On our last night in the bars in Chiang Mai, I sat at the bar, drinking my Coke, talking to Anne*, one of the girls who works there, about my family and my cats. A man standing at the bar caught my eye. He had just handed a wad of cash to the bartender, and as she counted out the change, he was clearly impatient. He had a hungry look in his eyes. I try hard not to villainize the men who buy the girls, because I know that they are just as lost, broken, and trapped as the women, but as I watched, my stomach began to turn.
As he waited for his change, the girl he had just purchased wrapped her scarf around her neck, grabbed her purse, and hugged her coworkers goodbye. They walked out the back of the bar, arm in arm. I watched them walk away, and felt an intense sadness at the exchange I had just witnessed. I began to pray for her, and as I did, she turned, and we locked eyes. She held my gaze, and I saw a world of hurt, sadness, and brokenness. She was trapped. She could put on a happy face for her customer, but I could see the truth.
Shortly after, I went to the bathroom, and prayed aloud for her. I prayed that she would be comforted that night. I prayed that, as she lived through a world of darkness, that she would know that there is Light. I prayed that she would know that she is not alone, and that there is a Savior who can truly save her from the life she is trapped in.
I saw another girl, probably no older than 20, go home with a man in his 70's. Before we left, Anne* got a customer, and I saw him pay for her, I'm assuming for the night.
What I saw that night was so broken, so lost, so dark. It's easy to feel like the enemy has won, and that God is not there. How can He let such darkness happen?
When we question, we have to rest in the truths we know. I know that God is good. I know that He loves us. He loves us because He loves us because He loves us. He is Light and Life.
But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. (Ephesians 5:13)
Before we left that night, during our worship and prayer session, God gave me a vision. I saw bar street, but the sun was shining. It was not abandoned-there were people walking around, but they were happy. Truly happy. And the most beautiful flowers were growing in vines around the bars. It was no longer a place of darkness, but of light, happiness, and freedom. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that will happen one day.
We are the light. We are bringers of freedom, because we have experienced true freedom in Christ. We live as free people. I know that is why the girl in the scarf looked back at me, even though we hadn't talked, and I don't know her name. She needed to see the Holy Spirit in me. She needed to know that Freedom and Light exist. I don't think she saw me, but rather she saw the One who dwells in me.
Right now, it may seem to her that there is no way out. That she will always be trapped, that she deserves her lot in life. She does not know yet that she is a beautiful daughter of the King, and she is worthy. She wants out, but does not know how. She does not know that there are people in Chiang Mai who are fighting for her, and would give everything they have to take care of her so she could be free.
I wish I had gotten a chance to tell her these things. But, I can rest in the fact that I know that one day she will be free. Anne* will be free. The young girl will be free. The Light will shine in that place.
I know that God is good.
I know that He loves us.
I know that He loves you.
I know that He wants you to be free.
I know that He wants Loi Kroh road to be a place of beauty and freedom.
I know that it will be.
Just as we go to the bars to love the women, to show them their worth, and to provide a way out of the slavery they are trapped in, the Lord does the same for us. He came to Earth, a dirty, broken, dark world, because He loves us, and to provide a way out of the slavery of sin we are trapped in. Sometimes we take the offer, and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we believe that we are worthy to be loved, and sometimes we don't. But, He still persists, because He is just that good, and loves us that much.
Even though I only had a few days to invest in these women, they have changed my life. They have changed my understanding of what it means to be free, and what it means to love someone so much, even when they don't think they are worthy to receive it. I now walk in my freedom as a truly free person, and I want others to experience the same freedom I know. I want to fight for them, because I have a Savior who fought for me.
*Name changed
If you want to join in fighting for them, check out the organization we worked for this month, Lighthouse in Action.
