NO HOPE?
Instability, insecurity,
impurity, providing, abandoned, kids, hurts, broken lives, no hope, the only
option, looking for love, real people, real lives, real stories, a smiling
face, cover-up, low self-image, prostitution, a way of life…
While in Bangkok
an extra few days before flying to the Philippines, some of us had the
opportunity to be a part of a ministry that has been tugging at my heart ever
since I found out about it – sex trafficking and prostitution. (I had prepared my heart and had expectations
of working in that ministry when I arrived in Thailand since I heard that’s what
some of the other teams were doing. We
were unable to do that for our month in Thailand so, when the opportunity
came up to even get a glimpse of what was going on in that ‘world,’ I jumped on
board.)
As we prayed and walked
heading toward the bars, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. We headed out with Thai translators and
arrived at sections of town with many open bars. Most of them are not closed up with a door;
they are out in the open, lined up right next to each other with girls
available for any guy who is interested and has money. There was a heaviness that covered over the
whole area as we entered. So much shame
and sin abounded there. It broke my
heart to see these men indulging in something that was a short term
gratification. Some were playing pool
early on in the evening but as the night went on girls were rubbing and
touching and involved with disturbing things that the men wanted. Most of the men looked like western
businessmen who were away from home for a short while.
At first I made judgments
in my head of what horrible men these were and it made me sick. How could anyone do this to someone
else? I wanted to take them aside and knock
some sense into them. How could someone
just use another human being and drop them in the same night just like trash? What was it that these men were looking
for? Why did they feel it was okay to take
advantage of these girls? Maybe because
‘no one would ever find out?’ But as I
thought more and realized that these men are people too, I started to question
what needs weren’t being met that may have drawn them to this? Not justifying it in anyway, I started to
wonder what had happened in their past and what were they feeling? How long had Satan been tempting them? What had brought them to this point?
As I continued to think
about it, I became sad for these men and knew they needed Christ; they needed
His love and reminder. They needed to be running to Christ. They needed His love to fill them up, not
some cheap love or one night of physical pleasure, but an unconditional, all-fulfilling
love that is incomprehensible.
We continued to walk and
pray for each person we passed. We
prayed for the men and their hearts and minds that Satan had captured. We prayed for God to reveal their need for
Him to them and to bring someone into their lives to share God’s love. We prayed for God’s conviction in their
lives. We just prayed…
…to be continued [click here to continue reading Part II]
