I have to confess right away that it’s pretty difficult missing my first Autumn in 22 years, aka my entire life.
I whine every time I see pictures of orange and yellow trees, and people sitting around in cute Fall sweaters while sipping on Salted Caramel Mochas from Starbucks. However, my teammates here kindly remind me of where I am and the epic things I get to do every day.
Even though I wake up each morning in sweat from the lack of air conditioning in 90 degree weather, we are living in a very nice area of Thailand. Chiang Mai is more of a tourist hang out and on our days off, we even get to experience some of it. Last weekend, 8 of us went up into the mountains and rode elephants, swam in a massive waterfall, and drifted down a river on bamboo rafts.
Yes that one day was incredible, but it hardly describes my day-to-day activity here in Thailand!
To paint more of a clear picture, this month our team was placed in bar ministry. Like I talked about in my last blog, we are working with Lighthouse in Action and this is just one of the three ways in which they bring the Gospel to Thailand. In bar ministry, we are called to prayer walk daily through the red light district of Chiang Mai and then build relationships with girls that are either prostitutes because they have no other form of income or they are even sex trafficked.
Every night tons of girls sit in front of the bars waiting to bring customers in. Up and down “bar street” are not only hundreds of bars, but also massage parlors that are massage parlors during the day and can turn into basically brothels at night.
We go out in partners each day and night as if we are going “out” ourselves, and we constantly see older Western men come with one intention for these women. It crushes me every time I see an older white man walk into a bar full of prostitutes and I struggle with not judging them or building up anger towards them; since they need Jesus and hope just as much as the girls do.
Just even typing this out, this ministry seems crazy and daunting and beyond our strength. And yes, it most definitely is. But it’s not about our strength but God’s power within us. We’ve been led directly to women that speak English and are looking to get out of the bars. It’s a beautiful thing when we hold a key for them, a key to freedom.
Through Lighthouse–if girls want it–we can provide them a job. And in January they will even be able to provide a safe-house for women that need to get away from the bar atmosphere and have no where to live.
Most importantly, we are able to give them one thing and that’s love. These women believe that their identity is in whether or not a man will choose them as they line up for sex. I’ve watched girls get rejected over and over as well, which is heart breaking since their worth is crushed in a man’s shake of a head. I even watched this one night as a girl as young as 13 was lining up for a man’s choosing.
We have a list of girls and even men that we’ve met and love and continue to pursue relationship with them. In just two weeks, we’ve been able to build relationships and fall in love with people all throughout the red light district.
So. I hope that this explains a little of my daily activity!
Was it scary entering this? Yes.
Has God shattered all of my expectations of what this month was going to look like? Most definitely.
But is the Creator of the Universe bringing light and hope to the men and women of Thailand? Absolutely.
God is constantly working to establish a better life to these people and it brings me joy every single day to be able to be apart of what He is doing.
Please pray for my team!!
1. Pray for more Christian businesses to rise up so that women have more opportunities to make money and not through prostitution.
2. For a newness in our prayer walks and prayer sessions so that our schedule doesn’t become monotonous but instead for our eyes to be opened to all the prayers He is answering. WHICH ARE A LOT.
3. Pray for my heart and for my team leader role; that I may stand firm in my identity in Christ. If I don’t understand God’s full love for me then how can I love my neighbor as myself?
4. Pray for Lighthouse in Action and may God continue to provide for them through the Zion Cafe and Hostel.
5. Pray against Spiritual Warfare. It is so real and evident and our squad struggles daily to hold onto the truth of what God is speaking to us.
Thank you, thank you. Your support means the world to me and to my squad. It is always the biggest encouragement.
And if you would like to see our video from Cambodia, Ana Matiz made one heck of a good one!
(make sure you select HD quality on the bottom right for your viewing pleasure)
