On our second night out of ministry this month in Thailand, we got the opportunity to talk with one of the bar girls for a long time. she told us all about her 4 year old daughter who lives up north with her parents, and ashe just opened up to us about all these dreams she has for her life.
On the wall behind the bar, there were these pictures/stickers of Cinderella. They showed her in her beautiful blue dress, the one she wears once whe is transformed from mistreated to royalty. I couldn't get over the beautiful reminder that was there in the bar, for all to see, that a woman can go from having nothing to being a princess.
These women who work on the streets of Bangla are women that are waiting. They are waiting for a way to change their circumstances. They are waiting for the next customer. They are waiting for their shift on the strip pole. They are waiting for a prince to come and take them away. To save them.
Jesus wants to be the Prince to save them. Jesus is the Prince who already did everything needed for them to be saved for all eternity. Most of my prayers this past month were for veils to be torn away and for walls to come down, that nothing would block these women from the love of God.
Everynight we went out, and we talked with people, and prayed for them, and got funny looks when we ordered a Coke with no Rum in it. And we hopefully left a mark. Not our mark though. Jesus' mark. There's not really a way to wrap this up. Bangla road is still there. And now, we're not. But Jesus is there, and the seeds that were planted this month are there.
I guess the point of the blog is this: please pray for Bangla Road. Pray for the girls, who work to send money home so their parents can upgrade their car / house / tv / life. Pray for the men who walk the streets of Bangla, because they are just as broken as the women. Pray for the families walking down, with their children. Pray for the couples that visit these places together. Pray for the sign holders who try and get you in to see their "Ping Pong Shows". Pray.
This week, one of the girls from Bangla is leaving that life to come and work with SHE Ministries. She figured out what Prince she was waiting for, and when He called an invitation to her, she answered. I know there is rejoicing in heaven and on earth for the new life she is choosing, and may there be many more stories like it. Cinderella stories.
