of the New Year you can
watch on my “happy new year!!” blog), thus our conversation consisted of
pouring water all over each other in laughter.
On April 15th, though, we went to visit this bar
as we always do (we have built relationships with several women employed
there). I sat down with Ice and
after a brief exchange of hugs and “How are you?” she said something to me I
couldn’t comprehend at first. What
I perceived she said was, “Howrie (how she pronounces my name), I want to come
work at salon.” I was extremely confused and asked here where the salon was.
She was likewise confused and we went back and forth for a
little while trying to figure out what she was trying to tell me. Eventually I figured she was attempting
to say “SHE” so I pulled out the business card written in Thai and asked her if
that was what she proposed. She exclaimed, “Yes! I want a job. I want to work
here!”
Imagination fails to describe the shock and joy I felt in
that moment. I did not know how to respond or what to say. I simply said, “Ok!”
and preceded to clarify. I asked
her when she wanted to come and she made it clear that the next day was her
intention. I also clarified that
she desired to move in to the center and she confirmed with enthusiasm.
I cannot begin to express what I felt in that moment. God is
the only way this woman would so quickly trust us and pack up her entire life
and leave to make jewelry and chocolate.
We were there to deliver the message, sure, but the Holy Spirit was the
One doing all the talking. He
spoke to her heart with such power she was motivated immediately to leave and
start over at SHE.
It would be fantastic for my ego to claim any personal
victory in any of this, but I cannot.
God sent us to that bar the first night and sat me down in front of
her. He convinced her it was a
good idea to be taken to a house twenty minutes away one afternoon to share
lunch with some strangers. He
showed her hope and freedom by means of chocolate and the welcoming arms of
Mark and Sharon. He gave her
courage to make the decision to leave, even though she was so obviously fearful
of the decision when she told me at the bar. God has done it all.
I feel a bit like a road flare that God has placed in the path of this
woman to redirect her. The road
flare is present and its presence makes a difference, but if someone hadn’t
placed it there intentionally, its presence makes no difference. My presence only made a difference
because God placed me there.
I will never forget the moment we pulled up to the street
corner to pick her up. Everyone
who works in the bars sleeps during the day, so instead of escaping in the
cover of night, she escaped in the cover of light. What a beautiful picture of the way God hides us in His
presence. Darkness is expelled by
the light in the spiritual realm, and here so poetically complimented. Ice came out of the darkness of the
bars and escaped by the light and guarding presence of God, whether she was
aware of it or not.
Ice is now settled into SHE, at least somewhat (Ice, me and some other girls from that bar at SHE when they came to visit on Good Friday). She lives
with the other Thai girls in the center and makes chocolate during the day. She
is adjusting to a new environment, new people and new sleeping pattern. She has heard the Gospel presented at
least once and attends Bible studies each morning before work. Please pray for
her as she continues to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Pray she understands and receives God’s
saving grace. Pray also she feels
accepted and loved here. She
speaks very little English so it is difficult for us to communicate, but pray
the love of Christ is deeply felt in her heart by all of us and that she
creates good relationships with the women who work here.
To God be the glory forever. He is good and His work is not yet done!
