As my time in Nepal came to a close I was becoming more and more excited for my time in Thailand. About a week before we left Nepal the Lord gave me a vision of my team and I in Thailand. In this vision we were worshipping on a street in the Red Light District and as we did so men walked away from the bars and women were coming out of the bars to listen. It was powerful and beautiful but when we came to Thailand our contact told us that we were not to go to those areas at night, so I started to think that it was less of a vision from the Lord and more just a hope of my own.
This week in Pattaya is a weeklong international Christian worship conference called Pattaya Praise. There was an event the other night on Soi 6, one of the most famous streets in Thailand lined with women and bars, saturated in darkness. My team and I thought we were going out there to do a prayer walk up and down the street but the Lord had bigger plans for this evening.
In the middle of Soi 6 across from a bar called The Red Light there was a worship band set up and the street was full of people worshipping the Lord. We joined in and when I realized where I was and what I was doing I was overcome by His faithfulness, as this was the vision He had given me just one month ago. My eyes filled with tears and I got chills down my back as I worshipped the Lord in the middle of this darkness. While singing of God’s love, of His grace and of His power I prayed for the women and ladyboys in the bars and for the men who were looking to use them that evening.
My prayers were bold but they were real. I prayed that the words we were singing would truly be heard and felt on that street. I prayed that women and ladyboys of the bars would be intrigued by what was happening and come out to listen, I prayed that men would hear the words of the Lord in the music, feel conviction and keep walking past. When I opened my eyes and looked around the Lord was answering prayers on the spot. There was a group of women and ladyboys standing outside of the bar next to us clapping, swaying, dancing and some were even singing!
On the same street where these women usually dance for men and the false, broken “love” that they pay for, they were experiencing a new dance that night, a dance that is of real love and freedom from the Lord. Knowing that this music was different than what they hear and dance to on every other night, they appeared uncertain yet hopeful at the same time. I walked over and met Co Co, Nuttai and Nay Nay and even if just for an hour I got to dance and sing with these women in the streets. It was an hour of their night that they weren’t hooking customers or dancing for the approval and satisfaction of a man. We laughed together, jumped around and danced in the most innocent of ways on the most corrupt street. It was beautiful to see the relief in their eyes that came from a hug without attached expectations or intentions or the light of hope in them when I looked into their eyes and spoke the words, “Phra Jiaow ruk khun” (God Loves You).
That night was such a tangible picture of what the Lord is doing in Thailand and in Pattaya City. He is the God of this City, He is the Father of the sons and daughters on the streets, and He won’t let them go unnoticed. His love is deep and it shines bright and speaks loud in the darkness. I believe that night was just the first spark of what is to come for Pattaya!
