Picture it: Wake up around 8am to the fan swiveling beside my bed. Every 5 seconds or so I get cooled off and wait impatiently for it to turn my way again. I get down from my bunkbed and make my way down two flights of stairs to the kitchen for cornflakes! Of course, I add sugar.
Then I find someone who is just as desperate for coffee as I am and walk to the stand down the road-probably still in my pj’s because at this point all my clothes are the same-light and cozy. Pj’s aren’t restricted to only nighttime anymore. At the coffee stand a little thai woman knows what I came for and puts instant coffee, sugar, powdered milk in a glass and adds hot water. Then sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk get thrown in to make it my favorite coffee of the race. Each coffee is less than a dollar. This could be why I get 2 a day.
Lunchtime rolls around and it’s usually veggies, meat and rice. After lunch we either go do construction in the sun that beats all the energy out of you. It’s so satisfying to do manual labor. I miss holding a garden tool and being exhausted after only an hour of work. After we finish there we ride to a beach nearby and cool off in the water for 20 minutes. A few hours of hard labor is definitely worth the water time. Always.
If we don’t do construction we stay back at the house and do miscellaneous jobs or do a prayer walk of the bars we go to at night. It’s a totally different experience to be in the bars during the day. They’re dirty, deserted, and unwelcoming. The girls carry such life with them and when they’re not in the bars it’s just the filthy shell that they inhabit at night. I love being able to walk through and pray over each bar and the night.
Around 8pm we have worship and at 9 two teams head out to the bars. The other two teams stay back and intercede until the night is done. Both sides are incredible.
There is one spot that is my favorite. It’s called Tiger. I actually had a vision of tigers prowling outside the bars and I think the more we go into the bars and intercede and carry the Holy Spirit more protection lies there for the women. So Tiger is a big area with tons of small individual bars. Almost every one has girls on the counters dancing. Every girl is beautiful. Her smile is genuine and heartfelt. She loves to be talked to instead of grabbed at. I can’t explain to you what it’s like in my heart to go into the bars and talk to girls. When I ask, “do you like working here?” most of them look down and do a half smile that means they shouldn’t say how they really feel. These girls get sucked in because they make good money. Some of the girls like their job and don’t want to leave but the majority are there out of need. I love being able to give the girls a break from dancing or having to flirt with a stranger and they know that’s why we’re there. Tonight my team is going into the bars. I can’t wait to order a sprite and play connect 4 with the girls and lose everytime. The Lord is definitely sowing and watering and growing roots. Favorite month by far-yes.
