Two weekends ago, my teammates and I got dressed up to hit the town in Chiang Mai. Our goal was to get off the farm and have a fun 24 hours in the city. We devised a plan and hit the road.
We took a 45 minute taxi ride to Chiang Mai that went directly to our hostel. We dropped our bags off in the room and went headed straight to dinner. Through the course of our night, we went shopping at the Night Bazaar, ate rolled ice cream, and went to a haunted house. We had one more stop before we headed back to the hostel, and that was the karaoke bar. I was so excited because I was going to get to check off yet another item off my bucket list.
It took us awhile to find a karaoke bar that would let us in. We went to about three that were only for Thai people… sketchy, I know! We ended up at a small red karaoke bar towards the end of the street. A lady greeted us with a smile and ushered us into the door. She took us to a private room towards the back of the open floor where we could sing at the top of our lungs and act as stupid as we wanted. I didn’t notice much of what was going on around me as we walked to the back of the room. But what I did notice was a Thai music video playing on a giant screen up front and almost every booth occupied.
We went into our room and wasted no time blasting Whitney Houston on the tv screens. Before we knew it, we were standing on the couch and singing our hearts out. 45 minutes went by, and a teammate of mine could not shake the uneasy feeling of something weird happening outside the walls of our karaoke room. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it but she felt like we needed to do something. So after a few minutes of discussion and prayer, we came to the conclusion that we would go pay for our tab and in doing so, hopefully get to chat with some of the ladies working.
What happens next is nothing short of a miracle…
As we walked out of our private room, the whole karaoke bar was empty. There was not a customer in sight, the only people there were the ladies!!!! We made our way to the counter to pay. None of us had to say a word to each other, we quickly split up into groups to spread out and talk with the ladies. A group went over to a back booth, a group went outside, and then another group stayed at the counter. I was with the counter group, and we ended up talking to Myint.
Myint was just shy a day turning 21. She had been working at the karaoke bar for only 2 months, but had previously worked there 2 years prior. She informs us that the customers at the karaoke bar were men who either wanted company from a woman or sex. They would come in to “rent” the ladies out for an hour or two. Some men would pay extra to take the ladies upstairs or they would leave with them, both meant that the night would end with sex. We ended up chatting with Myint for almost an hour, asking her all sorts of questions. The conversation started off surface level, asking questions like “Where are you from?”, “How many siblings do you have?”, and “How did you learn English?” Then our questions got a little bit deeper, asking “How did you end up working here?”, “What are your dreams for your life?”, and “Do you know about Jesus?”
I quickly realized, Myint didn’t really want to be there. Her circumstances just led her there. All she wanted was to feel loved. She explains to us that she doesn’t have many friends, and the ones she does have, work there with her. We immediately told her we wanted to be her friends and as the words came out of our mouths, the biggest smile came upon her face. One of my teammates briefly shared her testimony, and then shared the even greater testimony of Jesus. Myint nodded, indicating she has heard of Jesus before (most Buddhist have). We didn’t want to push Jesus on her, but we did want to continue to get to know her. So we invited her out to lunch the next day to celebrate her birthday. She was thrilled, and so were we. Myint ended up canceling on us because she got too drunk later that night and overslept. We were bummed because we were going back to the farm that day and didn’t know if we would be back in Chiang Mai again. Thankfully we exchanged Facebooks so we knew we could still get in touch with her. We ended up inviting her to come visit us on the farm, so that we could show her around. She was thrilled when we extended the invite through Facebook. Myint has yet to come see us, but we have faith that God will move in His timing.
I have no doubt that we were sent to that karaoke bar to love on Myint, even if it was only for an hour. I am choosing to trust that we planted some sort of seed inside her heart and that the Lord will continue to pursue her. I mean, He did clear out a room full of men within 45 minutes. Her journey is just now getting started.
Whenever you think of Myint, would you pray for her. Pray that God will continue to put people in her path that know the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Pray that she will have enough boldness to quit her job at the karaoke bar. Pray that a job opportunity comes her way where she doesn’t have to sell her body to gain money. Pray that she finds friends within a community of believers. Pray that we will get to see Myint before we leave Thailand.
I’m so thankful God reminded me that night in a sketchy karaoke bar, that He is pursuing people. That He will climb up any mountain, kick down any wall, to chase after His children.
