Greetings from Chiang Mai, Thailand, where the sun is at its hottest and spending more than an hour in AC each day can give you a cold. Yes, we are to that point. Where AC is considered a treat, but only in moderation. I literally just texted a friend complaining that the coffee shop where I’m writing this is too cold. Of course, I could step outside for a few seconds and be dripping in sweat, so I think I’ll stay put.
Thailand is known as the Land of Smiles, and at this point of the Race when exhaustion is setting in and we’re in the double digits of days till we reach home (WHAT), I can’t tell you how thankful we are for each and every smile we receive every day. The people here are incredibly friendly and we are so lucky to be doing life with such sweet people.
Here’s a quick look into our days in Chiang Mai:
8:00: Prayer walk/Team Prayer
9:00: Breakfast
10:00-1200: Monk Chat
1:00: Lunch
7:30-10:30: Bar/Intercession Ministry
OR
8:00: Prayer walk/Team Prayer
9:00: breakfast
10:00-1:00: Personal/Process time
1:00: Lunch
2:00-3:30: Slum Ministry
7:30-10:30: Bar/Intercession ministry
Even with that set schedule, we have some team members working in the cafe that our host runs, and others painting at our ministry site. We have several types of ministry this month and we are so lucky to have such a talented group of girls from two teams who can utilize their strengths to bring these ministries lift.
Monk Chat is where we go to a local temple, sit at picnic tables, and chat with the monks to help them practice their English. It’s amazing, and probably my favorite thing that we do here. For someone who studied Buddhism with a Christian professor, it’s pretty cool to have this as a ministry.
Slum ministry consists of taking toys, coloring books, nail polish, and a soccer ball to the nearby village to play with the kids.
And finally, the reason we’re all here: bar ministry.
I know what you’re thinking. “You’re doing ministry in bars? What does that even look like?”
It looks completely different every night. Some girls go out to the bars while the rest stay back to pray over them and the people they’ll interact with.
Chiang Mai, Thailand is a huge hub for sex trafficking, and it starts earlier than you think. Kids are sold by their parents and put in to the sex trade in order to provide money to their families. This is why we spend time with them every day in the slums, to show them love and prove to them that they are worth more.
Our time at the bars is spent ministering to the girls working and being pulled in several directions by their customers.
But our focus doesn’t end there.
We are also there to love the men who purchase these girls and the men who sell them. And let me tell you, that is not an easy task.
Walking in to a bar, buying a girl a Coke, and chatting all night? Count me in. Sitting next to a man who is trying to purchase my new friend for the night and striking up a conversation? Excuse me, I think they’re calling me over for a game of pool….#hardswerve.
Luckily, I have some awe-inspiring girls on my team who have hearts for these men and can have these conversations all night. It’s truly amazing, and I ask that you cover them in prayer.
When we go in to the bars, we usually order a soda and offer to buy the girls working a drink. They’ll either come by and chat between helping at the bar and greeting customers, or they’ll stick around for a game of pool, Jenga, or Connect 4.
I’ve had my butt kicked nearly every night at pool, but hey, it’s all for the sake of the Kingdom.
After building a friendship, we invite them back to our host’s cafe for coffee or lunch. Every girl who works in the cafe has been rescued from the sex trade. When the girls in the bars open up to us about not liking their jobs, we can say with confidence that we know someone who can give them a better job where they will be loved and taken care of. Even writing that, I’m still amazed at the potential these friendships can bring.
God has chosen us to pour in to His children here in Chiang Mai, and He’s asked us to call them home to Him.
My teammate, Nicole, and I have become regulars at one bar and have a new friend joining us for lunch at the cafe today. Please be praying for our connection with her, that we will have more time to see her outside of the bars over these next two weeks, and that she will see Jesus through us. Pray that we would have kind actions and soft hearts. While we don’t know everything about her past, she has let us in to her world after just one night of hanging out at the bar. This is happening with each of my teammates here (16 of us in total), and we would love nothing more than for our host to have 16 girls looking to her for their next step at the end of this month.
Pray for these girls, the customers trying to buy them, the men selling them, and the children being taken from their families. It’s a vicious cycle, and I’m thankful not only that God has called people to this area to minister to His children, but also that so many have said “yes” to this call.
