“There’s beauty found in the broken heart. There’s beauty found in the painful spots. There’s beauty found in you alone…Lord, show me your hand in this…” –Stuart Young
The Place:
The Philippines -> plane -> 11 hour bus ride -> SoHosotel: Chiangmai, Thailand -> debrief -> 2 block walk -> Zion Café
Thailand is known for beauty and adventure; tiger petting, elephant riding, river rafting, zip- lining, you name it. We stayed in the SoHo, a youth hostel where people from all over the world hangout and enjoy these Thai adventures. It is located in one of the five (or so) red-light districts of Chiangmai. The city itself is not huge. (I know this because we walked half of it doing a scavenger hunt one morning.) It is pleasant and full of outdoor café’s, friendly tourists and a place for a massage (or 2) on every street. At least, that is how I saw it as we took our morning strolls to the café for breakfast and debrief meetings.
But, around 4:30-5 pm the city begins to wake up. The night brings vender of all kinds and creates a setting far different than the enjoyable morning strolls. The streets become chaotic as they line with vendors selling shirts, Thai pants, watches, desserts, jewelry, fruit and, women. Anything a person could want really.
The People:
Time for me to face reality. The young, beautiful Asian woman is not hanging out with the old, Caucasian man for fun; they aren’t married or here vacationing together. The man dropping the woman off to work her food stand isn’t her kind, adoring husband just bringing his wife to work. The ‘Lucky Massage’ parlor doesn’t just offer a great foot massage. And those scantily clad women dancing at the corner bar in high heels aren’t just there as a tourist attraction to take a picture with, like the ‘naked cowgirl’ of New York. (Actually, she will be bought and sold 10-20 times each night.)
The Monks- these are the religious people of Thailand who guide others to do likewise. 94% of Thailand is Buddhist and a coined phrase states “to be Thai is to be Buddhist.” Temples are found within stone’s throw of each other all over the city; big, rich, gold, beautifully sculpted temples where the average person goes at least once each day to pray to Buddha. Because our team engages in daily ‘monk chats’ we have quickly learned that many of these monks chose this lifestyle because it was their only means of education as their families were too poor to send them to school.
The Prostitutes- here, unlike in many other areas of trafficking around the world, the girls find it honorable to be sold into or go into this profession (not all girls). Often parents are pleased to have a girl knowing they can send her into the city to make them a lot of money, so they don’t have to work. The girl feels honored to give such a gift to her parents in payment for them having her. Other times, parents unknowingly sell their girls to a sex-broker who comes into their village and offers their daughter a better life. Then there are girls who study at the local university and use their ‘waitressing’ job as income to pay for their education.
The Pimps- These are essentially the girl’s owners. Correct me if I am wrong, but the way I see it, having a pimp guarantees buyers. Much like a food product has a contract with a store to be sold there, the store displays it but based on the products value, it is given proper shelf space as it attracts more buyers. This is kind of like pimps… but without the contract. Without the security. Without much say at all from the product itself. And before they even realize it, these girls are trapped. Owned. Abused. Powerless. And broken of hope as their dignity is stripped away and they are sold time and time again.
The Johns/tricks- The men who buy these women. They have them ordered to their hotel room. They flip through catalogs and choose one that will be there within a half hour. They buy them for the day or week or hour. Usually Caucasian, European men.
I’ll be honest; I have thought curse words and awful things about every tourist I have passed with a beautiful Asian at his side. These men, ugh, these men. Right, don’t you want to think curse words and awful things too?!… But, these men are just as lost and broken as the girls they purchase… They are filling the void in their souls that we KNOW only Jesus Christ is big enough to fill. And HIS blood on the cross, the SAME CROSS THAT HE USED TO TAKE MY SINS AWAY, has the ability to cleanse their sins of all unrighteousness. Can you say, “HALLEAUJAH, WHAT A SAVIOR!!!”
The Process:
To learn, to watch, to cry, to mourn, to pray, to pray, to pray…this is the process. Oh yes, and to have my heart broken into pieces daily, this is the process. But here’s the thing, I cannot sing, “…break my heart for what breaks yours” and then complain when I weep for hours. My heart hurts for social injustice. For sin. For the loss of innocence. IT HURTS! There’s a huge difference between sitting in a classroom with a book, learning about social injustice for women and walking through the red-light district watching a woman sell herself.
Reader, I’d like to tell you a story:
When I was a little girl (6), there was a boy staying at our house who needed refuge. He sexually abused me. Here’s the point, I told my parents, they told the cops, the cops did their job, my parents spent my childhood instilling value and worth and truth and love into my soul, I went to counseling. Years later, there was talk of that guy showing up in an area that I might be at and let me tell you, I was surrounded by people who loved me and wanted to protect me. By the grace of God, I forgave that man, but there were innumerous amounts of friends and family members willing to protect me and fight on my behalf to keep me safe and never have to see that guy again if I didn’t want.
The women in this ‘profession’ have been sexually abused since childhood. It began with an uncle, or a dad or a guy on the street abusing them. Where I was blessed with ‘armies’ who rose up to protect me and instill worth and adoration, they had no one. THERE WAS NO ONE THERE TO ADVOCATE ON THEIR BEHALF! ….no one to tell them, “it’s not your fault!!!” … no one to tell them, “you are worth more.” So when a job comes along where they can GET PAID to do what they’ve done since childhood, why the heck wouldn’t you do it?! See the twisted mindset? So even when help comes and 90% return to their life as a prostitute, it is because they are running to the security of the only thing they know. Abuse is the only ‘constant’ in their life. This is heartbreaking.
The girls, the ones with such beauty, created in the image of God… and Satan is having a field day destroying them by the dozens. As once the epitome of beauty, he has become the master of destroying it. Let me remind you, HE DOESN’T WIN. In this battle and spiritual warfare, HE IS NOT THE VICTOR.
“The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
The Prayers:
-Pray, pray, pray
-for the pimps, the johns, the prostitutes
-for the people who go into the bars to give these girls a flicker of the hope in Jesus Christ
-for the safety of those
-for hearts
-for compassion
-for awareness of this to spread as it grows rapidly around the world (yes, even in America)
-for those who are moved by the injustice to do what they can
-for confidence and work of the Holy Spirit to be felt as we talk to these broken souls around town
-for squad unity as the enemy will try to attack each one of us differently and tare us apart
