We are partnering with SHE ministries this month (www.shethailand.org), an amazing organization that provides women stuck in prostitution the opportunity to learn trades such as baking and jewelry making as a way to get out of the lifestyle they are currently in. Every other night we go out to Bangla Road, a tourist destination with over 200 bars. At each bar there are at least six girls working (at some, there are many more than that). The girls are hostesses at the bar. That is, until they are hired for the hour
the night
the week
the month.
We go into the bars, drink Coke or Red Bull, and talk to the girls, treating them like the beautiful creations of God that they are-like the HUMANS with inherent worth that they are. We talk to them, listen, and when the opportunity arises, share about SHE with them, letting them know there are other options besides prostitution.
It has been less than a week and already we have formed a great relationship with one of the girls and have hopefully planted many other seeds.
We are out at the bars from around 9pm until 11:30pm. This is 9am-11:30am EST. If you are able please pray for us during this time. Pray that God will lead us where He desires, that the bar managers will not get in the way of ministry, that men seeking sex will not take away the attention of the girls we are trying to minister to.
Also pray for our hearts. I have been praying for God to break my heart the way His heart breaks and he has certainly been answering that prayer. Each day we go out my eyes are more opened to the realities of Bangla Road. I truly feel as though I have stepped into the pit of Hell.
17 year old girls awkwardly pole dancing, new to the job and clearly uncomfortable, as middle-aged men look up their skirts
Women grabbing men as they walk through the bars
Men grabbing women as though they are their possessions
A Ladyboy (a male prostitute dressed as a woman) at work in the bars with her 10 year-old daughter, hitting on a 50-something year old man who lays his hands on the not only the ladyboy, but the little girl as well.
Families who come to Phuket on vacation and somehow end up in the bars with their young children.
Parents who lift their 4 year old daughter onto the bar and try to get her to dance on the pole as pictures are taken.
While I try to paint a picture with the words above, it cannot begin to do justice to the horrors that occur on Bangla Road. Please be in prayer. Also know that God reigns victorious and is doing incredible works even now as I write this, the other half of my squad out ministering at the bars. Awesome testimonies of God’s faithfulness have already come out of the last week of ministry and I’m excited to share them and more in the upcoming weeks here!
