I learned that from my mom. She is awesome.
This month the opportunity has come up to teach a little Bible Club here at the girls home we are working at. I love making themes, thinking of old Sunday School songs from my Summer Team days during Bible School, and tweaking games to make them relate to a Bible Story and putting it all together to make the Bible come alive for kids.
Last month our optional ministry was a little different. My teammate Sarah and I went to a major prostitution zone to help a local ministry build relationships with the women there. My team and I had been teaching English at this ministry for women in prostitution on Friday mornings. They gave us training and knowledge of what the area was like, who some of the women were, and what the purpose was. But nothing could prepare me for that night in the Red Light District.
We met at about 7pm and prayed over the night, the women, the men, the ministry, everything we could think of. And then we took some time to worship. When we headed out it was dark, but the nightlife hadn’t really picked up yet. We walked down the street in this particular area and it was lined with strip clubs and bars.
Every building had obscene words on their signage, every wall had billboards that would make your skin crawl.
The doors were open and flashing lights and loud music were spilling out. My whole life I’ve trained my eyes to look away from doors like that, but on this particular night, I went inside the door.
When we walked in, the first woman we saw was one of the ladies we had worked with Friday mornings, our best English student. I was genuinely excited to see her, and I felt like there was a purpose for us going to that particular bar that particular night. We hugged and greeted each other and started making small talk, but eventually she went back to work. She was there to make money.
There was a stage full of Thai women dancing almost completely naked and a few white business men sitting in the chairs surrounding the stage. I followed our ministry contact and we sat in a corner, but every chair faced the stage. Sarah and I didn’t know what to do. After about ten minutes of shouting conversation over the music with the other volunteers, an older woman by the door clapped her hands twice and all the women on the stage came down and new dancers took their place. Then the women on the stage came to visit the customers sitting in the chairs circling the stage.
I watched it with my own eyes.Thai women being purchased and used by Western men. I felt sick for them.
A few of the women came to visit with us. Sarah and I got to know one lady in particular and hear about her life. She was my age. She had three children who are living with their grandmother in the countryside. She was one of the sweetest people Ive met on the Race. We found out she worked at the bars to send money to take care of her family. We ordered a round of sodas and talked about life together. It was honestly the most enjoyable conversation I’ve ever had with a stranger. We invited her to English class and begged her to stop by the ministry for a class. After another 20 minutes passed the old lady at the door clapped her hands again and the dancers switched again. We hugged goodbye and our new friend went back to the stage to dance. She waved goodbye from the stage and we smiled and waved back as we stepped outside the door, knowing we would probably never see her again.
I learned a little about her life, but I still can’t imagine what the rest of her night was like. She works at the club every night from 7pm-3am. What a life.
I don’t know if my friend I met that night will get out of prostituation before it’s too late. I don’t know if she’ll check out the ministry we invited her to. I don’t know if she will get a job that gives her a sense of worth and still provides for her children. I don’t know if she’ll ever know what it feels like to be free from sin and feel clean and whole. But I do know that she has experienced kindness and love from a few Christian girls who walked through the doors to bring God’s love to her. Going through that door represented a lot to me. On the outside of the door I had no idea what life was really like inside.
But stepping inside the door was stepping outside of my comfort zone.
And once I got inside I was still uncomfortable and didn’t know what to do with myself. I didn’t know where to look, or how to act. I prayed the whole time. I didn’t feel judgmental toward any of the women. My heart went out to them. I wondered what each of their stories were and how they got there. Stepping inside the door helped me step into their world, and get to know them as normal women, without labels or sterotypes. And I really liked getting to know everyone I talked to.
To be honest it was weird, awkward, and at times, super uncomfortable. But I’m glad I said yes to the opportunity to go. I’m glad I got to step into their world to carry my smile and love, and the light of God into that place. As I sat there feeling awkward, before I had a chance to talk to anyone, I kept saying to myself ‘I am a Christian and tonight we can bring the light of God into dark places’.
I wanted to leave so many times, but the thought stayed in my head, ‘we’re light in these dark places. If we don’t go, who will?’
Christians have so many opportunities to be light in dark places in this world. I’m thankful for that night and the step of courage Sarah and I took through the door. I want to always remember there is somebody on the other side who might be waiting for hope to come in. I want to remember that I carry that hope as a vessel of the love of Jesus. And I want to keep saying yes to these opportunities, and push beyond my comforts to reach the people who are trapped in darkness.
I wonder what doors God has for me and my friends next…Six more countries to go. Six more months of opportunity on the World Race. And then the rest of my life.
*To all my friends and family: Please challenge me and push me to keep pushing. Send more opportunities my way. I know there are more doors for us to step through and more light to bring to more dark places.
