During this month in Thailand, we have spent a lot of time in the red light district. One night, I found myself praying for the beauty in the streets. These streets are filled with tons of beauty but no one can see the true beauty of it. The beauty here is distorted and taken advantage of. But the one thing that stood out so much to me that specific night was the abundance of roses. I noticed one handful of roses and then another soon after and more soon after that! Soon I started realizing that it seemed like every single vendor on the street had at least one bundle of beautiful red roses in their hands. Here they were standing in a street filled with prostitutes and broken people searching for beauty and love in such carnal pleasures, that no one realized the beauty that was already in the street.
Satan thinks he has control over Pattaya City, Thailand, but in all Truth, God’s beauty is still shining so bright in these streets. Even through beautiful red roses in the hands of those selling their own bodies to people who don’t even deserve them.
Speaking of the roses, I have met so many beautiful roses this month. And I would love to share about some of my encounters with them during 4 nights of bar ministry this month…
ROUND 1:: My first day of ministry in the bars was probably one of my favorite evenings here in Thailand. I remember walking up to one of the bars with my translator (who actually didn’t speak much English, ha!), taking a seat and ordering a coke so that I would be able to sit and talk with the girls. The girl that brought me my coke took a seat across the bar from me and we just stared at each other not really sure what to say. I mean, I was a girl and normally it was men that sat with them, right? I felt a little awkward as all the girls at this bar were dressed in really tight and short teal-colored dresses and bathing themselves in make-up to prepare themselves for the evening. A game, that I don’t even know what it’s called, was placed in front of me and I attempted to beat one of the bar girls as my translator passed out little business cards that had information about the English classes that we were teaching at the Tamar Center. I specifically remember one of the girls at this bar who is 20 years old, just a little younger than myself, named Anne. She probably sat with me the entire time that I was at this bar and tried to speak the best of her English that she knew. She shared with me how she is from northern Bangkok and thinks this is the only life that she can have. She and her friends also shared with me that they work long hours and don’t get much sleep at night so there isn’t much time to be able to do anything else fun. I even met a ladyboy named Dan (a “ladyboy” is a man who cross dresses and/or has changed their bodies into the body of a woman) at this bar who was one of the sweetest people that I have met and was really excited to meet me. By the end of my time at the bar, 2 European men had joined Dan for a drink and were sitting and talking. Dan was sharing with them who I was and why I was there. When I left, I can still remember hearing Dan say, “Bye Carmen!” and the 2 men just sitting there awkwardly smiling.
ROUND 2:: This time, I was with a Thai “translator” that spoke absolutely no English and none of the girls at the bar that we went to spoke English either. I was a little frustrated at firstbecause all I could do was smile at the girls and nod my head. I also watched as men walked by and these girls flocked after them to try to bring them into the bar. When we left the bar that night I did find out that the girl that my translator was talking to the whole time was another “ladyboy” and really interested in the Tamar Center and wanted to come check it out one day. I also found out that my translator was able to share a lot of her own story with this ladyboy in the bar. The Lordwas definitely working even when I felt that I wasn’t doing anything.
ROUND 3:: This is the night that the random German man gave us the money to supply our Thanksgiving meal on the way to this set of bars. So once we arrived, I was so pumped up with what the Lord was going to continue to do as we were ministering to these girls. I was also with a translator who happened to be another American girl who spoke English very well which was a super blessing to have (ha!). I was also really excited when I realized that the bar that we chose to go to was called “JOY” bar. They even served us peanuts, which was a plus! :] We started the conversation with 2 awesome girls who were so nice to us and shared about their lives. I even attempted a game of connect four with the bar mom. The “bar mom” is the lady that takes care of all of the girls and pretty much runs the bar. Speaking of the “bar mom”, I loved that woman! I remember chatting about a cute man that she had a crush on and seeing her face light up. I also loved hearing about one of the bar girls sons that was turning four the very next day. Her son was at home with her parents in the northern part of Thailand, but she talks to him every single day. We even had the privilege of praying for her before we left which was such an encouragement to her and us as well. Hallelujah, Jesus!
ROUND 4:: This final time around I was with Mon, our wonderful translator that has been with us for the entire month. She became like a sister to us girls of Team Hephzibah (just a little plug for her… we are also trying to get her to join us on the race in April when we head to India! So if you feel called to help support her, let me know! :] hehe, we love Mon!). Anyways, the 2 girls we spent the most time with that night were 2 beautiful 18-year-old girls, who obviously had not been working at the bar for that long but came to work right after their 18th birthday. One of those girls didn’t want to be there but felt that she had to. Her parents are in debt and she wants to do what she can to help them out. If she had any other choice, she wouldn’t be there, but this is what she felt was the only other option that she has. It was just so much fun to spend time with these girls who really aren’t that much younger than me. I even won a few games of connect four with one of the girls! :]
Overall, I have really loved my month in Pattaya, Thailand! It has definitely been my favorite month on the race and I am very sure that I will probably be back in Thailand at some point in my life!
