Yesterday I arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand with 15 other women from my squad. We have spent several hours over the last few days being briefed and oriented about our ministry here in Thailand; sharing the love of Christ to those that people don’t want to love. As I sat in orientation today I was literally sick to my stomach hearing about the hurt and pain that is happening in this county.
Here is a little bit of what we learned:
–66% of white men that land in the Bangkok airport are in Thailand to participate in sex tourism.
-That 66% only accounts for about 10% of the sex tourism activity in the country.
-In Chiang Mai alone there are 5,000 prostitutes. During peak season, there are close to 25,000.
-We learned about how parents in villages will sell their little girls into slavery so they can pay bills or buy nice things. To some Thai’s it is even seen as a blessing to have a girl because they will bring the family money. These little girls spend the majority of their lives as prostitutes being traded between pimps and Johns. They have no hope of a better life and they think that their place in the world is to sell their bodies and bring prosperity to their families.
Thailand is known as “the Land of Smiles”, but it is home to
one of the worst human slave trades in the world.
That’s where we come in. The ministry that we are serving with this month is called Lighthouse in Action.
The ministry has three parts: Love Acts, Zion Café, and XLife.
(check out their website for more awesome information: www.lighthouseinaction.org)
Love Acts is literally bar ministry. It is the heartbeat of the entire ministry. We will be going into bars, buying sodas, and trying to develop relationships with the girls working there. There is also a part of this ministry where we go into the slums and love on kids who are sent into the red light district at night to work and bring back money for their family. Our sole purpose is to love each individual and share the love of Jesus. We want to show them the hope, redemption and restoration that is found in Christ.
Zion Café is a coffee shop one block away from the red light district. The workers here have all had some kind of experience with prostitution and this place serves as a safe haven for girls looking to find hope and a better life.
XLife is a ministry within the slums that seeks to find the problem with families selling their children and then cut the root out. Sex brokers roam these villages looking for desperate families in need of money. The parents sell their daughters without true knowledge of what their lives are going to look like. XLife is about educating the parents, sharing the gospel, and knowing that the only true solution to this problem is Jesus.
We are here to LOVE. We are here to make friendships, take them to coffee, play board games, buy them pizza, and just show them true love and trust. This kind of ministry is so fruitful and really impacts the Thai people in a strong way, but we can’t do this alone.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Here are two ways you can be involved in our Thailand ministry.
1- Please be praying for us and our ministry. We will spend the majority of our morning and afternoons doing prayer walks around the bars and then interceding for the girls that will go out each night. We would love for you to add us to your prayer list and begin fighting for these girls alongside us.
2- We need money! Each night we will go to several bars and we have to purchase a drink to remain there and build trusting relationships. Overpriced cokes add up quickly and that’s only the beginning. We want to treat these girls like the princesses that they are and allow them to truly understand what it means to be a daughter of the King. We want to bless them with pizza and movie nights, or coffee dates, or just a cold bottle of water while they are at work. If you can help us financially, then please email me immediately; [email protected]. Any amount would be greatly appreciated and will go a long way in sharing the love to girls who have only known pain and hurt in their lives.
God is here and doing great things. I would love for each one of you to come alongside us in prayer and with financial gifts. Month 8 has officially started and I think it’s going to be one I will remember for a very long time.
with love,
Sam
