Normally, gifts are well received. There are not many situations where I would not want to accept a gift; but I found one of those situations today….
Today at English Class, one of my students came bearing many gifts. It is not uncommon in Thailand to have students bring gifts for their teacher. Normally I have received apples, oranges, mangoes, Thai jelly desserts and sometime even a fully cooked meal.
Well today, I received 2 jars of nail polish and nail polish remover, half a bottle of tanning lotion, and body wash. Despite the fact that gifts are common to give to teachers, something didn’t seem right.
It was shortly after that I realized what was happening. 
She was moving.
In December she was talking A LOT about one of her customers and wanting to go with him to his country, Australia. She was trying to get all of her paperwork together for her visas and was having some issues. I was praising God for these small complications, because it meant that she was not going to go with her customer.
Well, this class I realized that her paperwork went through and she quit her job at the bar (YAY!) to move to Australia with her customer (BOOOO!)
Here she is giving me her personal belongings that she cannot take to Australia. I did not want them, I just want her. I want her to be safe. I want her to know she is loved. I want her….. (the list goes on and on)
I have read text messages this man has sent her, I have seen the bruises on her body from him, and I have heard many disturbing and horrific stories….Yet, despite of all of this, she is going with him.
She is scared, but tries to be happy. She, like many other Thai women here, want to marry a rich foreigner and live happily ever after. That is the fantasy they dream of. It is similar to ‘the grass is greener on the other side’ philosophy. This is what some girls keep telling themselves each night as they work in the bars.
Please join me in prayer for ‘J’ and for the thousands of women who are trapped in human trafficking and in this fantasy world.
Joyful J
