Bangla Road, Patong.
Phuket, Thailand.
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to avoid actually writing about things that happened on Bangla because this is the place my heart was completely destroyed.
Transformed.
Moulded into something completely different.
And it’s hard to talk about the things you see when you know there’s no way to accurately describe the music, the lights, the heartbreak.
It was the hardest month of the race in many ways.
But the absolute best in so many others.
Bangla Road was where I found Him.
Staring up at the glass boxes where white girls danced.
Completely void of emotion.
These are not women at all, I thought.
They are shells.
Carbon copies of whoever the pimps/customers/tourists wanted them to be.
Staring up, as a beautiful Russian girl twirled aimlessly on a pole, completely unaware of me.
Completely unaware of the street below her.
Completely unaware of anything but her own sorrow.
That was the moment.
The moment my heart broke in a way it never has.
That was the moment my heart found His.
And I will never be the same.
It’s impossible to ignore what the Lord does to your heart on Bangla.
It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, walking down that road every night.
But I had hope.
I STILL have hope.
And proof that Jesus is faithful to prayers we prayed, the tears we cried, and the hope we poured out over a year ago.
Bangla Road is actually about two blocks of neon lights with side streets.
The side streets (called soi’s) each have a separate name and are where the majority of the bars are located.
Soi Eric is right smack in the middle of Bangla and is the absolute centre of the red-light district.
We were told as we arrived to SHE ministries that we were not to go down Soi Eric.
It was completely off limits due to some spiritual things and some local discrepancies.
During the first week we were in Phuket,
my teammate Kayla and I had the opportunity to prayer walk down Bangla Road.
We walked slowly, dodging tourists and food stands, praying as we made our way to the beach.
When we got there, we sat in the sand and prayed for a while.
On our way back up towards the giant mall on the other end of Bangla, we stopped.
We were right in front of Soi Eric.
It was during the day, so it was practically empty, save for a few maintenance men and bar owners setting up for the night.
Kayla put her hand on a sign labelling it Soi Eric.
She said as she looked down the street, all she could see was churches filling the empty bars.
We prayed and declared together that Soi Eric was a place of freedom.
A place where the Lord resides.
We declared churches to blossom and people searching for life to fill the empty bar stools.
We stood in silence for a minute,
knowing that even though we couldn’t set foot in any of those bars,
the Lord was going to do something big there.
Every time Kayla and I would pass Soi Eric during ministry, we would glance at each other in silent knowing.
We would pray and declare freedom every time we passed by.
And we left it at that.
We went about our month and saw a lot of crazy things.
We saw God show up in incredible ways.
But secretly,
I think both of us were hoping to see Soi Eric suddenly shut down and the work crews come charging in with pews on their backs.
We left it in God’s hands
and trusted that we had done all we could do.
Today, I was flipping nonchalantly through my instagram feed when I saw a picture one of my friends had taken of her Facebook status.
This is what it read:
“Hearing that one of the Soi’s down Bangla in Phuket is now called Freedom Street and is no longer part of the bar scene today, really encouraged me! Jesus does answer our prayers… This one has been 3.5 years in the works for me – and hundreds of others (really since 2006 for SHE). He is faithful!”
When I asked her which Soi it was,
I could only hope.
She excitedly exclaimed “Soi Eric!” without knowing how my heart yearned for it.
Immediately, I started crying.
It was kind of that awkward crying/laughing in complete jubilation.
Soi Eric.
AKA: FREEDOM STREET.
Soi Eric.
The centre of Bangla Road and the red-light district in Patong.
A street completely untouchable.
Redeemed.
Free.
Something that seemed so impossible…
Oh my heart.
How incredibly faithful Jesus is.
He has shown me time and time again that He hears my prayers,
but this one was so close to my heart.
I can’t even handle it.
The joy in my heart is indescribable.
There is now a sign outside of Soi Eric that reads,
“reserve your business spot today!”
How FAITHFUL.
How incredibly faithful.
Apparently they ARE planning on placing bars back on Soi Eric,
but I (and many others) are praying specifically for favor to have a church or ministry rent at least one section.
Join us in prayer for the businesses and CHURCHES (in Jesus’ name) that are going to reside there now.
Soon enough, there will be no bars.
No clubs.
No ping pong shows.
Just life.
