my new friend.

 

She is 22 years old and has been working here for about 3 weeks now. Night
after night we head down Bangla Road, bombarded by the bright lights, go-go
shows, girls selling flowers, ladyboys dancing seductively, and men trying to
sell us anything from boot-legged DVD’s to cigarettes. Each night we pass
through all of this madness and finally arrive at our destination- the Cartoon
Bar. 

 I’m not
sure if I have mentioned this before or not, but when customers come to the
bars there are games to play. I guess this is to get to know the girls- I’m not
really sure why else they would have these. They consist of connect 4, jenga,
jackpot, or this hammer and nail game. You sit/stand around and play these
child-like games with the girls and get to know them.

 The first
night that I went out with Charlotte, we went to the Cartoon Bar and she
introduced me to two girls that she had previously met there, Naan and Ling.
Naan got connect 4 and we went and sat at a table to play. Ling stayed back.
The next night we went back. Charlotte was playing a game with Naan, so I
started playing connect 4 with Ling– trying to talk to her and get to know
her. She would reply with one-word answers, looking extremely bored. I was just
wondering what I could say that would breakthrough to her- that would break
through any walls she had built up. So once again, the next night we went
back.  I was completely drained
from the week and I had specifically prayed before we went out that the Lord
would fill me with His strength because I literally had nothing left to give.
We got to the Cartoon Bar and I ended up sitting next to Ling. Thankfully she
started talking to me more than the previous night. Charlotte was sitting
across the table talking to Naan. We were all laughing having a good time.
Randomly, in her broken English, Ling says, “I’m going to come eat lunch with
you tomorrow- I’ll meet you at Starbucks at 11:30.” I was speechless at first,
along with Charlotte. We were so caught off guard. This is a girl who barely
spoke her name to us the first night. So of course, we agree and I sit there
and talk to her for a while longer. Again she looks at me and says, “I’m not
kidding- when I say yes, I mean yes. I will be at that Starbucks tomorrow at
11:30.” I agree once again. The time finally came for us to walk back and meet
up with the group to catch our taxi. Ling tells us that she is going to walk us
back to our taxi. She takes my heavy backpack from me and carries it all the
way back, walking in her tall high heels, insisting that she carry it for me.

 The next
day, sure enough, she comes to meet us at Starbucks at 11:30. I was once again
reminded that she is just a 22-year-old girl–just like me– wearing shorts and
a tank top, no make up, and her hair pulled back. We picked her up and took her
back to SHE with us to eat lunch. She ended up staying for English lessons and
then hanging out the rest of the afternoon. She rode back into town with us
that evening. When Charlotte and I stopped by her bar that night she was
sitting with 2 men. Immediately upon seeing us she walked over, greeted us with
hugs, and asked which game we wanted to play. She took us to a table on the
opposite side of where the men were sitting and sat down with us to play the
game. We ended up finding out that Naan had gone back home to her family. We
were excited to know that she had left the bar scene.

 Please
keep Charlotte and I in your prayers this week, as it is our last week here.
Pray that we will be able to communicate with Ling clearly- that there would be
no language barrier. Also pray that she decides to come work for SHE.

 

*Names
changed for confidentiality reasons.