This month; where do I start.
We got the news we were headed to Phuket approximately a week before our bus brought us here. We seen it and immediately all screamed with excitement. I read the ministry summary and just knew immediately it was going to be an incredible month. Phuket is a dream beach destination in freaking Thailand, what a crazy thing to get to come here.
Our ministry this month is known as “bar ministry” which sounds like a made up thing I know, I’ll explain. During the afternoons here we go to Bangla Road, the “strip” of Phuket I suppose. We are partnered with a ministry that has primarily been established by two women who have been here for approximately 18 months. In that time, they have consistently went to this street 6 days a week seeking relationships with the women who work in them. We get to see the fruit of that now as we go to these bars and the women are literally SO excited to see them. Everyday we sit with them as they work; talk, ask questions, play connect 4 (apparently its a really big thing here and they are all incredible at it!), laugh with them, comfort them when they tell us they miss their families, & basically just provide a familiar face every single day that is a safe place. [Side bar – did you know our team name is Haven, which means a place of safety or refuge, what a way to wrap up our last month together as a team]. So many people go to these bars looking for something from these women, we go to show them we want nothing but their friendship.
During the evenings of this ministry we are either back at those same bars doing the same thing, in bible studies with locals, inviting people to come play volleyball with us on the beach or interceding for this place in prayer.
It all sounds like a bit of a dream right? Beach by day, bars by night. I will say, this month is like nothing we have experienced on the race thus far. Believe me living beside the ocean and having the mornings as quiet time is an unbelievable gift. It is a blessing to spend Month 4 here, but it really is not all fun and games, not when you know the full picture.
The difficult part takes place every time we walk onto Bangla Road, especially at night time. From the minute you are anywhere near it there are people showing you boards with drink offers & whatever sex show is on that night. There are people absolutely everywhere and women dancing on poles in every bar. Phuket is one of the centres for sex trafficking and human exploitation in Thailand. Many of the women are here because they have been sold into the industry, the rest are here to try and provide for their children & families, who are usually living hundreds of miles away. The darkness of this weighs on my heart every single time we are near it.
Most of us know what human trafficking is, or have at least heard of it to some extent – the exploitation of people made to work in unjust circumstances through use of force. Victims of slavery are often subjected to abuse such as rape, torture and confinement, among other forms of physical, sexual and psychological violence. Many of the women here have been moved from their home countries in Eastern Europe/Russia to work under these circumstances in Thailand, made to do things they don’t want to do every single day, working for weeks & more at a time with no day off.
So what is the purpose of us being here? We are here to be friends with these women. Sounds too simple, right? It is unbelievable what friendship can lead to. By showing someone they are worthy of sitting with & showing up every single day for, that can & has sparked so much more in their lives. Better jobs, more money, less exploitation, self worth, better health, breaking of tradition. If we can show people the love of the very Being who created them just by sitting and playing connect 4, then we will turn up and do that. Praising God for this month of unconventional ministry and the perfect way to wrap up our time as the 6 women of ‘Team Haven’.
Blessings,
Chloe xo
