As I’ve been processing more and more, I’m flooded with memories. Some I may have shared and others I haven’t. So here’s a memory that I’ve been thinking about lately.
The evening started like every other Friday night. We finished our daily ministry duties and had about two hours to rest and eat before our night ministry began.
That night we walked under the interstate (it’s true you had to duck to walk under it unless you were 5ft and under), and caught a bus. The bus took us to the BTS station (which is a metro type station above all the roads, much much quicker transportation then driving…SO MUCH TRAFFIC ALL THE TIME). From the BTS station we walk through the underground subway to our ministry location.
My stomach begins to feel ill, as it did every Friday night while riding to ministry. As we travel, I have one headphone in and worship music playing as we all are praying and interceding for what we are about to experience.
As we enter it’s now dark outside but the sky is so bright. It’s lit up by neon signs as far as the eye can see. I see men and women of all different races and majority of them speak English. This street is so tightly packed. As you walk up and down this street you see the most beautiful sights you could ever see. You see women, some of the prettiest women ever. But the problem is they don’t see themselves as pretty. And really neither did a lot of those people walking down the streets; all they really saw was a nice body and a number. These women’s jobs were to attract whoever they could to enter the bar.
Each week we choose one location to enter (I will not be sharing specific details due to protection of the ministry and women). We got to visit the same location for 3 weeks, which really helped us build friendships with these women.
As you enter you’re hit with crazy loud music. Looking to the left and the right you see tables and booths placed so close together. Each booth has a pole connected to it for dancing purposes. Lastly right in the middle of the whole bar you see an elevated dance floor with 15 poles spaced out around it. Each woman has a pole and 15 minutes to dance it out in order to attract customers to purchase them.
*the job for these women are to have customers purchase a certain amount of drinks (or they will lose all profit for the evening) for them or pay for their time away from the bar (meaning the one who purchases them pays a fee to allow them off of work for a specific amount of time. The women then leave the bar with the customer).
Her number was 146. She was so beautiful. She had the biggest smile, we order some soda while she ordered a different kind of drink and we got to know her. You could see behind her plastered on smile, behind her eyes, there was something more to her. With each drink purchase we are able to spend 15-30 minutes with her, depending on how busy it is. The way our booth is set up in a semi-circle, it’s almost impossible for me and my teammate Erin to hear what is happening. So we stay engaged as much as possible with the conversation but at the same time we just stay in the mindset of prayer. I look around the bar; I look at girls in their eyes and just smile. I pray that they see how much of a gift they are to this world. That their value isn’t found in the amount of BAHT someone is willing to dish out, but that they are loved, they are valued, and they are made in His image. They have a future, they have hope. And for brief moment, the Lord whispers in my ear
“Be in the world, not of the world”
“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”
John 17:14-19
and in that moment that all made total sense.
Here we were a group of missionaries sitting at a bar, sharing a drink with women who sell themselves, while we watch men purchase the women, we watch the women give away pieces of themselves without second thoughts. (and as much as I hated seeing this happen, I LOVED EVERY MOMENT THERE).
Each week as we returned, she had smile the biggest smile as we entered the bar and we patiently waited for her to done on stage dancing and she would join us for a drink or two and we would laugh and love on her and just speak truth into her life. We offer them information about the ministry and give them the option to leave the bar work if they desire. (A lot of times they want to leave the bar, they really do, however they’ve been made to believe they aren’t able to do anything else, and so they are fearful to step out into something new. Because they may be the only finical supporter for their entire family –mom, dad, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins and their own children-)
The ministry we partnered with works directly with women in the bars, and offer them an alternative job in their cafe for them to make money for their family. All while teaching about their worth and how the Father loves them.
I wish I could end this story like a fairy tale…
…saying she accepted the job at the café and her life is forever changed, but that’s not the case. It takes a lot of time for women to feel comfortable enough to leave what they may have known since 13 or 14 years old. But I know the Lord met her at the bar that night. She shared some deep hurt that she dealt with and we were able to speak truth into her life. She knew in those few weeks we were there that she was loved, and not because she could offer us anything but simply because we wanted to know her. We asked her name and about her family. I believe in those moments she felt noticed and loved.
We also were able to connect to her women at the ministry that live in Thailand so that she can still be connected long after we are gone, which is the most important part.
.
The number 146 was very special to me. Long before I knew the woman and the impact she would make in my life, number 146 was God’s way of telling me He was in the mix. When I was much younger probably still in high school, I learned about an organization called love146 and it was an organization that was helping free children from sex trafficking. And since learning about the company my heart has been burden for that industry. And here we were right in the midst of the industry loving women and offering them a way out and she was number 146. (God always shows Himself to be around in the craziest ways, you just have to be willing to look around and listen).
