A strong, pale hand rests on the small of her back as his other hand slides across the tan skin of her leg. The contrast of skin color is almost as stark as the difference in their body language. Intoxicated by both alcohol and lust, his fingers trace suggestively along the hem of her skin tight dress. He leans in close to her, a smile on the corner of his lips as he whispers in her ear. She looks down at the ground and swallows hard. As she looks back up, regret and shame flood her eyes. She doesn’t want to do this. She doesn’t want this lifestyle. She doesn’t walk away with this man. But this is a business deal she cannot afford to lose. She runs her hand flirtatiously up his arm and places her hand on his bicep as she nods yes and leads the man into a back room.
She is being held captive.
In her society, she is expected to support her family back home. She moves 15 hours south to where she can get work as a bartender. But what she makes off of selling drinks is barely enough to support herself, let alone her parents. So circumstances force her into selling her body.
Every single night she is enslaved to a new man and many nights a handful men contribute to locking her in this prison.
She is not alone.
In the bars of Patong, the women are slaves to so many different things: the pressure to send money for their families, the objectification of their bodies, and especially the men who want to purchase “their company” for the night.
Even if a woman decides to head back north, she would still be held captive by the debilitating shame society places on prostitutes and the lies she began to believe when men purchased her body.
“You are only worth my love for one night.”
“You are only worth what I am willing to pay for you.”
“You are alone.”
“Your body is an object. The more you show the more people value you.”
The Bible gives so many examples of captives being set free. Rahab, a prostitute, is commended in the New Testament for her faith. She was once held captive to her occupation, but she knew there was more and her faith in God is admirable. In fact, God was better able to use her because of her social position. Another example is found in the book of Hosea. God instructs Hosea to marry Gomer, a rather loose woman. After marriage, she quickly commits adultery and sinks so low as to sell herself into slavery. Hosea, a true representation of God’s love and grace, doesn’t give up on her, purchases her back and reclaims her as his wife.
That is what God wants to do. He wants to reclaim each and everyone of these women as His. But like many things, principles that may make sense in our head are incredibly hard to apply in our lives. Most of these women believe that God’s freedom, grace and love is out of their grasp.
But it isn’t. God has promised freedom for them and the jump for being held captive to being captivated by God is much smaller than most people think.
All it takes is the truth.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
This is what my job this month. I am in Thailand to combat the lies people have told these women by speaking the truth of The Lord.
They are worth such a radical love that lasts forever.
Money doesn’t determine their worth.
They are never alone.
Their bodies are temples in which God dwells.
Once these women start to hear what is true, the will going from being held captive to being captivated by God.
The same is true for you. You might be living as a slave to something whether it be a sinful habit, a false idol, or a lie spoken over you that has become your truth. We all have sinned. Nobody is perfect. But the blood of the cross covers you just as much as it does these women. God has grace, mercy and love for each of us that surpasses all of our understanding.
Never be ashamed of your past. It has shaped you into who you are: a person who is perfect in God’s eyes. The taste of freedom is so much sweeter to the people who have experienced the bitterness of imprisonment.
Let Him captivate you.
