It is Wednesday night about 11:30 pm and we have just sat down at our third bar of the night. We order 2 non alcoholic beverages, a Sprite and Pineapple juice. We begin talking to the lady who works at this bar. We listen to Hope’s story… she does not like her job, she does not like being degraded and seen as a piece of meat that any man can by for the hour, night or week. She has one son who is 8 years old. She only works here because she has no high school diploma and she needs to support her son and her parents in her hometown which is over 30 hours away by bus. She has not seen her son in over 2 years and she misses him so much. Her employer will not let her leave the bar, she is stuck in an awful situation. She normally works a 10hour day which starts at 5pm with cleaning the bar and the “dance” poles. At 8pm she changes into her “work’ uniform, which is degrading and her body put on display like it is meat hanging up in a butcher’s shop. She “dances” to the music but you can look at the sad look on her face that she does not want to be here. She is here physically but definitely not mentally. She dances and/or serves drinks for a couple hours, if she is lucky nobody will buy her tonight and she can leave at 3 am. Unfortunately tonight, she is not lucky an older man starts a conversation with her manager and points at her and grins. He hands the manager 2000 Bhat (which is less than 60 american dollars) and the manager motions for her to come over. She tells us she is sorry she can no longer talk to us but she has to go work. She is forced to be with the man all night and eventually returns to the small room she is sharing with three other girls. Her rent for this small room is very expensive and she still has to pay for food and send money back to her parents to take care of her son. She wants desperately to escape the life she is living, but she feels she has no way out. She is in debt and the devil has filled her spirit with darkness, secrets and lies about herself and her profession. Before she has to go with the old man, we tell her that she is a beautiful woman inside and out created by the most High GOD and that she is loved. We tell her she is worth more than this and that there is freedom from this situation.
We tell our new friend Hope about a Christian ministry called SHE (www.shethailand.org).
SHE can provide her with a paying job making jewlery, chocolate and cookies. SHE can provide her with a wonderful affordable house to stay in with free food and a support network, a community of women who have overcome the “Bar Girl life”.
SHE can provide her with the ultimate freedom, a chance to learn about Jesus Christ. She has never heard of Jesus, which is not uncommon in Thailand which is 90% Buddhist. The woman can not comprehend that a man would die for her sins or love her unconditionally ( which would be hard for anyone in her situation to believe). The old man stares Hope down and she turns us and says I can not talk right now I have to go but I accept your invitation to have lunch at SHE tomorrow
She tells us to be careful ( we tell her to be careful and that we are praying for her safety).
Hope meets us for lunch at 11:30 and we bring her to SHE. As Hope enters the SHE house she sees the women making chocolates and cookies and the sweet smell permeates her sad soul. Hope has lunch with the Thai women (women who have been where she has been and through GOD’s grace overcome). After lunch Hope comes to the second floor and sees and hears the women laughing and joking while making jewelry. Hope can feel the sense of forgiveness and pure joy that only Jesus can give. Even though right now she does not know the source of this pure joy and redemption she wants it. She sees success stories who look just like her all around her and she wants to be one of them. As she is visiting the Thai girls, our team is praying Hope comes to work/live at SHE or that the Lord will provide another option out of the bars and into the arms of Jesus Christ. Hope tells us that she will leave her bar job in two months to come work at SHE.W e hug her and tell her we are so happy and that we will come and visit her at the bar this week ( we try to urge her to come sooner than two months and she explains her financial situation . She tells us that her rent is paid on her small room for the next two months and that she owes some other people money and HAS to pay them back within the next two months.
We hug her and than we pray that GOD protects her and that he strongly pursues her so that when Hope comes to work and live at SHE that GOD has already started preparing her for transformation. We pray on her first day when she attends 8:30 devotionals her heart, soul and mind are eager and ready to here about the true freedom, unconditional love and forgiveness that are only available in Jesus.
This is our ministry for the month.. the story above is a mix of the lives of several women we have met this month. I mixed the stories to keep the identity of the women safe. This is truth and real life.
If you want to donate to this wonderful mission, please buy jewelery at www.shethailand.org (it is made by the victorious Thai women). You can also make a donation
We have several prayer requests, but before you pray for these things put on the armour of GOD. Please read and pray Ephesians 6:10-20 (The Armour of GOD). The devil does not want light coming to Patong, Thailand… he may try to attack you. Please pray and ask GOD if he wants you to pray for the things below.
Please pray for the “Bar Girls” of Patong and the women who live/work at SHE. Please pray GOD’s truth and life and his Holy Spirit fill these women and this dark yet beautiful, tropical place. Pray for the women who work/live at SHE who have made it out of the bars. Please pray all the women who work at SHE invite and accept Jesus into their heart and soul and mind. Pray that they have an intimate relationship with Christ and make him first in their life. Please pray that they will accept GOD’s forgiveness and transformation. Currently 50% of the ladies who work at SHE are CHristians, which again is amazing in a 90% Buddhist country but 100% is better. Please pray for the founders, Mark and Sharon and their family that GOD keeps filling them with His love, peace and energy. Please pray the jewelry, chocolates and cookies are a success and for continuous, steady sales and financial blessings. Please keep our team in prayer that GOD covers us with His spirit and life and the devil’s attacks do not hinder the mission.
