I just spent my 23rd birthday in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is wicked cool for so many reasons. First of all, it's Thailand. Secondly, it is the Thai new year which means that there is a country wide water fight as well as fireworks going off outside my window right now, which I have been pretending are in honor of me. Other reasons include sharing my birthday with wonderful Helena Jordao, eating Pad Thai twice in one day, being surprised with gifts throughout the day from my teammates, getting a Tigger cake from my squadmates and getting to talk to my parents and grandparents on Skype. But the coolest thing about my birthday was that I got to hang out with a bunch of prostitutes.
Our ministry this month is called Love Acts which is a part of Lighthouse In Action and is basically the opposite of everything corporate Christianity stands for. We don't evangelize, we don't use the word missionary, we dress up like tourists (e.i. no chacos, cargo pants or baggy t-shirts) and go hang out in sleazy bars and make friends with prostitutes, drunks, bar owners, white men buying sex, street kids and lady boys. So basically we are doing exactly what Jesus would be doing if He were here.
The main focus of this ministry is the women who work at the bars in the red light district of Chiang Mai, who almost always double as sex workers. About 94% of the Thai population is Buddhist, which means telling the girls that Jesus loves them would mean absolutely nothing and we don't tell them we are missionaries or tell them all that they should quit what they are doing right that second because it is more important to develop meaningful friendships, show them the love of Jesus by our presense and give them a break from what they would be doing otherwise. In many cases this leads to conversations and dates outside of the bars which in turn can open opportunities through the organization to learn English and to leave their jobs for something better.
So for my birthday Liz, Leslie and I hit up a few bars, paid to spend time just hanging out with some prostitutes, befriended a few street kids, laughed, played pool and brought some light and love into the darkness. Definitely the coolest birthday I've ever had.
p.s. There is a new documentary about human trafficking called Nefarious: Merchant of Souls that comes out on DVD on May 1st. We were able to watch it last night and it is very powerful and informative. Please check out the website, watch the movie and spread the word. Part of it deals exactly with what we are working with this and next month, but this issue is also much closer to home than you might think. www.nefariousdocumentary.com
