My beautiful teammate Kristin Lupton wrote this blog about something that we need help with this month! I couldn’t have written this blog any better- her words are so good. I’m proud to call her friend. Read her other blogs about what God’s been doing in her life on this race!
Disgusting, whore, slut, dirty, ho, shameful, disgrace.
These are some words that might come to mind when you see a young woman standing outside of a bar or on a street corner; her face, covered in makeup and glitter. And her clothes, practically non-existent.
Many people believe that the women are there by choice–that they chose a lifestyle of selling their bodies, standing in bars every night, and attempting to lure anyone and everyone that walks by.
But here’s the truth: It wasn’t a choice.
And these women are loved, beautiful, worthy, chosen, delighted in.
It has become common for parents who live in villages in Thailand to sell their daughters into slavery. Some sell their daughters to pay bills, but some sell their children simply to buy a new television or cell phone.
Many other factors like poverty, lack of legal status (being from a northern Hill Tribe), and lack of employment make for this kind of exploitation a higher risk for men, women, and children here in Thailand and throughout the rest of Southeast Asia.
A few more facts:
-66% of white men that land in the Bangkok airport are in Thailand to participate in sex tourism.
-That 66% only accounts for about 10% of the sex tourism activity in the country.
-In Chiang Mai alone there are 5,000 prostitutes. During peak season, there are close to 25,000.
2 teams from X-squad are living in the Red Light District of Chiang Mai, Thailand this month. We are living in the middle of something that can seem so dark and so hopeless. But we know that hope is not crazy. And that is why we are here.
We are working with Lighthouse in Action.
The ministry has three parts: Love Acts, Zion Café, and XLife.
(check out their website for more awesome information: www.lighthouseinaction.org)
Love Acts: This is literally bar ministry. It is the heartbeat of the entire ministry. We will be going into bars, buying sodas, and trying to develop relationships with the girls working there. There is also a part of this ministry where we go into the slums and love on kids who are sent into the red light district at night to work and bring back money for their family. Our sole purpose is to love each individual and share the love of Jesus. We want to show them the hope, redemption and restoration that is found in Christ.
Zion Café: This is a coffee shop one block away from the red light district. The workers here have all had some kind of experience with prostitution and this place serves as a safe haven for girls looking to find hope and a better life.
XLife: This is a ministry within the slums that seeks to find the problem with families selling their children and then cut the root out. Sex brokers roam these villages looking for desperate families in need of money. The parents sell their daughters without true knowledge of what their lives are going to look like. XLife is about educating the parents, sharing the gospel, and knowing that the only true solution to this problem is Jesus.
We are here to LOVE. We are here to make friendships, take them to coffee, play board games, buy them pizza, and just show them true love and trust. This kind of ministry is so fruitful and really impacts the Thai people in a strong way, but we can’t do this alone.
We need your help.
1) Please pray with us as we prayer walk every morning/afternoon and as we go into the bars where these women work at night.
2) We need money! Each night we will go to several bars and we have to purchase a drink to remain there and build trusting relationships. Overpriced cokes add up quickly and that’s only the beginning. We want to treat these girls like the princesses that they are and allow them to truly understand what it means to be a daughter of the King. We want to bless them with pizza and movie nights, or coffee dates, or just a cold bottle of water while they are at work. If you can help us financially, then please email me immediately at [email protected]. Any amount would be greatly appreciated and will go a long way in sharing the love to girls who have only known pain and hurt in their lives.
God is already working here. He’s doing huge things! Thank you for being willing to be part of the Kingdom and being willing to help us partner with God in Chiang Mai. We appreciate you more than you could ever know.
