“I’m gonna need to stop by the ATM first,” said Brittany.
“Same,” I responded.
We just finished a time of prayer with our squad for what we were about to encounter:
…walking through the Red Light District in Bangkok,
…seeing God’s beautiful daughters lined up sitting on stools in revealing clothes,
…God’s sons that Satan has gotten a grasp on their heart and completely misconstrued the gift that God gave us for marriage,
…other sons and daughters of God that are running the madness.
Nothing but the presence of the Holy Spirit could have prepared me for what we were about to see.
We got some money out (how do you even put an amount on how much you are going to buy a priceless daughter of Christ for, I still don’t know) and started walking towards where God was calling us.
Knowing our destination, it made it really hard for me to not get upset about the people shopping in the mall, or sitting at the coffee shop, or getting on the bus. Do they not know what is literally about two streets over? Then I realized I was getting worked up because that’s me.
Oblivious. That’s the way I like it. Or used to at least. The more I have seen, the more I cannot unsee. I am truly seeing the brokenness in this world through God’s eyes.
My heart breaks in a way that is free of anger, but instead full with a desire to love and share God’s love to this world.
Cait, Brit, and I started walking down the street. To our right was the night market. People selling things with actual monetary value. To our left? Girls with “menus”; men and women trying (and unfortunately succeeding) to sell things that have no monetary value.
We walk down the street once to take it all in. I looked into some of the rooms to see girls in their underwear on a stage dancing. It didn’t seem real.
After walking through we took a step to the side to process and discuss who we thought God was leading us to.
I struggled between not wanting to go in those rooms and see the girls standing there exposed and wanting to go in there to call them all down, so they wouldn’t have to be up there anymore.
There was a group of girls in white dresses that caught our attention, so we decided to go back there to spend time with one of the girls.
She looked concerned. Three American girls coming up to her and her “manager” asking to spend time with her. That’s not normal.
We handed over the money and asked her if she wanted to get coffee or food, and she responded by asking what we wanted to do.
The amount of times we had to say that we wanted to just spend time and get to know her was too many.
The night ended up looking like some good quality time of playing pool with her and darts and Jenga with her and some of the other girls she worked with.
At one point, it felt like we were just hanging out with friends. For a moment it slipped my mind that we were in the Red Light District in Bangkok, Thailand, in the midst of darkness.
Our time was almost up, and we wanted to have a chance to share why we were there, and why all we expected from this night was conversation and to give her a couple of hours where she was free.
We got the wifi password and pulled up google translate. Brit and Cait typed out our purpose for being there. We were able to explain that God loves these girls, and that He sent His son to die for each one of them.
We prayed for them, gave hugs, and said goodbye.
I turned around one last time to say goodbye, and it was back to work for them.
The Holy Spirit was active last night. He gave me peace and patience. He gave me boldness. He gave me joy in the brokenness.
Please be in prayer for this place. Unfortunately, it is one of many streets like this in Thailand.
Priceless by for King and Country
