Imagine being a woman and the only way you can provide for yourself is to sell your body each and every night. Or imagine being in a position where you are being trafficked and all of the money made is given directly to a pimp, you never see any of it. This is just a small description of many women and lady boys that we were lucky enough to minister to in Thailand.
Prayer walks, bar talks, and cafe ministry is exactly what we spent our time daily throughout the month. We prayer walked bar street where the trafficking takes place every night. We went out at night and bought cokes to be able to have conversations and build relationships with the women in the bars. Lastly, we worked in a cafe where women are given the opportunity to work and make an income that doesn’t require them to stay in the bar lifestyle.
The Lord really stirred my heart for a specific community within that community. My first night entering into a bar, I was brought into contact with a woman by the name of *Peggy. As we attempted talking to her, I quickly discovered that she was Deaf. Not only is she Deaf and working in the bars, but also her bar mom told me not to bother that she was not worth my time. Of course telling me that made me want to invest in her even more. As the night went on, the more and more sign language the Lord provided for me and the two other girls that was there with me. And when understanding sign language failed, Google translate was there! That night I met two women, both of which were Deaf. As the month progressed, I continued to go back and attempt to see *Peggy. Every night I was able to go out into the bars, the Lord brought another Deaf person or two, to cross my path. He continually gave me an understanding for their language that I could not give credit to anything or anyone other than Him. After all, the only sign language I have had experience with is when my mom and I watched Switched at Birth before I launched for the World Race.
As weeks passed by I came into contact with a total of 10 Deaf people, one of which is a missionary from Birmingham, Alabama. The Lord kept bringing them to me one after another. It was such a beautiful thing. I have never had a desire to learn Sign, but the Lord made it evident that the need is great. There are so many people in communities across the world that are shunned because they are Deaf like in this particular instance, or any of the other many reason. It has been my prayer for the Father’s heart for His people. In Thailand, there’s no doubt in my mind that I felt my heart break for the people just as His breaks for them. My heart for this community grew more and more with each passing day.
Back to *Peggy, I’m sure you’re wondering what happened with her throughout the month. How did our time with her affect her? *Peggy is one of the most joyful individuals I have ever met. She was so happy to see us each and every time we came. She visited us twice at Zion Café, the place where we were staying for the month. The last week to two weeks that we were in Thailand, she was nowhere to be found when we went to the bars. Her bar mom told me that she hadn’t been coming to work. PRAISE! I was so excited to hear those words. I was able to get her in touch with our ministry contact and she offered her a job for whenever she wanted to start working. She was told that she would have place to come and earn money and keep her out of the bars!
The need for Christians going out into this atmosphere is GREAT. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. Even if you only get to impact one life, it’s worth it. If my entire month in Thailand and all of the experiences that came with that was only to meet *Peggy, it was well worth it.
I am asking you to partner with me in praying for these women. Praying that these women will have their eyes opened to the Truth. They will have Christians come along side of them and show them their worth in Jesus. These women will be able to escape this whirlwind of a lifestyle, knowing that it wasn’t possible without God.
