…..I just don’t. Well, I’ll rephrase
that. “I didn’t.”
But before Thailand, unless you were a
stinky Hispanic boy who did paint thinner every week, listened to
Daddy Yankee, had moves like Michael Jackson (and whose name possibly
rhymed with Fernando), I probably wasn’t too fond of you.
Or, (of course) if your names weren’t
Roman or Maison Purull (aka my punk brothers), again…probably
wasn’t too fond of you.
Thailand changed all of that -“no let
me rephrase that- “Thailand wrecked
me.
[Before you continue reading my
blog, I’d HIGHLY recommend reading my friend Beka’s blog: “Luxuries:
Beds, Chairs and Choice PART 2.” While I’d like to share about the sex
industry myself, Beka does a much better job laying out the issues
and experience of bar ministry. My main focus this month was the
childrens’ ministry, so I’d like to just highlight those experiences
instead. However, please read her blog to get a better idea of the
sex industry, it is very important to know as much as possible!] click here
I’ve never been stretched so much in my
life. I really think kids are just awkward and weird. They smell
sometimes, they have to constantly be told to “STOP!� and they
ask me the weirdest questions. I just don’t get their language and I
don’t understand their world.
During Month 4 though, I decided to
challenge myself. Feeling like an idiot at the time, I decided to try
out children’s ministry in the slums. That required teaching them
English four times a week in addition to doing bar ministry at night.
When you’re spending the day with kids in Thailand and then hitting
the bars at night to share Christ’s love with the prostitutes and
their clients, you start to put two and two together. See equation
below:
Simply put, if you’re a child growing
up in Thailand, mainly the slums of Thailand, you’re more than likely
to find yourself later in life working the bar streets at night. It
is a sad reality, one that I cannot even begin to fathom. I would go
out to these bars, I’d look into the eyes of the women and lady-boys
(men who’ve decided to become women) and I’d instantly see them….
…the children. And it broke me.
It’s unsettling to know that the same
kids who hang around my neck, get glitter everywhere and misspell the
word “cucumber� could be selling their bodies in less than 10
years from now. And I’m not okay with that. All I want to do is fight
for them. All I want to do is fight off any man that will try and
steal away their innocence. It’s times like these where I wish so
badly my foreign language skills didn’t stop at Spanish. Because all
I want to tell them is
“you’re beautifulâ€�
“you are worthy to be served�
“Jesus loves you so much�
“He is waiting for you
Daughter�
But I can’t. I can’t say any of those
things, and it is the most frustrating thing. But what I can do is
display the love of Christ through my actions. And that’s what some
of my teammates and I did that month. We loved these kids…like
crazy! We taught them. We guided them. We made silly faces at them
and made them laugh. We just…loved them. Grace was probably the
biggest theme in my life during that time. Because it is only by
God’s grace that I am loved and I was able to love the way Christ
loved.
I realize now, how beautiful these
little weirdos are. I felt like a proud Mama when they pronounced the
word “lion� correctly or when they would blow bubbles at my face.
I realize that I have been given so much, and I am a fool to think
that it’s not my responsibility to give back. Sure, I may not
understand their crazy personalities all the time, but hey. Who
really understands my crazy personality either?!
These faces will remain in my mind
forever. Their laughs will always ring in my ears, and one thing is
certain. I love them.
Conclusion: I love kids! 🙂
Will you pray for these kids? They are
precious to me and to so many others. Pray God protects them. Pray
that He will fight for them, that they will find Jesus and find other
opportunities for their lives other than the expected sex industry.
Pray for a miracle. They need our prayers.
