Interrupted by a Backpacker
God has been teaching me to live a more interruptible life. This was something He started teaching me as I was preparing for the race and He has grown me exponentially since then in this area. God uses interruptions to teach and use me. I am not always so cooperative and happy when they come along but always thankful in the end that God chose me to carry out His purposes.
At debrief in Bangkok, Thailand our squad decided to take a night and go evangelize and minster in the oldest Red Light District in the country, which happened to be located one street over from our Hostel. Just in case you are not aware, the Red Light district is a group of streets that are lined with prostitutes. Some are trafficked and some are there to provide for their families. We had decided this prior to coming to debrief. I knew even before coming on the race this type of ministry was a possibility. I secretly prayed I wouldn’t be placed there because honestly I didn’t know if I could handle it. It’s an incredibly tough place to go. After planning this night I began bathing it in prayer. I prayed for the precious ladies we would meet, the Jons, and that God would take away my fear.
I prayed and I prayed! One of the first nights we were there a few squad mates and I went to get dinner and walked through the red light district. This was actually beneficial for me to just see it before actually going there and ministering. It broke my heart into a million pieces. Young scantily dressed girls lined the streets sitting on little white stools. “Menu’s” were being pushed into our faces. People grabbing our arms and trying to get us to participate. It was absolutely sickening. Those images just keep playing through my mind. My heart was torn into for these beautiful souls made in the image of God and caught up in such darkness.
After that night I knew without a shadow of a doubt I needed to go out with the squad and minister to these precious people. God changed my heart that night. His perfect love began to cast out my fear and I was ready to go and speak truth and life into this utter darkness.
Friday night comes. We did listening prayer before going out and shared with each other the things that God had laid on our hearts. Visions of specific women and men, encouraging words, and words for specific individuals were shared. It was a beautiful moment and I was ready to go.
I was paired up with two amazing ladies from my squad. One had gotten a vison of a certain square around the corner from the red light district and another one had been given the word “backpacker” from another squad mate for her. So we made our way to that corner.
As we were walking we prayed Lord we want to go where and meet who you want us to tonight. He answered that prayer in a different way than I expected. I thought those words were giving him my yes that I would go and minister to prostitutes. But in fact, we never made it inside one bar in the red light district.
That’s where we started. We walked up and down the street praying and waiting on the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We found a couple of backpackers and attempted to talk to them. Truthfully, I think they thought we were trying to rob them. They held tighter to their backpacks and walked swiftly in the other direction yelling no English no English after they had already said a little bit in English. It was really funny to watch.
So we kept on walking. We turned down an alley to go to another part of the red light district and noticed a guy smoking outside of a hostel. We stopped and asked him if he was a backpacker and if we could sit down and talk with him. He gladly accepted and thus started a two hour chat with a French gentleman on the outskirts of the red light district.
Vincent was an extremely well read atheist who was very open to talk. We listened as he told us about all the traveling he has done and his passion to cook. We got to share why we were in Thailand and that led to a great conversation about Jesus. Vincent if you are reading this thank you for letting us tell your story and being so open with us about how you look at the world. I pray that you read those books we suggested and continue to seek truth. The bible says if you seek truth, you will find it! I also pray that God continues to send believers into your life. We weren’t the first and I pray we won’t be the last!
When we got back to the hostel we found our amazing squad praying on everyone’s behalf that was out shining light into the darkness. I can’t describe how beautiful it was to come back to that!
God can use interruptions to change people’s lives. At first I was disappointed we didn’t get a chance to buy the time of a prostitute. But that is not what God had for us that night. He just wanted me to be open to it and be obedient, no matter what he is asking. I am so thankful things turned out the way they did. I am so thankful we got to meet Vincent and spend some time hearing his story and sharing a little bit of ours. I pray that every moment I am living a life that is full of God’s beautiful interruptions. This time it was an amazing backpacker from France, who knows who it will be next! This is the abundant life that Jesus promised and He is teaching me through sweet abandonment how to embrace it every day!
Unfortunately, the Red light district is a huge industry in Thailand and around the world. Continue to pray for those that are enslaved to the darkness. Keep raising awareness and having conversations about it.
