Two weeks ago, my squad hit the city of Chiang Mai in eager anticipation for the Parent Vision Trip. Our parents were able to join us on the field for a week of serving and loving. We had the incredible opportunity to work with Wipe Every Tear. Their mission it to bring girls out of the sex trade and provide them with a free place to stay, a free education, and free meals.
They show them their
true value and worth
through the unconditional love
of their Heavenly Father.
No one has ever done that in Chiang Mai. No one has ever set foot in the bars with the mission of bringing the Kingdom. We had the opportunity to be apart of the beginning of something incredible. We had the opportunity to come into what The Lord was doing in this city and watch Him show up.
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On Monday night, we went into the bars with the intentions of talking with the women, and inviting them to come celebrate and have lunch at The Joy House. You think you know what it will be like. You think you can imagine it. But you can’t. You can’t ever explain that feeling without actually walking down the rows of bars, watching drunk, older, white men take advantage of beautiful, young, Thai women. I felt so overwhelmed at first. It’s almost paralyzing. I decided to World Race it.
I pulled my parents outside, told them to get their selves together, prayed, and walked right back in.
We ended up sitting down at a bar with two women. We bought them drinks and dove into conversation with them. We eventually pulled out the flyers and told them all about the celebration. One of the women, we’ll call her A, stated reading it and smiling. She said “This is good. Thailand needs this. Girls need this. You have good hearts.”
She sees it.
She knows.
The other women, we’ll call her P, pointed to the name of the organization, Wipe Every Tear, in bold letters. She kept repeating “I love this. I love this.” Then her face broke into a huge smile and she giggled, pointing to her arms. Goosebumps. Covering her entire body. I literally laughed out loud. It took everything inside of me to not start screaming and praising The Lord on the spot. She didn’t understand. She didn’t know what that meant, but I did. That was the work of the Holy Spirit y’all.
He’s alive
and He was present
right there with us that night.
The conversation continued and I found out more and more about P’s life. She showed me the adorable pictures of her two children and I showed her one’s of my niece. She told me about how she gets to live with her daughter, but her ex-husband keeps her son. She only sees him one or twice a year, and her daughter constantly asks about him, begging to see him. Tears started streaming down her face and she kept apologizing, telling me she doesn’t normally cry like that. I sat there rubbing her back, trying to provide what little comfort I was humanly capable of, and relying on God to do the rest. Then her friend pointed to the flyer, pointed to her, and laughed. Wipe Every Tear.
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Tuesday night, we were ready to go out to the bars again, when we were told we weren’t allowed. They found out that the bar owners and pimps were really upset about last night. They had contacted the police and were waiting for us to come out again. After a lot of prayer, they decided it would be better if we stayed in and interceded from the hotel. It pumped me up. The Enemy was doing everything in his willpower to stop us. He thought that by keeping us out of the bars, that we would be stopped. It’s funny though because God transcends all things. Distance and physical barriers don’t stop Him from moving. The Holy Spirit was still working that night.
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On Wednesday, we went to The Joy House, the house that is going to be used as a place of refuge in Chiang Mai. We worshipped and prayed in anticipation of the arrival of the bar girls. Five women showed up. Not even thirty minutes later, one already wanted to move in. She kept saying “I feel different. This place so different. My heart feels good.” They had a meeting and eventually she walked out of the room, as I was standing outside with two other of the women. She came out full of an unbelievable amount of joy, dancing and singing and cheering. She actually kept asking ME if I was okay.
Two hours later, three women had decided to move in. They made the decision to LIVE in the house and LEAVE the darkness of the bars. Y’all, I don’t know if you understand the full weight of that. These three women get to walk through the door of not only a house, but a PALACE, made specifically for them. A palace for the most beautiful daughters of the Most High King. They can walk into freedom, joy, and overwhelming love every single day. That’s nuts.
That’s Kingdom Come.
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I fell in love with the ministry and with Wipe Every Tear. I fell in love with the idea of saving women and showing them who they are in Christ. I have always had an overwhelming desire to help rescue these women. I have always felt an intense pull to work with human trafficking. I felt alive when I was walking through those bars. I felt at home when I set foot in that house and worshipped my Father.
I’ve been in heavy prayer about it, and we’ll see where The Lord takes this calling. But I know it will be good and I know it will be for His Kingdom. I was made to work for the furthering of His Kingdom, and the fact that He let my parents in on that blows my mind. The fact that they have seen and understand the desires He placed within me is incredible. He truly does know the desires of our heart. He truly is good all the time.
“The darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.”
1 John 2:8
