We had 3 days or orientation learning the culture, about the ministry, etc. Our schedule each day after that was prayer walk from 8-9am, then breakfast, paint cafe from 10-1pm, then lunch, then team time from 1:30-3pm, then another prayer walk and could say hi to the girls setting up from 3-5pm, dinner, then worship from 7-8pm, and either you interceded from 8-anywhere before midnight or you went to the bars. Our team was split in half so that we could intercede for each other when we went out. Drew and I and Tennyson and Casey were a group.
The first night we went out Drew and I walked through the Thai boxing area. It was Thai boxing night, which meant there were a lot of men in that area in all the bars. It was a little overwhelming. You see time and time again, older white men all over these young asian girls/ladyboys. I have seen them putting money in their underwear, and videotaping women dancing on tables. Making out with them for everyone to see. Men grab them and violate them and continue to walk by like nothing happened, without even saying a word. We decided that area was too busy and so we went down to another street filled with bars that would be less busy so we would have more opportunities to have conversations with the women.
We went into a small bar with about 5 or 6 girls on the outside of the bar near the street to invite men in and/or go with them so service them. We sat down at the bar and ordered cokes from the bar tender. We had a few small conversations with the girls standing on the street. They would come talk to me and tell me how much they loved my hair, and then would run and see if any men were coming, and then come back and talk a little more. We also started having a conversation with the bar tender. She told us she was 43 yrs old and had a few kids. Then she pointed and showed me her 24 year old daughter was one of the girls standing near the street to prostitute. I looked and saw this beautiful tall asian girl, who looked only about 18 yrs old. I felt like someone jabbed me in the stomach. This lady, the bartender, is the one who owns the bar and pimps out these ladies, including her own daughter!!!
(Where we did ministry-ex. of how women/ladyboys sit on corner of road outside bars to invite people in, etc.)
Right then and there things were put into perspective for me. I’m 24 yrs old! My mom would literally NEVER sell me to anyone for any price. In fact, this may not be a good thing, but I’m quite sure she’s ready to put a bullet in someones head if they touch me. I look at this girl and just think-this is her normal life. She has men touch her right in front of her mom, and they both act like its normal and have smiles on their faces. Moreover, her mom is the one who exploits her to get money. How sad, that she never knew what it is like to have parents who love her and will protect her and let her know her value. My heart just broke.
We had wonderful conversations with the bartender and the other ladies that night, so we continued to go to that bar the next couple nights. We actually found out that the bartender was married to an American for 20 years. He only comes to Thailand to see her for a couple weeks about 3 times a year. I was shocked and asked if she missed him and was sad? She said, “I am used to it. We have lived like this for our whole marriage.” Drew and I have wondered if this means he has another family in the U.S. Anyways, we had enough conversations with several of the ladies who really enjoyed talking to us, so we felt it was time to invite them to have lunch with us outside the bars. We want them to know we aren’t there to use and abuse them. We are there to get to know them and form relationships. We want to show Christ’s love by as Emmi puts it, “being Jesus in the skin.” We want them to know that they are valued for much much more than their body.
I asked the bartender if I could take her daughter out for lunch to help her with her English(she wants to study English) and to be her friend. I’m quite sure she knew what we were about, because she made up excuses to not let her come. “No she has to study. She doesn’t have any time.” This made me upset-she has time to work for you all night and sell her body to these nasty old men, but you won’t let her have a lunch date with another girl her age? That night we watched as this 24 yrs old girl goes to the back with this older white man. They are gone for a while. When they come out, she says, “Thank you”, and bows her head. He barely looks back and dashes out of there. She fixed her makeup, and no kidding, immediately went to sit next to another older white man who was all over her.
This is the first night I cried in Thailand. I was so overwhelmed, mad, sad, felt useless…really no words can explain all the emotions I felt. I know that God is moving here in Thailand. I know that His heart also breaks for this young lady. I know what I feel is a glimpse of what He feels. And because of nights like this, I have become more of a prayer warrior. I pray my ……hiney off on behalf of these men who are a slave to their lust. I pray against everything the enemy has planned. I pray for these women to see Christ in us and want it. I pray for them to be rescued by our loving Father and for them to have freedom, healing, and restoration that only He can bring. Will you pray with me? You know prayer is more powerful than we’ll ever know-probably until we get to heaven. God uses it to breakdown strongholds, to set the captives free, to move mountains. If we fully grasped this, I think we would all pray a lot more!!!
