The red light district.
Red lights signal stop… But God told us go.
And in going, we got to meet some incredible people, discover the reality of sex traffiking and prostitution in Chiang Mai, and plant seeds of light in the darkest of places. Every night at about 10pm we would head out to the bars and spend time there until about 2am when they closed. God directed us to a few bars in particular and we headed back to those each night. Spending time with the ladies there was a treat. You could tell not many people came to their bars to really get to know them. And after they realized we weren’t the typical customer, that we really care about them, they willingly opened up their hearts to much more than just small talk.
And by talking to them, we were
able to hear from their lips what is heavy on their hearts. Every story is different. Every life is different. But the one thing that
every single one of these girls has in common is a longing for something more…
able to hear from their lips what is heavy on their hearts. Every story is different. Every life is different. But the one thing that
every single one of these girls has in common is a longing for something more…
Some of the women have chosen into this work because it pays the bills. One of our friends was working as a maid, where she made 150 baht ($5) working 15 hours a day. She has 3 children and needed to make more money than that to provide for them. It’s all about the money for a lot of these women… it is obvious they don’t want to be there but the mindset is “I am strong. I will provide for my family.”…
Some
of the girls have come from abusive relationships, having no idea what real love is
supposed to look like. And now they are at the bars, where their desperate
search will be in vain if no one introduces them to Jesus…
of the girls have come from abusive relationships, having no idea what real love is
supposed to look like. And now they are at the bars, where their desperate
search will be in vain if no one introduces them to Jesus…
There are many
ladyboys in Chiang Mai. At our cultural briefing, we were told that if a girl
is almost too gorgeous, she’s probably a guy. And we found that to be true. We
got to become good friends with several ladyboys, whom I know the Lord is not
done chasing. All I could see when I looked in their eyes was the image of a
God who has not given up on them. There is truth that can set them free; a God
that is stronger than any of their struggles…
ladyboys in Chiang Mai. At our cultural briefing, we were told that if a girl
is almost too gorgeous, she’s probably a guy. And we found that to be true. We
got to become good friends with several ladyboys, whom I know the Lord is not
done chasing. All I could see when I looked in their eyes was the image of a
God who has not given up on them. There is truth that can set them free; a God
that is stronger than any of their struggles…
Some of the women are forced into this work through the atrocity that is sex traffiking. Pimps go into villages and convince the girls’ parents that they have a great maid (or something similar) job open in the city where they can make money and send it back home. Which is a lie. Or sometimes family members willingly sell their young daughters/grand daughters to the pimps for a sum of money. Greed is a grave thing. It’s such a root of evil. With the pimps, even with their family members sometimes. With seemingly no way out of this, there is not a lot of hope in the girls eyes. But our God is a God of justice, and He has not forgotten them…
Some women who work in the red
light district actually want to be there. It is tricky because having a “good time” is part of their job description to make the customer happy. And you can quickly see through that act for some of the girls, but others really seem to find it fun. There is an obvious need for love and
attention that is still left unfulfilled night after night. We met some girls who were
constantly striving for anyone, men or women, to show them affection. One of my
friends from the Darling Bar says “I have fun here” but you can see that
fun is short lived and there is a deeper need in her heart still yearning. This
need is for the love that only her Heavenly Father can give to her – genuine,
pure, real and true Love. Because the ‘love’ she turns to now
is not love at all… it’s corrupted by this broken world in which we live.
light district actually want to be there. It is tricky because having a “good time” is part of their job description to make the customer happy. And you can quickly see through that act for some of the girls, but others really seem to find it fun. There is an obvious need for love and
attention that is still left unfulfilled night after night. We met some girls who were
constantly striving for anyone, men or women, to show them affection. One of my
friends from the Darling Bar says “I have fun here” but you can see that
fun is short lived and there is a deeper need in her heart still yearning. This
need is for the love that only her Heavenly Father can give to her – genuine,
pure, real and true Love. Because the ‘love’ she turns to now
is not love at all… it’s corrupted by this broken world in which we live.
But
she will never know this Love if she don’t know Truth. And without knowing the
Truth, she will not be set free from the bondage in her heart. And bondage
of the heart is even graver than the physical bondage of sex trafficking.
Each one of these men and women come from such different places in life.
But more than just their place of employment, they have the commonality of the
desire for a Love that cannot be found on bar street.
she will never know this Love if she don’t know Truth. And without knowing the
Truth, she will not be set free from the bondage in her heart. And bondage
of the heart is even graver than the physical bondage of sex trafficking.
Each one of these men and women come from such different places in life.
But more than just their place of employment, they have the commonality of the
desire for a Love that cannot be found on bar street.
Please keep my friends in your prayers. That new economic opportunities would open up for them to take, that the Lord’s justice would invade on their behalf, and that their eyes would be
opened to Jesus.
We got to visit our friends on Christmas Eve and Christmas night and I was reminded of the old familiar Christmas carol ‘O Holy Night’ (It’s one of my favorites)…
Chains
shall He break, for the slave is our brother [and sister]. And in His name, all
oppression shall cease.
