We were excited to be staying at “the party beach,” during our team vacation to the Thailand beaches when we got some adventure days after ministry at the end of October, but this was one wild night that was out of our league.
We got dressed up (as much as our World Race wardrobe would allow) and did our makeup, ready to hit the town and find somewhere to show off our American dance moves.
Instead, we were presented with a heartbreaking reality. The girls here are introduced to a culture of sexualizing themselves to provide for themselves and their families from an early age. Phuket’s nightlife has made an industry out of it, and the majority of their customers are Westerners.
Every ten feet as we were walking down the street, men came up to us with “menus” of what we could “order” and what “shows” were available. I’m actually finding it hard to talk about without making this explicitly inappropriate or watering it down.
Our host told us that it was so common for this culture to see womens’ bodies as purely profit that even girls’ boyfriends don’t mind their profession as they pay for college. In contrast to American society where parents traditionally take care of their kids, in many Asian cultures the kids are expected to take care of their families and sometimes entire communities.
These traffickers are smart and manipulative; they use the Buddhist religion to help them trap these girls. They trick girls by telling them they will be waitresses, take them hours away from their homes, and then tell them they have to sell themselves to pay for the transportation so they don’t have “misfortune” in their next life.
Anther way the Buddhist religion is damaging to these girls is that trafficking your daughter is not uncommon in order to pay for the eldest son’s fees to study at a monastery to become a monk.
It was hard to leave, knowing how much brokenness exists in the hearts of these men and women and feeling so helpless to do anything about it.
For us, it was one wild night. For these women, it’s their life.
We invite you to join our team in praying for these girls, that they come to learn they are valued and loved; for the men, to love these women in a way that is honoring to the Lord; for the World Race teams and missionary groups serving in this city and in this industry internationally; and for Phuket, that it is still seen for the beautiful creation and the smiling faces that make it what it is.
Regardless of our past, His arms are always open to receive us with love.
“O come to the altar
The Father’s arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ”
-Elevation Worship
If you are interested in learning more about Cambodian women in human trafficking situations as a result of the Cambodian genocide, we recommend watching “Finding Home,” and if you want to learn about children being sold into the sex industry in America, we were horrified to learn the statistics and hear the stories in the documentary, “I am Jane Doe.”
Blog Co-Authored with Cristin Ratkowski
