Last week I went out with Shawna and Michelle from my group who are working with a different organization called The Well. We had a really great night together in a different Red Light district than I have been frequenting called Soi Cowboy. It is just a short street lined with bars and women standing outside beckoning the men to come inside. I got a chance to meet the girls they have been talking with and met a few new friends of my own. I heard they hadn’t had the chance to go into the bars with The Well yet, so we decided to pray and ask the Lord where we should go.
We walked down the street and our attention was drawn to a particular one, so we headed inside. It was a bit of a shock for various reasons I won’t write about, but I think the thing that made me the most sad was the look on their faces. I was used to being in several bars at Nana (as my teammate Hannah affectionately calls it, “Bar hopping for Jesus”) but this one was different. None of the girls seemed to even try to put on a happy face or be entertaining at all. Instead of dancing, they swayed back and forth. Some of them even had their arms crossed over their stomach with their eyes to the ceiling. There was one gal that caught my attention, every time she looked to the ceiling it was like she was trying to force the tears back behind her eyes. She had stretch marks on her stomach which made us believe she may have just given birth. And the other girls expressions on stage weren’t too far off from hers. It made me wonder if this particular bar was more strict on them, expecting them to make more money, sleep with more men, show more of their bodies in order to continue to work there.
At one point, Shawna asked me what Jesus would do if he was there at that moment. All I could think of were the countless stories from the Bible where he befriended the prostitutes and others deemed “scum” by the authorities. I think he would sit in the bar, but unlike other men he would actually look in their eyes instead of at their bodies. I think he would touch them in a way that is loving and caring and not violating. I think he would ask their name and talk with them like they were the only person in the room. And his presence would be irresistable..a light in the darkness.
When we left the bar, we had a few hours left before the sky train closed (making it harder for me to get home!) So we decided to take one of the girls out. In the bars, you are able to pay 600 Baht (equivalent to about $20) to take a girl out of the bar. Most men will pay this to take the girl and have sex with her. But we pay the same $20 to get them out and take them to dinner or just walk around town with them. So that is what we did! Shawna found a friend of hers and we paid the bar fee to take her out. She spoke a lot of English which helped a lot as my three words of Thai will only make people laugh and not create any deep or meaningful interactions! So, we sat at dinner and had a great conversation with her, just pouring as much life and truth into her as we could.
Tonight I go back to Nana with Candice to try to take another girl out of the bar. Please pray for us as we try. We already went last week and the Mamasong (the owner of the girls) was not very happy with our presence and didn’t want us to take her. So this is try #2. Please pray hard that God would work everything out so we can spend some time with one of the girls. Thanks again for being warriors for us!
peace.
