Thailand is a country that is filled with beauty and possibility, much like the many young women who live within it, but there is a shadow of evil underneath that has choked the life out of many of God’s daughters. Thailand is a center-point of prostitution in the world but it is also connected with some of the highest levels of child trafficking. Girls even from the age of 6 or 7 are sold to brothels and sex traffickers, sometimes under the false pretense that the children will be working in a factory for a few years and sending lots of money back home to their parents, but sometimes parents, relatives or guardians have sold children with the full knowledge of what they were doing. The facts regarding trafficking and prostitution are staggering:
- 27 million men, women, children world wide are in modern day slavery: 80% female, 50% children.
- 32 billion dollars are annually generated from human trafficking, making it the 3rd most lucrative business in the world.
In Thailand:
- 66% of all men that land at Bangkok airport are there for sex tourism.
- Guys at younger and younger ages are being introduced to prostitutes; 12-13 year old boys being introduced to sex by their dads who will take them to prostitutes.
- Thai men have “little wives” or “minor wives”- regular prostitutes.
- 1/3 of all Thai men and 40% of house wives have HIV/AIDS.
- Pattaya, Thailand is the pedophile and child sex trafficking capital of the World.
The ministry I (David) worked with last month was called Remember Nhu. They have 5 girls homes in several countries including Thailand, Cambodia, India and the Philippenes. The ministry started when a man named Carl listened to a missionary speak in America about a girl named Nhu from Cambodia. Nhu became a Christian when she was 12 and her Buddhist Aunt sold her in anger at her conversion. Carl heard this story and was moved and felt God say “Remember Nhu”. He talked to the missionary about the girl and her story and decided to leave the U.S. to do something about this world crisis. He decided to tackle the problem from the angle of prevention. Remember Nhu offers a home and food and also ensures that children receive an education, as well as offering training in a trade and opportunities for college. Eventually Carl actually found Nhu, the little girl who had endured so much, and now she looks at Carl like a father, even saying that any man who is interested in marrying her must talk to Carl, and she runs the girls home in Cambodia.
Working for this ministry was an incredible experience as I realized that while Catherine was ministering to girls who were already caught in the net of prostitution, these girls were getting the chance to just be little girls and laugh and play without the worries or the perversity and evil that might have stalked them if this ministry wasn’t there. The girls were amazing, beautiful children and it was such a blessing to see the love shown to them in that place. They were truly honored when many other women in Thailand never had that chance. This ministry is growing and expanding but the issues are still there. We built new bathrooms and a new children’s home and helped 35 girls move into their beautiful new home and the feeling of seeing their faces as they got to place their things in their new rooms was indescribable.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We are quickly hitting a crossroads financially. We’ve tried to build awareness of financial deadlines but we’ve seen very very little progress each time. Our final deadline is coming up the end of this month and we are feeling the pressure to raise the support we need. We need your help. We NEED $4,800 by the end of this month or we will have to start having some serious discussions about continuing on the race. We are among the last of about 5 other people on our squad of 55 who are so drastically short of our financial goals. Please consider giving into our lives, our work, our mission to bring Christ to the nations. We are dependent on God but He moves through you and your gifts. We have limited internet access this month and limited ability to fund raise so please help us! You can give by clicking here: Support Us
Here’s a video one of the guys made of our “MANistry” month in Thailand as we worked with the kids from Remember Nhu:
