It has been awhile since I last updated everyone about Mae and Ning and their continuing story, but I have some bits of important news that need sharing. If you’re just now joining this blog series, I encourage you to read all ten parts that come before this one. I know it’s long, but it’s also worth reading. This story has been the clearest example of God’s saving and miraculous power that I’ve witnessed in my life. The story starts HERE.
Since we left Thailand Emmi has been helping the girls get legal status to work in Thailand at jobs other than the bars. They both began work at WonGen Cafe and the LightHouse guesthouse the week we left. Every morning they joined the staff of WonGen for their daily Bible study led by a YWAM Outreach Team from Tyler, Texas.
Right after we left, Ning’s husband showed up in Chiang Mai out of nowhere. He had been working in Bangkok but had been sent to Chiang Mai after he was caught without papers. At first we were really worried because we had originally assumed he was the one selling her or encouraging her to work in the sex industry. But once Emmi got to know him, she told us that he is a wonderful man who did not want his wife selling her body, but they had no other way to make ends meet. Since his return, both he and Ning have gotten papers to legally work in Thailand, and they have both been working hard at WonGen Cafe full time. To add the the wonderful events in their lives, Ning’s sister brought their little boy back to them to live with them again. He has not been vaccinated for many basic childhood illnesses because of the poverty level he was living at in Burma, so he is often sick, but they are trying to get his immunizations up to date and allow him to be able to go to day care so Ning can continue working. Emmi reports that their family is growing amazingly and is thrilled to finally be reunited and working in a healthy environment.
Stories like the one unfolding with Ning and her family are why ministries like Lighthouse in Action exist. They are an encouraging ray of hope in the dark world of the Southeast Asian sex industry, but there are often setbacks in such stories. Addiction to “love” and the power it gives these women is hard to break, and that’s what we’re seeing in Mae’s case. I’m sad to report that last week Mae ran away from Lighthouse in Action in a fit of rage. She went to be with her Italian boyfriend who is currently visiting Thailand. He has a wife and family back home in Italy, but Mae still believes that he loves her and will eventually leave them and take her to Italy with him. She cannot see that he is just addicted to the same things she is, and her chains are slow to loosen. She emailed me today and told me that she and her boyfriend will be crossing into Burma tomorrow, so please pray that she will be able to get back into Thailand since she does not have legal papers still. Also, please, please pray for a change of heart for Mae. Pray that she will feel what is missing without God in her life and return to WonGen so that Emmi and the staff there can continue to disciple and love her.
This is a current picture of Mae while she was still at WonGen.
Ning and her husband are learning Thai so that they can communicate with the customers at WonGen Cafe.
This is Ning, her husband, and her son at WonGen Cafe.
Your prayers and support have been such an integral part of this story and of making the huge changes in these girls’ lives possible. Please keep praying for them, especially for safety and a change of heart for Mae. Emmi is also still in need of quite a bit of financial support to be able to make these changes sustainable. She needs $650 per month to be able to pay Ning and her husband’s salaries, get vaccinations for her son, and pay for his daycare and their living expenses. If you would like to support them, all of the money will go straight to Emmi and straight to them. For information on how to do this, please see my previous blog that gives all the instructions. If you choose to give, please make sure to send emails with your name and the amount you gave to the three email addresses listed in the instructions.
Thank you SO MUCH for reading these stories, praying for these girls, and providing the finances to make these changes possible. God is using people from all over the world to do a huge work in these four lives in Thailand, and it’s a privilege to get to be part of it.
