Name: Walli
Age: 7
Occupation: selling flowers to men at bars in the red light district of Chiang Mai, Thailand
On my first night out for ministry in the red light district my eyes were caught from across the ring of bars surrounding me. There stood a little girl. Long, dark hair pulled back in pigtails, a small sling cloth purse across her chest, and flower necklaces dangling from her wrists. Ours eyes locked. My mind didn’t think, but my heart reacted. I immediately stood up from my seat and crouched down with my arms stretched wide as she ran towards me with a smile. As I lifted her up into the air and heard her laughter for the first time I knew my heart had been stolen.
As I set her down I asked her for her name. “My name is Walli”. In perfect English. She was able to tell me how old she was and state how much her flowers cost. Only 20 baht for a necklace (about 65 cents in America). I couldn’t resist. As I handed her the money she put her hands together in true Thai form, bowed a little bow, and said “Thank you.” Her voice captivated my soul.
As she walked away from our short encounter questions flooded my mind. Where is her family? Why is she selling flowers at this time of night in a place like this? Does she go to school? Is she working for a pimp? Etc. etc. etc.
As I walked back to the café where we were staying I couldn’t get her out of my mind. Our team began debriefing the night and I soon came to find out that the children at the bars sell flower necklaces every night and cannot go home until all the necklaces are sold. They are usually out at the bars till about twelve in the morning and most of them have school the next day at 6:00 am.
My blood began to race. No seven-year-old child should be out till 12 am. No seven-year-old child should be working for her family. No seven-year-old child should be in that environment what-so-ever!
I went to bed confused. My heart was in turmoil. How can I help this girl, God?
To be continued…
