Sorry I have gotten behind on blogging. Currently, I am in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We just arrived a few hours ago, so we're not sure what ministry will look like yet, but I am excited to be here. Last month my team was in Khlong Toey, the largest slums in Bangkok, Thailand. We worked with an organization called Step Ahead. In Khlong Toey, they offer microfinance opportunities to help people rise up out of their poverty. This month we taught English to the staff and neighborhood children. I loved it! One of my most memorable parts of this month, however, was our trip to Pattaya, which is what I would like to share with you in this blog.
Step Ahead also works in a city called Pattaya. There, they employ women at risk to make gorgeous handwoven leather bags. Check these bags out here. The bags are called ITSERA, which means "freedom" in Thai.
Pattaya is a city on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It started out as a small fishing village. During the Vietnam War, it became a stop for soldiers. This small fishing village was soon transformed into a big city with bars on every street. Women from the poor Northern region of Thailand came down to find work. Ever since, Pattaya has been one of the "go-to" places for sex tourism. In this way, Pattaya is a city literally founded on prostitution.
Let me give you some statistics to give you an idea of what this means. First, I want to remind you that behind these numbers are people. So often when we hear statistics, all we hear is numbers, but these are actually daughters, mothers, sisters, and friends. These are living, breathing, human beings with thoughts, emotions, and dreams just like you and me.
The Cold Hard Facts
Pattaya is Thailand's biggest sex tourist destination.
1 out of 4 people who live in Pattaya are somehow involved in the sex industry.
More than 1 million foreign tourists visit Pattaya every year.
Pattaya has no red light district because night clubs are everywhere, they make up the general landscape of this city. Walking Street is just one of the many main streets (For those of you in WI, it is similar to State St. in that it is pedestrian only, but it is only about 1/2 the length). On Walking Street alone, over 600 women are bought for sex every night.
The Real Deal
Hearing those numbers made me sick to my stomach, but what really hit me was going out on the streets of Pattaya and seeing it with my eyes. In broad daylight, walking on the sidewalks or in the grocery store, I saw older white men with young beautiful Thai girls. Out in the open, with no shame. These men didn't look sleezy at all, which really struck me. They just looked like normal guys. Seeing them made me so angry and disgusted. My heart was filled with judgement. I wanted to yell at them. How can they do this? How can they feel no shame? They look like "nice" guys, but they are fooling everyone!
Conviction hit me in the cereal aisle of the grocery store. I have no right to judge. So I prayed. I asked God to help me love these men, to see them through His eyes.
God answered my prayer.
That evening we prayer-walked down Walking Street. Here the darkness was even more apparent. I remember seeing a guy around my age with a cut-off tee that said "Good guys go to Heaven. Bad boys go to Pattaya." I saw a girl, no older than 5, with heavy makeup, teased hair and short shorts, hula hooping to club music in the streets. At age 5, she's already begun her career in entertainment. I don't want to think about what he life will look like at age 12 or 17 if she continues in this path. Thai men stuck laminated brochures in our faces, letting us know that they had anything we want "Lesbian shows, Ladyboy shows…" this list went on, including many things I've never heard of.
As I walked slowly past the bars, I saw white men sitting, having conversations with the bar girls. Watching their interactions, God opened my eyes. These men just want love. It's what we all have a deep longing for. It is a need that can only be truly satisfied by our Father. These are men who don't know that this love is available to them. Maybe their experiences have told them that true love doesn't exist, or if it does then they don't deserve it. Still, they have this deep longing for love, so they cheat themselves by trying to satisfy their holy craving by traveling across the world to pay women to pretend like they love them for a few hours or maybe a few days. God broke my heart for these men. If only they knew how perfectly loved they are! If only they would stop looking to the things of this world and would turn to their Savior who is just waiting to draw them into an intimate relationship with Himself!
The Typical Story
Each prostitute and each customer has his/her own unique story, but what I have learned from my friends in ministry here is that each story has a typical pattern.
A woman from the poor region of Northern Thailand is left alone without anyone to support her. Maybe her husband left her, or maybe she left him (alcoholism and domestic violence are very common in this region as well because of the stresses of poverty). She decides to travel south to find work in Pattaya. She doesn't have an education. She doesn't see any other option. She has children, parents, and maybe even younger siblings to support. She hates what she does, she knows it is eating away at her soul, but she feels trapped. She hopes that one of her customers will become her "boyfriend" and will continue to send her money to support her so she can leave this work.
A man is alone. Maybe his wife left him, and maybe she took away his children too. Maybe it was "his fault" because of something he had done to wrong her, but maybe she just decided she didn't love him anymore or he wasn't enough for her. Or maybe she died. Whatever the scenario, he's alone. He had once experienced love and now he doesn't know what to do without it. He is despressed and feels like his life doesn't have any purpose. He comes to Thailand for travel, adventure, and pleasure, hoping that it will restore what he once felt. Even though he knows that it probably isn't genuine, a beautiful Thai woman treats him like he is special, like he is the only one, like he is loved…for a night.
The Light in the Darkness
Before going to Walking Street in the evening, we spent the day visiting 6 different ministries in this city. We heard stories of hope, stories of changed lives, stories of God's redemption. God is moving in Pattaya.
I remember my squad leader Garrett told me in India that he was reading Genesis 1. It is the creation story that Christians know so well. But this time reading it through, God gave him a new revelation: God is present in the darkness. See, Gen 1:3 says that God created light and saw that it was good. But before that, in verse 2, it says "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." God is present in the darkness. God brings light to the dark places because He sees that light is good, but He is just as present in the darkness as in the light. God has not forsaken His people.
Please join me in fighting for Pattaya through prayer. Pray for the men and women in Pattaya who feel trapped in this industry; pray that they would find hope in Jesus Christ and that they would find legitimate jobs. Pray for the men who come to Pattaya for sex tourism; pray that they would realize that that pleasure will never satisfy, that only their Father in Heaven can satisfy their deep longings to be perfectly and unconditionally loved. Pray for the people in Northern Thailand, that they would understand the value of their bodies, as temples of the Lord, that they would no longer see prostitution as a job opportunity. Pray for industry to develop in this region, giving the people the chance to rise up out of their poverty. Pray for Step Ahead in Pattaya as they work to market these bags (and maybe be an answer to prayer yourself by spreading the word or purchasing one of these bags yourself). The sales of these bags are so important because the more bags that are sold, the more women who can be employed in legitimate work where they are told of the hope and love found in Jesus Christ. Pray that God would reveal Himself in this city. Pray that He would bring light to the darkness here. Pray that He would bring hope, joy, life, and freedom to this place. Pray that these bars would be turned into churches (That's a beautiful dream, isn't it?). Pray because Our God is big enough to answer these prayers.
Be blessed.
Below is a video my lovely teammate Val put together documenting our experience on Walking Street.
