Wednesday night, Stacy, Anne and myself went back to the bar to buy out two of our friends for the night. One a 14 year old named Bla and the other a 32 year old named Ann. On Tuesday they told us we could come at 7:00pm, so we decided to make an entrance around 7:30.
When we got to Nana things were still opening and not a great deal of people we around yet. We walked up to the bar where our friends worked and we were the first “customers” of the night. We tried to just get the attention of our girls immediately so we would not have to buy any drinks, but the mamasans were to quick to get us to sit down. Thankfully we had Tan, our translator with us, and she quickly explained that we did not want to buy drinks tonight, we just wanted to buy the girls out for dinner. The mamasan was negotiating the price for the girls and then she informed us that we could not take them unless we would pay them a $30.00 tip. As we tried to explain to the girls that we could not pay them I began to feel overwhlemed and unable to think. We told the girls and the mamasans that we would be back later, we just needed to think.
So we left the bar and went up to the third floor to kill some time. The bar that we walked into happened to be a Lady-boy bar. When we realized this, we couldn’t help but laugh. After being there for a bit, my heart grew sad for the desperation that these men must be going through in order to be working as a woman in a bar. We sat for around 30 minutes, bought some cokes and then went back to the other bar.
When we got back, Ann and Bla both came up to see what we were going to do. We explained to both of them the difficulty in our situation. As bad as we wanted to get them out of there we did not want to get them in trouble. Then Bla said that she could not leave because she needs the money. She has to send money to her parents tomorrow. I explained to Ann that we could give her our number and she could call us on her day off and we will take her out. Then she said no. She asked if we could please come back and get her out for a night. She told me that we could just tell the mamasan that we were paying her but she does not want our money, she just wants to leave. At that point I was juggling feelings of hope and helplessness.
A few minutes later a group of roudy, rich western men made an entrance to the bar. The mamasan came and got Bla from our booth. Tan asked me if it’s okay if she left. I told Tan that this is her job and I can not do anything. I watched the man look her up and down, then he pulled her on to his lap. He rubbed his hands all over her and then he picked her up and put his hands all over her butt.
I could feel that I was loosing my composure so I got up and walked out. Anne (our team member) came out to check on me and as soon as she asked if I was okay the tears started coming. We left shortly after that and I fought back the tears as best I could until I got home.
It was another sleepless night as I sat up until 4:00 in the morning weeping and praying for these girls. I have been broken for them. But in this time of brokeness, scripture has become more alive than it ever has before.
“Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers and blessed is he who
trusts in the Lord.” Proverbs 16:20. I am learning to trust in this time. I know He is FAITHFUL!
