Stepping in to bar ministry in Chiang Mai, Thailand is overwhelming. I felt ill-equipped a good chunk of the month, because I am a man trying to do ministry to prostitutes, because we have only a month against a sea of darkness, and because our ministry required resources we didn’t have.
Our team raised around $3500 for bar ministry this month. We wrote blogs asking for help and the money rolled in. And in a culture where one dollar buys a pretty good dinner, this money went a long way. It broke the shackles and exploded our ministry this month. Here are a few stories.
Our girls met a ladyboy and were able to take her out a few different days. They went to coffee and to a beautiful temple on the mountain. They also went to a monkey and elephant show with her. They shared the gospel with her. Our last day in Thailand, we introduced her to our contact in the city and showed the way for a lifeline out of the industry.
One of the last nights, the three boys went out to the bars. We were searching for men to talk to. Our aim was johns, but God had other plans. After a lot of awkwardness and dodging the girls, we met a guy who worked at a bar. We played pool with him and talked about life and dreams. We are not sure if he was a male prostitute, but his story sounded eerily similar to those of the girls we had met. We ended up asking him if we could pray for him and Justin prayed for him right there in the middle of the bar.
There is a bar around the corner from where we stayed. We got to know a couple of the girls there. We took them to an awesome lake outside of town and took one of them to a sushi place on our last day. I was also asked to come to a couple other dates to try to show the girls what a godly man can look like.
On the way to a massage parlor to meet one of the girls they met, our foursome of amazing women met a couple new friends who were very interested in Christian faith. They brought their new friends back to the café we called home and gave them Bibles and introduced them to the people who live there that can follow up on their stories.
We heard on the first day of ministry that the bars will sometimes put pictures of children behind the bars that look like normal pictures of their children. In reality, it is a sign that children are available for purchase. On my first night out, I found a picture of a child behind a bar, but could not get close enough to see it well. The next night, teammate Kyle used the date money donated to us to get a soda at the bar. It allowed him to get a few inches from the photos and take a picture. We sent it to our contact and it was forwarded to the undercover police division in Chiang Mai.
The stories are really endless. We have not had the time to sit down and figure it all out. It has been overwhelming. Our team spent around 14 nights out at the bars and in intercessory prayer over Chiang Mai. We met somewhere around 30 new friends. Around 20 of those turned in to dates outside of the bars, most of them more than one date. My humble guess is that we went on about 35 to 40 coffee and excursion dates with girls and ladyboys we met in bars and massage parlors!
I am overwhelmed at how much God showed up this month. In the midst of the darkness, His Lights shines. It is overwhelming how many people back home donated money for this and made all of these dates and bar ministry itself possible. It is incredible the lives that we came to know, how quickly friendships formed, and the impact our team made on the lives of these people.
Human trafficking is a massive, global epidemic. And although what we did was just a drop in the bucket, it is encouraging to be a drop and to trust that the rainstorm of Heaven can easily fill that bucket in its own timing.
Thank you to everyone at home for helping show the light to these children of God. In various stages, a difference has been made, a seed has been sown, a way out has been displayed. When we started this ministry, I could not imagine how we could make any sort of a difference. But a month later, after befriending prostitutes, handing out Bibles, speaking truth over broken people, showing unconditional love, and proclaiming the gospel with our tongues and our lives, I can say with great confidence that a difference has indeed been made. At the very least, within my own heart, what was once overwhelmed by darkness has been overcome by the miraculous Presence of Light.
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