I wish I could pull them all out.
It’s hard to comprehend the amount of brokenness and darkness surrounding Pattaya, Thailand. Skin is everywhere I turn starting at 2:00 in the afternoon.
Happy Hour starts at four o clock and I begin to see a dazed look in men’s eyes, searching for anything to fill their hearts. I watch them stare blankly into bars from the sidewalk curb trying to decide which woman they will approach. The amount of women not working in bars and standing on the beach at night trying to sell themselves startles me.
Everyone who comes to Pattaya, Thailand as a tourist is searching for light, a hope that sex and neon lights from bars will not provide. No one comes to this city to just sit at the beach and tan. There is nearly always a hidden agenda. On the outside, everything this city has to offer is beautiful – a sandy beach and crystal clear water – but I urge you to not be fooled. This city is dark, hurt, and slithering with long tailed rats beneath the surface.
To a very small degree, I understand the pull and desire to come to a city like Pattaya and I understand the desire of every woman behind these bars. I know what it’s like to want to be seen by a man. I understand what it feels like to have my heart broken. I understand wanting physical pleasure. It’s an easy way to get a momentary sigh of relief. But in Pattaya, that relief only lasts a moment.
I can’t imagine how tiring it must get for woman who haven’t touched the light of day. In my opinion, even two months seems way longer than necessary to be working this type of job. Then the Lord lead me to a twenty-two year old Thai girl named Goy, who served me water my first night on ministry and told me she only gets three days off on a monthly basis.
The Lord abruptly shattered my heart the moment I realized she was my age. Goy – a human being – brimming with hope that still shines out of her eyes, chose this life because it’s easy money that will help provide for her family and baby from a husband she left because of abuse. In my opinion, this life is not ideal for a sweet girl like Goy.
Men that visit Pattaya look at Goy and see an object that can be used for pleasure. What I wonder is if there are any men who come to Pattaya, walk into the bar, and see what I see: A woman, who has hopes and dreams and a life. A girl who is full of spirit and somewhat shy at first, but overall, confident because she hasn’t been shaken to the core yet, hasn’t had an experience that has hurt and cut her heart deeper than any of the other times she’s walked out with someone.
The truth is that I see in Goy a girl who is a lot like me. At the end of the day, we’re really not that different and that is why my heart breaks for her and why I have continued to pursue her every time we’ve stepped foot into her bar this week.
I know where my worth comes from and I know that the love I search for and find in the Father is everlasting. My purpose this week is to share that love, hope, and light with girls like Goy.
Stories like this are real. Most of the time, we see them in documentaries that are momentarily awe-inspiring, but we eventually forget about what we’ve seen because it’s only through the surface of a television screen. The stories we view on documentaries of girls who get trapped in the industry are true. There’s just something about stepping in a place for a sliver of time – seeing it through the lens of your own eyes – that puts the issue into a much higher perspective.
Sometimes it’s not possible to fly across the world and see the issues firsthand, but it’s something we can’t ignore. Human and Sex Trafficking is not just happening in Thailand and throughout Asia anymore. The reality is that it’s beginning to take place at home, too.
We need to constantly keep our eyes peeled for where God is in the dark places. Kingdom starts with one person deciding to wake up and pierce light into places like Pattaya. Eventually, the light that comes with being alive will ripple outward, inspiring others to wake up and shine their lights in the dark, too.
