Our days have been busy helping in the NightLight office. We have spent time doing inventory of the jewelry, doing research for new projects, organizing, etc. I have made friends with one of the tables of women. I visit them each day. I just sit down at the table we talk in our broken English and Thai. They ususally throw a piece of jewelry in front of me and laugh at me trying to make it. It is fun though and am thankful that I get to spend time with them.
Another part of ministry with NightLight is participating in night outreaches on Tuesday and Friday nights. The outreach team goes into the Nana District of Bangkok. Nana is listed in tourism books as one of the three redlight districts of Bangkok. The outreach team does prayer walks around the bars and creates relationships with the prostitutes in hopes of eventually giving them information about NightLight and providing them with alternative employment. My initial thought about this was that I would go the first night, probably not like it, and just stay in the office, but much to my surprise, I enjoy it. It does come with many mixed feelings though. I am going to attempt to explain my experience so far:
Last Tuesday was our first night outreach. We begin the night in prayer. We pray for the women and protection for ourselves. Then, we go out to eat to fellowship as a group and then around 8:30pm we hit th bars. I, personally, haven’t spent much time in bars and didn’t want to be wide-eyed going in. I prepared myself to see the worst and proceeded to walk with confidence. The area is a three story structure with bars on each level. The area is filled with flashing neon signs, women in next to nothing clothing, “lady-boys,” hair and makeup stations, and fried food stands. Each level you go up, the bars get more provocative. We went up to the third level and as I walked up the stairway, I could smell urine, the hallway was dark, and there was a mangy cat on the step. I thought I was walking through a haunted house. I remember looking at these women that looked 18-years-old dressed in very little trying to get us to come into their bar and asking God, “Seriously? Where are you in this place?” And I felt God saying “Look in their eyes, there I am.”
So, we entered our first bar, we sat down, and ordered cokes. I wasn’t sure what to do then. There were girls dancing, but it felt awkward just to look at them. One of the volunteer staff encouraged us to look at them with pleasant faces because they already feel enough shame and do not need us to look down at them. It was soon after that, that one of the women came over to talk to us. It was much easier than I expected. This woman was 29-years-old and has one 13-year-old son. She has been working at the bar for a few years and says she works there for the money. We finished our drinks and met up with the rest of the group. (Side note: Last night, we returned to that bar and our volunteer staff met with her again. She was able to pray for the woman and tell her she was cared about. The woman cried saying that nobody has ever prayed for her or cared about her like that. She gave her information about NightLight and the woman is excited to come check it out. The volunteer staff plans to follow up with her. It is so neat to see the way that God works.)
Our second time going to Nana, I was able to walk with more confidence knowing a little of what I was going to expect. We went to different bar this night. It was more wild than the first with louder music, more girls, and more men. The men that come here look so “normal.” So normal that I keep thinking I see people I know. These men are fathers, brothers, co-workers, employers, ex-missionaries, etc. There are times when I just want to grab them and get in their face and yell “What are you doing?” One of our girls made a comment that the men walk around looking like zombies. They walk around with blank faces and heavy feet. They are lost and in bondage. It breaks my heart to see them looking for love and worth in this way. At this bar, we were able to follow up with one woman and talk to one of the waitresses.
My third experience was last night. We returned to the first bar we went to. We sat there for awhile and didn’t talk to anyone. That is when it is hard for me because I truly begin to wonder what we’re doing there. I began to just pray and ask God to give me His eyes to see. It was a slow night and there was a waitress that looked extremely bored and like she was going to fall asleep. I finally made eye contact with her and motioned her to come over. I asked her if she spoke English, she said that she did and I asked if we could buy her a coke and if she wanted to talk. She had a big smile and agreed. She was 29-years-old, although she looked about 18. She has been working at the bar for 2 years and likes it “50/50.” She was from a rural area, but has been living in Bangkok for some time. She doesn’t have any chilidren and recently broke up with her boyfriend. She told us that her mother was sick. She asked why I was here and I got to tell her. The staff talked more to her in Thai and was able to give her more information. It was a blessing to be able to sit and talk with her.
It is hard because I know that this ministry is very relational based and it is hard when we are only here for 3 weeks. I have to remind myself that we are creating relationships for the staff to follow up on as well as allowing this experience to break our hearts for these women and report back to all of you to what we see and experience. I know that God uses this ministry and I am thankful to be a part of this even for this short time. Please continue to pray for us as we enter “Satan’s playground.”
The Spirit house in the Nana area.
