Welcome to Bangla Road

From the outside things don’t look that dire. The beaches are picturesque and Bangla Road doesn’t feel like a far cry from Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras or The Strip on Las Vegas.

Prostitution in Thailand is technically illegal, but you wouldn’t know it stepping onto Bangla Road. It’s home to around 1200 prostitutes. One bar raffles a woman off each night, another features very drunk girls holding a sign reading ‘girls for sale,’ scantily clad women wearing numbers dance on poles, and there is even a section for ‘ladyboys’ (men dressed as women) complete with lots of table dancing and costumes where tourists gather to take lots of pictures.

It’s easiest perhaps to put on a pair of ‘judgment pants’ and focus on the sin here; you won’t have to search far to find it. But I’m in love with this place. I step onto a street lined with bars and I feel alive. Maybe I’ve feared such places due to bad history with bars.

I think I love this place most because this is where Jesus would be. Yes, you read that right. That’s the Jesus I’ve fallen in love with this year. That might not sit well with some of you, but the same Jesus who died for you and me also died for the women who work on Bangla Road selling their bodies for money, and for the men who buy them.

I don’t know about you but I like that Jesus. A lot.

Perhaps I have an unusual perception of this place. Yes, it is dark. Yes, there are serious strong holds here. Yes, there is sin. Yes, it is corrupt. Yes, Satan is at work. But if we never step foot here how can we expect to bring light?

What I observe most is immeasurable hunger. I’ve talked to women who are starving for truth. Longing for someone to tell them they’re worth something. Worth more than their outward appearances or what they can offer sexually. They are hungry for friendship, for someone to honor their femininity and to be respected by men and women alike. 

You will also find men who are seeking love and acceptance. They too want to be noticed. Striving to fill a void through physical needs. Yes, they purchase the women and it’s also easy to see them as the bad guys but they are hurting too.

Back in July before The Race I wrote a blog about my family vacation to Las Vegas and my pharisaical thoughts. I like to think God has given me a second chance and is answering my prayers to see others through His eyes.

Religious people were scandalized by Jesus’ choices of relationships. It’s certainly a lot easier for me to sit back and say it’s wrong to sell your body or to have sex outside of marriage but I don’t really know what it’s like to need to sell my body to provide for my family, or other reasons why women work here or why the men buy them.

Jesus loves prostitutes. I love the look on the women’s faces when we tell them that. Some don’t believe you or even know who this Jesus is.

Not only are we sharing the love of Jesus with them, we are offering them an alternative. We are working with a really unique and incredible ministry called SHE (Self Help and Empowerment). They work in getting Thai women out of the commercial sex trade by offering them jobs making jewelry, baking, training them in English, and other trades.   

Jesus came as a radical to turn the world upside down. So for now, we’re helping to turn Bangla Road upside down.

Join me in ministry this month by praying for divine appointments on Bangla Road and freedom!