Caution the following blog has some material not suited for children. Thanks for loving your kids!
We arrived in Phuket, Thailand on Wednesday morning after an
overnight bus ride (which we’ve come to love because we have non-stop
air-con!). I found out on Monday that we were going to be working with
SHE Ministries which helps women who are caught in the sex trade to find
a better way of earning income and ultimately meet Jesus. SHE stands
for Self Help and Empowerment and that’s exactly what they do, they go
into the red light district and build relationships with the bar girls
and then they offer them a job working for SHE with the only requirement
being that they no longer work in the bars. Once a girl quits her old
job and comes to SHE, she will be trained in several different areas
such as jewelry making, baking, sewing, hotel and restaurant services.
As a part of each work day they will also attend bible study.
Upon my arrival we rested a bit and then at about 8 pm everyone met
for about an hour of worship before heading down to the red light
district. We piled into the vans and headed down the road into one of
the most spiritually active places on earth. It was like you stepped out
into a war zone between darkness and light. Walking down a street like
that it’s easy to be so distracted and overwhelmed by people trying get
you to come to their bar or see this show but if you look a little
closer…just a bit beyond the surface you will see some of the most
broken-hearted people in the world all congregating in one place,
looking for love. As you can imagine it is difficult not to judge what’s
going on and what people are taking part in but when you go to a place
like this it is SO necessary to see what God sees.
The first night of ministry we went out in a small group of 4 people
(3 of my team-mates for the month and one girl from another World Race
Squad who had been there a few days before and had some experience).It
was a night of learning and meeting some really beautiful people. My
second night is the night I want to share with you…
We arrived just after 9 pm just like any night of ministry. It was
just the three of us, me and my team-mate Monica as well as my “borrowed
team-mate for the month” Kate. We headed out and really had no agenda
for the night except to ask God where He wanted us to go and who He
wanted us to meet so we could begin building relationships. As we were
walking (and praying) down the streets I stopped in my tracks and saw
one of the most horrific sights I’ve ever seen: a little Thai girl about
7 years old with a Caucasian man who looked about 65 or 70. Now to be
completely honest, I don’t know why he had that little girl with him but
my spirit didn’t feel right about it.
The three of us stopped and began to just pray for that little girl
(after all why would anyone bring a little one into a place like this?)
and for the man that any plan the enemy had would be put to an end. We
asked God if he wanted us to confront the man or how he wanted us to
respond to this situation and just felt like we were to keep them in
sight and pray. We followed them up and down the streets of the red
light district until we lost them in a crowd and headed back to our
meeting place to have some others pray for us. Our hearts were broken.
We received prayer and got confirmation from many there that the Holy
Spirit had another “divine appointment” out there that night and that
staying there and sitting the rest of the night “out” was just what the
enemy wanted. So with heavy and expectant hearts we headed back down the
road.
We all had an idea where God wanted us to go – down one of the
darkest streets on the strip. We sat down at a bar and ordered a coke.
And that’s when Pong walked up (name changed for protection). We invited
her to sit down with us and dug into her life; where came from, how old
she was, about her family and why she was there. She told us that this
was her fouth night working and that she did not like working unless she
got to talk to “nice people” like us. We talked about how she hadn’t
been to the beach yet and that she’d love to go with us when she wasn’t
working. We left that night planning to go the beach with Pong the next
day.
The next morning we got ready for the beach and tried to connect with
Pong but she never answered her phone. The next night we went out to see
if she was working and she wasn’t there.
I know that Monica, Kate and I were supposed to meet Pong, no doubt in
my mind but I don’t know when we will see her again and I don’t know
what God’s plan is for her life but I do know that, even in the simplest
of ways, the three of us girls were called there to share the unfailing
love of the heavenly Father who loves her so much that he would send
three young women from all different parts of the U.S. just to come and
meet her and share it with her. My heart breaks to think of how
relentless He is in pursuit of Pong and all of us.
Just in this one street alone there are over 1,000 women stuck in the
sex trade with the belief that this is the best they can do for
themselves and it is a lie from the pit of hell. Pray for Pong and the
rest of these women who are in bondage. Pray that Freedom would come to
the captives and that He would come soon!
Thank you for your prayers and thank you for your financial support.
