Before I get into the details of Thailand, let me introduce you to my new team for the month. This month is Manistry month, so all the guys on our squad are together down in Phuket doing manly things. I get to spend this month with the lovely Neysa, Georgia, Leah, and Kaysie in a village near Chiang Dao, about an hour and a half outside of Chiang Mai.
We are Team Kumah Shoshanah, which means "Arise Lily" in Hebrew. Because of the focus on sex trafficking this month, we felt God was telling us that He wants to lift these women out of their current situations. He is calling them to something so much greater, and wants them for Himself. Song of Songs 2:10-13 says:
"My beloved speaks and says to me: 'Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.'"
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There are 3 facets to the ministry we are working with in Thailand this month:
- X-Life: combats sex trafficking at the source – the villages
- Love Acts: sends people into the slums and bars to share the love of Jesus
- Wongen: a coffee shop/cafe that does outreach to the university students via English classes, etc.
All of us girls watched the movie Nefarious (www.nefariousdocumentary.com) together at the beginning of the month, which is a documentary about the sex trafficking industry worldwide. I was shocked to learn that parental complicity is one of the major factors in this issue. Traffickers make trips out to the villages and select children to purchase from the families – the example in the movie showed a child being bought for a mere $3,000.
Before leaving Chiang Mai to head to the village, we had the opportunity to go into the Red Light District on 2 separate occasions. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever witnessed – seeing old Western men with young Thai women, and young children making their way through the bars selling flowers to patrons as their parents work. Despite the darkness, Jesus is there. And He has already overcome.
While watching Nefarious, I struggled to wrap my mind around the idea of a parent selling their own child into such a horrific life, all for the sake of money. As I listened to some worship music later and spent time with God, a song about the ransom Jesus paid really hit me. God reminded me that while parents are SELLING their own children, Jesus died as a ransom to BUY them. He paid with His life because of His great love for them, and for all of us – His children.
HOW TO HELP COMBAT SEX TRAFFICKING [taken from the movie "Nefarious"]:
- PRAYER – Pave the way for abolition through prayer.
- AWARENESS – Tell others about this injustice.
- GIVE – Support organizations that are fighting sex slavery.
"If to be feeling alive to the sufferings of my fellow creatures is to be a fanatic, then I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large." -William Wilberforce
"The crisis of modern day sex slavery does not need interested observers. It needs incurable fanatics." -Nefarious
"You may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say you did not know." -William Wilberforce
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My team was the village team this month, and we helped to clear the land at the site of a future safe house for women coming out of prostitution (Zion House), where they will live in an aftercare program upon completing a 3 month program of Bible study and job training. We got to build relationships with the villagers while we were there and just live life with them out in the Thai countryside.
During our time in the village, we got to climb a waterfall, explore markets, ride motorbikes through the gorgeous scenery of mountains and rice fields at sunset, hang out with a Buddhist monk and a bunch of villagers on a mountain, swim in a jungle river, discover caves, and form strong bonds with Pa (who works with us to clear the land) and Mae and A (a mother and daughter who own the roadside restaurant where we ate all our meals).
Watch the videos below about our ministry this month to see more of what we did!
