Let me set up the scene for you: it is around 9pm on a crowded street lined with bars and small street vendors. There are motorbikes parked everywhere and the smell in the air is a mix of incense from the Buddhist shrines and cigar/cigarette smoke. I am walking on the narrow sidewalk and to my left I see women. I see beautiful Thai women- they could be my friends, they could be my teammates or my sisters. They are standing there, waiting to be purchased by men, to be used for the night. To do the only kind of work they know how – sex.
The men.
They line the streets. Some walk with their friends, laughing and having a good ole time.
Some walk quickly with their heads down so as to not be so noticable.
Each time eye contact is made, an emotion runs through me that I can't quite explain. It's a bit of anger, but so much sadness and desperation for these guys that are so so lost.
In a group or alone, they approach the girls and offer them a price. Normally $12 buys them for a date at the bar and $75 buys the girl for the entire night.
Purchased for less than a tank of gas in America.
Bought for the same price as a pair of SHOES.
Watching the interaction makes me feel sick to my stomach. Seriously, this process is worth vomiting over.
Over. And over. And over, these women are sold. They are treated as objects… to buy and do whatever the purchaser wants. They don't know love, they don't know worth. They don't know they are SO valuable and so much more than objects. They just don't know… oh how I long for them to just know. To see they are so so beautiful, so loved. And so worth loving!
I gotta admit when I first heard we were coming here and were going to be working in the red light district I was like YESSSSSS!!!! I thought SO much could be done here, there are SO many girls to rescue! SO many lives to save! But this month started off with us being told to drop our expectations. ONE girl is worth so much. ONE girl shown love is SO MUCH. Just in the few short days we have been here my heart has changed and so desires even to be the love for one girl.
We are partnering with a ministry run by YWAM called Lighthouse in Action. We are spending our afternoons interceding on behalf of the girls, the ladyboys, the bar owners, and the men. Asking God to break the mental stronghold that has a hold on their lives. The one that tells them this is ALL that they can do, the one who tells them this is ALL they are good for. At night we get to enter the bars, buy one coke for us and a one for a girl. We smile, sit, and talk. No strings attached… a foreign concept to these ladies. As we listen and watch for the Spirit to direct us we also get to ask these ladies on dates! In short this means that during the day we will invite them to eat with us, walk the markets with us, go get a pedicure with us- all to just show them what they NEVER get to experience… LOVE.
I am beyond pumped to jump into this ministry. I want to love these girls SO well….I want to date these girls SO well. If 'Aoy' wants steak, I want to be able to give her steak and potatoes. If 'Euey' wants to see a movie, I want to be buy her popcorn as well. I want to be extravagant with these girls because of the One who has been extravagant with me.
I don't want money to stand in the way of being able to go on dates with these girls. My team has already had several discussions about where the money will come from to allow us to do this. We have already seen doubt planted in minds… worry that we will just have to sit back and watch because, well… we are world racers… money doesn't just grow from our chacos. But we know that God will provide and we want to give you a chance to be part of this. Also I need your prayers more than ever this month. There is a very very real demonic presence in this country. These bar owners REALLY think they are treating their girls well. No… really. These girls are trapped. They think this is all that is out there for them. We are entering into places where Satan has strongholds out of the wazzoo. Please pray for us. Pray that we would be so selfless this month, that when we run out of emotional, spiritual, physical energy, we would go to the Source to be filled. That God would go before, with, behind us as we walk into those bars. I need you guys back home.
If you would like to help me out financially this month… leave a comment, send me a message on facebook, or email me ([email protected]) and I will give you more details on how to do that. If what God has for you this month is just to be my prayer warrior, AWESOME. Whatever He leads you to do… thank you.
