The picture below is a bunch of us at debrief.
The ministry I am working with is called SHE ministries. It stands for Self Help and Empower. It was started a couple of years ago by a really awesome couple named Mark and Sharon Biddell. Basically what happens is they go, and teams (like our World Race team) go into bars at night (usually between 10 ppm and midnight) to sit and chat with the girls. The idea is to build relationships with them and to hopefully be able to invite them to come work for SHE. The only rule to work at SHE is that the girls must NOT be working at a bar in the evenings. What SHE does is provide employment to these girls in the form of making jewellery. They are taught how to make bracelets, earrings, and necklaces that can be sold all around the world. The girls are given a regular salary that is not based on how well the jewellery is selling. Every morning the girls attend a Bible study that is lead by a visiting team. They are provided with lunch, and other Bible study opportunities are available on Wednesday evenings. The girls who work here do not have to be Christian, but the hope and prayer is that they will come to know Jesus through all of the influence around them.
SHE currently has about 11 people working for them. They have had as many as 18 and the number is always fluctuating. Some girls leave to go back to their village, some leave to work in other places, and some go to YWAM’s discipleship training program. I believe only 2 girls have ever gone back to work in the bars. The Biddell’s are working hard at learning Thai, and a couple of the girls speak English. Fortunately now that they have has so much success with their ministry, the girls who work for them occasionally go with them to the bars to tell the girls there about SHE and give a first hand testimony of how it has helped them, and changed her life. It is so awesome to see how God is working here through SHE. (The picture to the left is what the bars look like during the day).
The other part of SHE that is currently underway is their residential aspect. They are somewhat like a half way house for a few girls. Some girls can’t leave the bars because they are living in bar accommodation and have no where else to go. The intention is for those girls to be able to live at SHE until they can save some money and find some cheap accomomdation, usually about 3 months. Some stay longer, some don’t stay that long, opening spots for other girls. It is really good for them to be able to provide this for the girls.
The Thai culture is a very difficult one to break into. They have never been colonized by a Western country so their culture has remained very intact. They are a Buddhist country, with a strong sexual spirit that has consumed the country. Much of their tourism is based on prostitution , men coming here for the Thai girls. There is a whole “gender” called “ladyboys” which is men who want to be women. Some are cross dressers, many have had surgeries and such. There is an entire section of bars dedicated to having these ladyboys as their main “attraction”. This is considered normal. Thai girls are expected to care for their parents financially, and give their parents whatever they want. They are expected to send home most of what they earn, and a lot of times the only job they can find is prostitution. Sometimes the only job that pays enough for what their parents want (cars, cell phone, nice house) is prostitution AND a second job during the day. Many of the girls have children of their own to look after as well. The bars don’t actually pay the girls to work there, sometimes only offering some food and accommodation, and their only form of payment is what the customer will give them. This is often quite a bit of money, which makes it difficult for some girls to decide to leave. One girl, trained as an accountant was offered a job at SHE. However, she was making 10 times as much money from 2 two week customers than SHE could offer her for the month. In the places that we go to- the open air bars- the girls are not owned by the bar, are not pimped out by the bar, and are free to choose to have customers or not and are free to go whenever they want. The only thing holding them there is the money they get from their customers. The closed bars that we do not go into do own the girls, and force them to be with whatever man shows up and they are not free to leave. We pray for these places, but it is not wise for us to go there at this time.
Please be praying for our team as we are here for the next 2 weeks. Pray that we meet the right people, and that we will have the right words to say, and the boldness to say them. Pray for the girls that they will make the decision to leave the bars, and that God will move in their hearts and bring them into salvation. Pray for the Biddell family (Mark, Sharon and 4 children from 6-16 years) that they will continue to see fruits from their ministry and that God will continue to use them, and to fill them with His spirit. Pray most of all for the country of Thailand. Pray that will will redeem them as He did with Ninevah and not have to destroy them as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah. Pray that Thailand will turn to God, and become a major Christian influence on this side of the world. Pray that the prostitution here would cease to exist, that men would be content as men and for all of the dark and evil spirits to be crushed under God’s mighty fist.
I have fallen in love with Thailand, which is really a surprise to me. I had expected to fall in love with Africa, as my heart had always been drawn there, but having had no desire to ever come to Asia, I am surprised at how fast and how deeply I have fallen so in love with Thailand. I am in love with all of the people, and my heart aches for them all. I love the ministry that we are doing here (which doesn’t surprise me as much since I studied women’s studies in university and my final research paper was mainly about providing women with opportunities to have small businesses for themselves). I hope and pray that you will all fall in love with Thailand with me and pray for them continually. Take time to check into the ministry here, buy some jewellery, and if you feel God calling you, come to Thailand for a week or two or longer to spread the hope you have in Him with others. My prayer for the bars we are in is to have more Christians there to minister than men who are there to buy women. I pray that we will storm the gates of hell here, and I know we will be victorious.
