While we were in Thailand, along with teaching English classes, we also got the opportunity to work with a Christian organization that does ministry in the red light district that’s right across the street from our English school. This ministry does an outreach program, they host Bible studies, they teach the women skills that they can use to make money so that they have a way to provide for themselves and their families without having to turn back to prostitution, they have a catering business and operate some laundry shops, and they offer English classes.
The red light district that this ministry works in is known for its appeal to foreigners and the women that work here are not trafficked, which means that they came to work at these bars on their own terms and are free to leave if they want. The reality in Bangkok is that prostitution is not only legal, its accepted. This is heartbreaking in a totally different way than the women who are forced into prostitution through sex trafficking. For example, while we were out doing outreach, we met a woman who was working at one of the bars because her 2 year old son has asthma and she couldn’t afford to get him the medical care that he needs. While she is away in the city working, her mother looks after her son. She spends so much time away from home so that she can provide for her son that her own son doesn’t even call her, “mom,” but instead calls her by her first name.
Not only did we get to participate in their outreach program, we also got to help out with their English classes. The curriculum and textbook that they use incorporates stories from the Bible to help the women practice their reading and comprehension skills. One day, while we were helping teach class, we read the story from Luke 1 where the angel appears to Mary to tell her that she’s going to give birth to the Son of God. After we got done reading the story, one of the women in the class asked me why God had to come to earth as baby. What a beautiful question! One of the hardest things about these English classes for me was that we would get to read these really awesome stories from the Bible, but we were encouraged not to share the Gospel or stray too far from the comprehension questions in the textbook unless a student asked us a question because the students were there to learn and practice their English, not be talked at about Jesus. But here was my perfect opportunity to share the good news with this girl-God came to earth as a baby because He knew that no matter how hard we tried, we would never be able to make our way back to Him, so He came to us instead, the ultimate rescue mission, He broke into the enemy’s house where we were being held captive by sin, He paid the price for us to be forgiven and set free, He bought us back, He told Satan there’s no way you can keep what is rightfully mine, He made a way for us to be restored back to Him, so that we could live once again in prefect relationship with Him, just as we were always created to be! After I was done sharing, she said, “oh, it’s a love story.” And that hit me right in the feels! She was spot on-IT IS A LOVE STORY! And it’s not just any love story, it’s MY love story and it’s YOUR love story and it’s everyone’s love story! And not only that, it’s the greatest love story ever told!! You wanna know why? Because it’s a love story that’s come to life, it’s not just so,e fairytale, it’s real. And it’s a love story that never gets old, it’s always new and exciting and the love of our lives never runs out of brand new ways to tell us and show us just how much He loves us. It’s a love story that were invited to be a part of, there’s a role in this love story made just for you, and you don’t have to do anything fancy or be anything special, you just have to be yourself and let yourself be loved and let that love transform your life. It’s a love story where the love of our lives never ever fails us, never ever lets us down, never ever leaves us questioning how He really feels about us. And what could be better than that?!
