Today is our last day in Pattaya, we head back to Bangkok
tomorrow morning for Christmas. We don’t have any planned ministry today, so we
have a day to relax. I was just walking home from the 7 Eleven and it occurred to
me how blessed I have been today. Today, I went to the Big C food court across the street
from our hotel for lunch and I got chicken and noodle soup which I love. Actually,
I just love Big C. I took a good book with me and ate and read and LOVED it.
And then I went to visit Matt, who runs our favorite coffee cart. I got an iced
coffee that is even better than Starbucks’ iced coffee. And then I went to the
internet café and thoroughly enjoyed a little alone time with Facebook. And
then I visited Matt again on my way home, because it’s our last day and I need to
drink as much iced coffee as I can before we leave. Plus, it costs about 40
cents, so really, why not?
You might be asking why today is blog worthy. Well, the best
part about today is that I didn’t feel sick to my stomach even once. I didn’t
feel disgusted. I didn’t feel angry. I didn’t feel like I had to turn my head
away from something every time I looked up. I didn’t have to watch crotchety
old men fondle beautiful young women. Which is actually kind of a miracle,
because Big C is usually full of foreign men and Thai girls. Because I walked down
Soi 6 this morning, and while the reality of prostitution usually overwhelms me
there, it just didn’t hit me the same way this morning.
I really think it’s because God knows what we need. He knows
when we need rest. The past ten days have been exhausting. No matter what I’ve
read and the stories I’ve been told about it, nothing could have prepared me
for the reality of prostitution in Pattaya.
The reality is 60, 000 beautiful women
selling themselves night after night to make a living. The reality is thousands of men flocking here to exploit them. The reality is thousands of tourists, including
families with small children, taking in these awful sights as just another stop
on their vacation to-do list. The reality is human trafficking staring us in
the face.
I’ve been struggling to write a
blog about everything I’ve been seeing and feeling here. It’s hard to know what
words to use to convey it, to know how to share this experience with you. In
the next few days, I’ll be posting a few stories of our time here, hoping that
it will give you a glimpse of what our ministry has been like for the past ten
days.
(Bonus points to whoever can name the
song that the blog title is from.)
