Four month ago I was an architect and now I am a foreign girl, living on the third floor of a hotel that is used as a prostitution ring. I have a skin infection, my roommate has lice, and I ate cereal with ants in it for dinner (World Race protein). We successfully live off of our daily allowance, three US dollars per day. We are based in Ho Chi Minh City where per capita, each person makes 200 USD per year. Vietnam claims to be socialist but most control still lies within the Communist Party. Centuries of the Vietnamese family tree are filled with war and oppression. Much of what drives the people in this country is fear.
the spirit of lust all around us. Recognizing that we live in an
active spiritual realm has been one of the prime focuses the Lord has
placed in front of me.
“We are not human beings having a temporary spiritual experience. We
are spiritual beings have a temporary human experience”- Seth Barnes (I
think)
It is easy to sense spiritual warfare here. From the street you can
see the women congregate in the reception area. If you watch long
enough you might catch them making a room switch or a money exchange.
Beyond the front room, is a long dark hall, lit only by blue, black,
and red incandescent light that filters through the door cracks. It
leaves a nauseating feeling when you pass each paper numbered room.
The Sex Trade Defined
The sex trade of women and children is a multi -billion dollar industry and the spiritual and political makings of this trade are soaked in extreme darkness. Here are some statistics from various sources regarding the global sex trade:
* An estimated 2 million children, the majority of them girls, are sexually exploited in the multibillion dollar commercial sex industry. (UNICEF)
* An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. (UNICEF)
* Around the world between 50 and 60 percent of the children who are trafficked into sexual slavery are under age 16.
* Human trafficking is the second-largest organized crime in the world.
* 25 percent of all child sex tourists around the world are U.S. citizens.
* The largest number of people trafficked into the United States come from East Asia and the Pacific (5,000 to 7,000 victims). The next highest numbers come from Latin America and from Europe and Eurasia, with between 3,500 and 5,500 victims from each. (U.S. Departments of Justice, Health & Human Services, State, Labor, Homeland Security, Agriculture, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. 2004. Assessment of U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)
Vietnam is losing a portion of the female population to it’s other bordering neighbor as well. Vietnamese women are being sold to be married into Chinese families. Communism in China killed off a generation of women during the one child policy, the gender ratio has been broken since.
So, we stand on this promise from the Lord:“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and I will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in the darkness.” Isaiah 42:6-7
The Lord sent us to be a light in dark places. If darkness is the absence of light we are going to show up and usher God’s presence into those places. Just as “a city on a hill cannot be hidden.-Matt. 5-14”, the smallest bit of light removes darkness. AMEN
