As I have now experienced a weeks worth of “bar ministry”, I would like to share with you, and possibly clear up, some of my preconceived notions and maybe some of yours, about what this ministry looks like.
1. I am actually going into the Red Light District. The area is lined and surrounded by bright lights and advertisements for bars, strip clubs, massage parlors, and prostitution. We commonly see or interact with pimps, Johns (the name for customers who frequent prostitutes), and ladyboys (male prostitutes who are transvestites). We play pool and other bar games with the bar girls, and interact with the customers in the bar as well.
2. I am not going into the bar to sit at the counter and talk about the bible, my relationship with God, or that they need to have a relationship with Him. I go there to buy a drink for myself/my teammates (soda), offer to get the girl we are with a drink or her choice (alcohol usually), and play a round or 2 of pool with her. Very commonly she is a working prostitute and is just waiting to get her next customer…we are a different type of customer, we are there for fun and laughs, not alcohol and sex, and there is a freedom that she has when with us, a joy that she doesn’t have with others.
3. We may sit and play a bar game and not get a chance to talk with a ladyboy or prostitute all night. They are working and trying to earn money. If they lose interest, realize we aren’t a paying customer (for something outside of soda), get other regular customers, or even just have to waitress for awhile, we may lose the opportunity to interact with them. The time we get with them is very valuable.
4. Sometimes bar ministry looks like arm wrestling a little Thai girl (age 4-5) who spends her nights in the Red Light District. She may have a mother is a prostitute, a father who owns one of the bars, or maybe her family sends her there just to bring in extra income. Usually the little kids are in there to sell flowers, bracelets or other trinkets as an additional way to make money for their family. They grow up with their only role models being prostitutes, Johns, or bar owners. We sometimes get a chance to give their childhood back for a brief moment by playing a game with them.
5. Only by the grace of God moving in the heart of a pimp, prostitute, John, ladyboy etc., will we ever get a chance to become more than a customer, maybe a friend, maybe then, there will be an opportunity to talk about Jesus, our Savior and the relationship I choose to have with Him.
So far we have become close with two girls, ‘Oh’ and ‘Rabbit’ both from different bars, we have been back several times to visit each of them and even have hung out with Rabbit outside of the bar scene. One thing Oh has seen and noticed and even told me is, “You are good people.” That was it. She recognized something different about us. We are not in the bar to party or drink, but to spend time with her and build friendship. It’s so awesome that she can see that we are different, and hopefully see God through us.
So yeah, the bar ministry is real. The sex industry (trafficking, prostitution) is real. I have had a very rare and unique opportunity while here to plant a seed – maybe I will see the beginning of growth while here, and maybe not, but I am doing what God has called me to do: Shining His Light in this darkness.
“Live such good lives among the unbelievers that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and example and may glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:12
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14
