Before you read this, please make sure to read Parts 1-9 of Mae’s Story. I know it’s long, but I promise it’s worth it to read the whole thing in order.
We are leaving Bangkok in a couple hours to fly to Kenya, so I’m going to have to keep this shorter than I’d like, but I wanted to update everyone on where things are now for Mae and Ning and their journey to freedom.
As I will explain in Part 10 of this story, God has been opening up huge doors and doing the impossible to make sure that Mae and Ning get new lives. They are both really special girls, and I can’t wait to see where they are in a few months. Emmi, the founder of Lighthouse in Action, and I have been emailing back and forth since we left Chiang Mai so that our team can stay updated and keep praying for the most recent needs. I would like to invite all of you to pray, and if the Lord leads you, to continue to generously support Mae and Ning financially so that money never gets in the way of the next steps in their story.
Since we left Chiang Mai, Emmi has had several meetings: one with the Tamar Center to get advice about how to help Mae treat her HIV, one with a Christian orphanage to see what to do to help Ning’s little brother find a safe place to grow up, one with a woman who helps lead a ministry in Pattaya that does similar things on a larger scale, and one with the immigration office to register WonGen Cafe as a place that people without legal status in Thailand can work. These meetings have gone amazingly well from what she has told us. The Tamar Center offered her great advice. The orphanage could not take Ning’s brother because he too is illegal, so Emmi has decided that when she petitions for Mae and Ning to become legal she will also petition for him. Hopefully after that they can find him a place in a good orphanage. The woman from the ministry in Pattaya helped a lot with knowing what steps to take next. And the meeting with immigration was truly God-ordained. Emmi found out that this year in Thailand the government has declared that it is only possible to petition for people’s legal status between June 15-July 13…and we are right in the middle of that window. So hopefully this will mean that the process will be even faster than we had imagined. Emmi also plans to legalize another girl who a different World Race team helped rescue from the bars a few months ago. She is planning to come work with Lighthouse in Action as well.
As the girls’ leases on their apartments expire on Friday and Emmi still doesn’t have another place for them to live, they are going to move temporarily into the dorms above WonGen. Her plan for them for the month of July is to have Bible School students come and teach them about the Bible every morning, and then they will work in the afternoons. Mae will help clean the Lighthouse Guesthouse, which is where we stayed while we were in Chiang Mai. Ning will help in the coffee shop. Also, they will both learn to make jewelry that will be sold to help raise money to pay their salaries and to rescue more girls from the bars.
Emmi met with both girls today, and she says that Mae is very excited and ready to begin her new life. Emmi explained to her that this is all a result of God’s love for her. She still doesn’t quite believe yet, but she’s very open to God’s love. She’s amazed and intrigued that God could love her after everything that her life has involved. Emmi explained that God’s love is infinite and different from human love. There is a possibility that Mae could do one of YWAM’s Discipleship Training Schools starting in September if she opens her heart to God. Please pray that his happens! As for Ning, her situation is a little more up in the air still because her husband, who is also illegal, has been kicked out of Bangkok and is back in Chiang Mai. He will now require legal papers too, so Emmi is trying to work out a place for them to stay and a way for that to happen.
Please keep praying for the following things:
- The girls’ medical exams to qualify for immigration status. Mae’s HIV, if detected, could be a problem, so we are praying for complete healing.
- Emmi to find a place for Ning’s brother in a nice, Christian home or orphanage in the area so that Ning can see him but he doesn’t have to be exposed to all the heartache surrounding the sex tourism industry.
- The immigration paperwork to go through quickly, and for favor with the immigration agents. Often in Thailand bribery is required, but Emmi is not willing to pay bribes.
- Emmi to find a more permanent place to house Mae and Ning and any other girls who are rescued. Emmi’s dream is to turn the guesthouse into a safe-house, but that will require more money and staff members to run it.
- The Bible study that the girls will be doing…pray that their hearts are open to learn about God and that they can see beyond their own low self-worth to understand his love for them.
- A staff member to be found to disciple the girls and the resources to be able to pay this person’s salary.
- The situation between Ning and her husband to be worked out, and also for her to somehow be reunited with her 7 month old child who is in Burma.
- Mae to be reunited eventually with her 14 and 16 year old daughters who are in Burma.
- Continued financial support to pay Mae, Ning, Ning’s little brother, Ning’s husband, and the other girl’s legal immigration fees, Mae’s medical bills, and their salaries. So far God has provided amazingly. If everyone who has pledged money follows through on their gift, we have about $3,000 so far!! In less than a week! But there is still a great need here, so if you feel led to give, please follow the directions at the bottom of this blog.
Thank you so much for your interest in this story and in these girls’ lives! They have become very dear to us, and although we are heading to Africa where blogs will be scarcer due to limited Internet, we are still very much invested in their lives and will continue to update you as we find out more about how they are doing.
To give to the Transformation Fund that Emmi has set up to cover the expenses of getting Mae, Ning, and other girls like them out of sex slavery, follow these directions:
1. If you would like to give immediately and do not care about getting a tax break, you can use PayPal to donate. Log into your account, click on the “Send Money” tab, fill out the questions. If it asks for the country, choose Thailand, but make sure it’s still in USD. If it asks what the money is for, choose “gift.” Send it through Emmi’s email address linked to her PayPal account, which is [email protected]
2. If you would like to support them on a monthly basis, or if you would like your gift to be tax deductible, you can give through YWAM’s website. Go to www.ywamsf.org and go to “Donate.” Follow the directions to give, and choose “other.” Make sure you designate your gift to “Lighthouse in Action–Mae & Ning”
3. If you are Canadian and would like your gift to be tax deductible, mail checks to YWAM Donor Services, P.O. Box 57100, 2480 E Hastings Street, Vancouver BC V5K 5G6, Canada. Include a separate piece paper stating that the gift is for “Lighthouse in Action–Mae & Ning.”
IMPORTANT:
No matter which way you choose to give, when you send in your gift PLEASE make sure to send an email to all three of the following email addresses, stating your name, the method of donating you used, and the amount that you gave. We need to keep track of the gifts to know how much money is on its way.
Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers, support, and love!! I might be a little slower in communication from now on because the places we are going have less Internet availability, but I will update you whenever possible. I will also be posting more blogs about the rest of what we did in Thailand. Please keep our squad in your prayers as we head to Africa!
