I’ve heard it countless times, the sex industry is [disgustingly] the largest and most profitable industry in the world! Who knows if the numbers are being inflated. Fact is, it exists and it’s happening whether we’re oblivious to it or not. I had a small glimpse into this scene in Cambodia. And my time in Thailand has only opened my eyes significantly more as we walked the Red Light District of Chiang Mai every day for one month. The very thought of this kind of outreach was, at first, abnormally daunting. However, I knew personally that God wanted to stretch me and to literally, break my heart for what breaks His.
A British foreigner we conversed with at the Red Light District or “bar street” as we often called it (as it sounds much less intimidating), referred to a quote which says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” So our team boldly took that first step and trusted the Lord to map out the rest. My mother would probably never approve of this (strike the “probably”), but I had a blast at the bars. I don’t think I’ve had so much soda in a single night! However, there were some stories that were difficult to swallow and in those moments I was at a loss for words.
How do you respond… to a beautiful girl, whose personality is as vibrant as the color red, but has made the decision to work in the bars just so she’s able to financially provide for her family.
How do you respond… when a woman who has repeatedly & at times willingly prostituted herself because she can barely imagine a life beyond the walls that entraps her.. and even if she screams to get out there’s a heavy sense of hopelessness weighing on her shoulders.
How do you respond… when you ask a woman (almost out of “christian” habit), What is your dream job? And with a slight quiver in her voice she replies, I dream to work at a 7-eleven.
Sometimes we’re quick to shake our heads and even quicker to say cheap remarks. Oh, they brought it on themselves. What comes around goes around. We all suffer the consequences of our decisions.
I sympathized with these women and felt nothing but compassion towards them. And no, I didn’t have a formulated set of instructions on how-to-get-yourself-out-of-this-mess. At some point I realized that love takes a more powerful form than just words; love does. It may look like a casual game of pool or revisiting them the next day or simply making eye contact as they speak and implying “it’s going to be okay.” My being present was that of a thousand men… it made a difference… it was enough.
But there’s more to the bar scene that I did not expect to witness. In the following scenarios, I was much quicker to respond with a raised fist that landed a blow in someone’s face…or at least that’s what I had imagined.
How do you respond… when you’ve walked through bar street enough times to realize that the majority of these bars are owned by foreigners, old men to be more specific.
How do you respond… when you see a man in passing and witness the process of him removing his wedding ring and without a second thought, tucks it away in his front pocket.
How do you respond… when you see an older Caucasian man with a 20-something Asian woman having a beer together. Do you automatically assume the worse?
I had to intentionally ask God to remove the bitterness I had against these men for I was in no place to judge. I’ve learned to assume nothing because for all I knew that man & woman could’ve been married. And the man buying his sorrows away with a one night stand IS one-hundred percent, as much a child of God, as the woman being bought.
There is no secret formula! It’s one thing to have a lot of head knowledge about what’s politically right and wrong, to know how things originated… hey, maybe you know a lot about awesome pizza topping combinations. But there’s no point! 1 Corinthians 13:2 affirms that “I am NOTHING without love.”
So, if I haven’t already answered the question… how do you respond?? Well, in the same way Jesus did — in love! You know that all time favorite song “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles? Yea, it’s pretty spot on:)
I’ve heard it countless times, the sex industry is [disgustingly] the largest and most profitable industry in the world! Who knows if the numbers are being inflated. Fact is, it exists and it’s happening whether we’re oblivious to it or not. I had a small glimpse into this scene in Cambodia. And my time in Thailand has only opened my eyes significantly more as we walked the Red Light District of Chiang Mai every day for one month. The very thought of this kind of outreach was, at first, abnormally daunting. However, I knew personally that God wanted to stretch me and to literally, break my heart for what breaks His.
A British foreigner we conversed with at the Red Light District or “bar street” as we often called it (as it sounds much less intimidating), referred to a quote which says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” So our team boldly took that first step and trusted the Lord to map out the rest. My mother would probably never approve of this (strike the “probably”), but I had a blast at the bars. I don’t think I’ve had so much soda in a single night! However, there were some stories that were difficult to swallow and in those moments I was at a loss for words.
How do you respond… to a beautiful girl, whose personality is as vibrant as the color red, but has made the decision to work in the bars just so she’s able to financially provide for her family.
How do you respond… when a woman who has repeatedly & at times willingly prostituted herself because she can barely imagine a life beyond the walls that entraps her.. and even if she screams to get out there’s a heavy sense of hopelessness weighing on her shoulders.
How do you respond… when you ask a woman (almost out of “christian” habit), What is your dream job? And with a slight quiver in her voice she replies, I dream to work at a 7-eleven.
Sometimes we’re quick to shake our heads and even quicker to say cheap remarks. Oh, they brought it on themselves. What comes around goes around. We all suffer the consequences of our decisions.
I sympathized with these women and felt nothing but compassion towards them. And no, I didn’t have a formulated set of instructions on how-to-get-yourself-out-of-this-mess. At some point I realized that love takes a more powerful form than just words; love does. It may look like a casual game of pool or revisiting them the next day or simply making eye contact as they speak and implying “it’s going to be okay.” My being present was that of a thousand men… it made a difference… it was enough.
But there’s more to the bar scene that I did not expect to witness. In the following scenarios, I was much quicker to respond with a raised fist that landed a blow in someone’s face…or at least that’s what I had imagined.
How do you respond… when you’ve walked through bar street enough times to realize that the majority of these bars are owned by foreigners, old men to be more specific.
How do you respond… when you see a man in passing and witness the process of him removing his wedding ring and without a second thought, tucks it away in his front pocket.
How do you respond… when you see an older Caucasian man with a 20-something Asian woman having a beer together. Do you automatically assume the worse?
I had to intentionally ask God to remove the bitterness I had against these men for I was in no place to judge. I’ve learned to assume nothing because for all I knew that man & woman could’ve been married. And the man buying his sorrows away with a one night stand IS one-hundred percent, as much a child of God, as the woman being bought.
There is no secret formula! It’s one thing to have a lot of head knowledge about what’s politically right and wrong, to know how things originated… hey, maybe you know a lot about awesome pizza topping combinations. But there’s no point! 1 Corinthians 13:2 affirms that “I am NOTHING without love.”
So, if I haven’t already answered the question… how do you respond?? Well, in the same way Jesus did — in love! You know that all time favorite song “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles? Yea, it’s pretty spot on:)
