Our last week in Thailand was spent in the touristy city of Pattaya, which is about two hours south of Bangkok on the coast. Back in January, the other three girls on my team learned from a missionary they met in Cambodia that Pattaya is a major hub for the sex industry and is an extremely dark place. We all felt that this was where we needed to finish our time in Thailand, seeking the Lord on how we could be a light there. I reached out to a missionary friend from back home asking if she had any contacts in Pattaya; we weren’t able to work with any specific ministries, but my friend did share with us an interesting tidbit about this dark and sinful place: the worship song “God of This City” was written in and about the city of Pattaya. She sent me the story of how it came to be.
It didn’t take long for me to see why everyone kept claiming that Pattaya was such a dark and heavy place. Literally within seconds of stepping off the bus after arriving, we inhaled a thick, pungent atmosphere filled with the stench of sewage and pollution, and we all felt extremely dirty and burdened. There were tourists everywhere, and we knew when we looked into their eyes as we passed them on the streets that their reasons for being there were to satisfy their fleshly desires of the world. There was a sense of brokenness and hopelessness left and right. But I was reminded that the same Spirit that lives in the hearts of me and my teammates is also the God of this city, and that was a major encouragement for me.
Our ministry focus this week was in the bars at night. We went to the infamous Walking Street along the water in Pattaya. If you’ve ever been to Bourbon Street in New Orleans, picture that, but on steroids. It was easily the wildest, most evil place this preacher’s kid had ever been. As soon as we turned onto Walking Street we were bombarded with the sounds and lights of night clubs, half naked women and lady boys lining every establishment, and pushy men shoving pornographic images in our faces insisting we come see the sex shows happening in their venues. There was no averting our eyes because it seemed like every time we tried to look away, we were forced to see something even more perverted.
Although the sensory overload was a lot to take in, I was mostly overwhelmed with sadness. Sadness for the workers whose lives consist day in and day out of this dehumanizing industry. Sadness for the tourists who’s coveted vacation days are saved up to visit a place where they’re certain they can fill the empty voids inside them.
“Where do we even begin?” I thought, overwhelmed by the idea of making a difference in such a hectic and sinful place. We prayer walked and settled on a spacious bar with pool tables and a relatively tame atmosphere. This ended up becoming a routine for us every night on Walking Street. We walked up and down the street, praying over the city as we pushed through the chaos, and then returned to the same bar to play pool and make connections.
By the end of the week, we were regulars at the bar and the ladies who worked there had come to expect us and knew our drink orders (3 lime Schweppes and an iced coffee). It was so sweet to see their faces light up as we walked in. Our last night there, we were able to give the women in our bar roses and pray with some of them. Throughout the week we played a lot of pool and met so many tourists and had incredible conversations with them. (I’ll be posting a vlog about Pattaya with more details about these convos as soon as I can get to strong enough WiFi!)
“Greater things have yet to come in this city.”
This truth was playing on repeat in my head throughout the whole week. It both strengthened my confidence in the Lord’s sovereignty as well as gave me passion and energy for how He could possibly use us to play a part in a spiritual revival in Pattaya.
In our week being there, we didn’t bust through the doors of any brothels or rescue any girls out of sex trafficking. We did, however, cover the city in prayer, love hard, and share the gospel. We looked people in the eyes and sought to help them find their innate worth as human beings, created in the image of God.
There is hope for Pattaya. Although it can sometimes be difficult to see exactly how God is working in a place that seems so trapped in the shadows of evil, I have this confidence:
He’s the light in this darkness.
He’s the hope to the hopeless.
He’s the peace to the restless.
There is no one like our God.
