This month I have the honor of doing bar ministry in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is the most intense ministry I have ever done. Bar ministry consists of going into the local bars in the red light district and talking to the girls and the guys that are there. Many of these girls have been sex trafficked and are forced to work in the bar. Some girls see this as their only choice and a life style that provides for them. This industry brings in the largest revenue in Thailand. It makes my stomach churn to hear that. It has been difficult to try to understand the concept of what really is happening. Girls are purchased drinks allowing time to chat with them and then there is the option to buy their time for a few hours or the evening. The girls recieve a fraction of this money with the bar and the bar owner making huge profits. My righteous anger comes to play. I want to hate these bar owners but God has shown me that they are just as lost and in need of help as the girls. I want to hate the guys that buy these girls but they also are hopelessly lost. Yes their actions are wrong and I am completey against them but in their depths they search for something…..
Worth and value are two words that come through my head so often here. These girls are selling their worth. They are being told that they as people have a value. These girls will also negtiate a price and many times their value can drop from several thousand baht to about three hundred baht( 10 American dollars). This is just appaling to me. I know that my worth and my value are priceless because I am God's daughter. I am his princess whom he deeply loves. He also loves each of these girls and wants to show them that their worth and value can not be brought in money. His son already paid our price and it is infinite. These girls need to know that as well. In being able to go into the bars I am able to talk to them, love them, and show them that they are worth so much more than money. I am able to build relationships and give them a chance to relax and have fun.
The guys in the bars are buying the girls and putting a value on them. These guys are looking for something. The younger guys seem to just want a good time while the older guys may be looking for love. These guys are all missing something. God loves them as well and wants them to realize what they are doing. They need to be shown genuine love as well and know that they also have worth and it doesn't come in buying a girl. It comes in knowing the Father and I pray to strick up conversations with them about him.
This month I get to love people that the rest of the world ignores or sees as Thailand's problem. I get to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I get to bring worth and value to people that are so desperatly seeking the Father without knowing what they lack. I get to make a difference. I won't be able to help each girl and meet all of them but the ones I meet will be shown genuine love. If I make a difference in one life it was well worth it. I just need to sow seeds for the Kingdom and so I will in the red light district of Chiang Mai, Thailand this month.
I still need $3,189 to stay on the race. If 100 people could donate $32 I would be fully funded. If 32 people donated $100 I'd also be funded. If you could please, please help me out I would greatly appreciate it. I want to be able to continue this journey and have more stories about what God is doing to share. I mean $32 is about the cost of a Christmas gift and what better gift than spreading the Kingdom. Many thanks to those that have helped already and those that will.
