So I’m writing this as I’m sitting on a curb of the Red Light District of Chiang Rai, Thailand. For those of you who don’t know what that means, it is the street with all the bars and hotels where majority of the sex trafficking and prostitution occurs. There is so much raw emotion running through me and I’m trying to put it into words, so bear with me.
Being a victim of some sort of abuse myself, sex trafficking, prostitution and domestic abuse have always held a special interest of mine. At the beginning of the race, I couldn’t wait to get to Southeast Asia to help pray over prostitutes and declare authority over sex trafficking laden countries. What I had in my head and what I am experiencing are completely different. I’m not sure what I expected, but what I’m feeling is complete and utter anger, hurt, and frustration.
About an hour ago, we set out and followed our hand drawn map in order to find the street where all of it takes place. Prostitution and trafficking are predominant here. And this is the place everyone knows about. Let me set the scene: There’s a street with bars and little restaurants on one side. On the other side is a colorful playground and basketball courts. The street ends with two hotels. One happens to be named the Red Rose. It is decorated to be like Disney and each room has a different theme. Men can come to the hotel and pull into one of the rooms, a gate closes behind them and they have the room with a girl for the night. All of it is disgusting. A Disney themed hotel where all of it is taking place? How twisted.
Walking into that place I felt heavy. I couldn’t breathe. I was in shock. It was dark and you could tell it was a place where only bad things happened.
But I knew I had the Lord’s protection.
These girls don’t.
They don’t have any protection. No friends, no family. Most of the time it is their families selling them into it. How is it that we have let the enemy have such a strong foothold on our world? A world where we have let innocent, beautiful girls be subject to such violence and violation. A world that allows this to go on. It makes me sick, it makes me angry, and it sets a fire inside me that wants to put this to an end.
Today was not easy. Today I got angry. Today I sat on a curb in the middle of a city in Thailand and wept. I felt so much emotion. It pains me to think these girls are walking around feeling shame and guilt and unloved. And it pains me to think that these men are trying to fill an empty void with this. And frankly, I wanted to burn the whole street down. But I know that wouldn’t solve anything. It would only move to a new location.
Things need to be done to end this. There is hope for it to end. Because God is good. He is only good. But it can start with a simple prayer. A declaration of authority over these countries that are so dark. I’m asking you, who are sitting at home to send up a simple prayer, so that all of these victims will know they are loved. And that all of these perpetrators know that have sinned, but for mercy and forgiveness on them. Yes, I’m asking for you to pray for the men who partake and no, I’m not crazy. The enemy has a hold on them and if they knew what goodness there is in The Lord, this wouldn’t be happening. This is the point where things turn around. This is the point where hope is restored once again.
As always, thank you for reading. And I am so blessed to have your continuous love and support! If you have any questions or anything, feel free to comment or email me ([email protected]).
Xoxo,
Kaitlin
