Thailand was one of the hardest places for me to live. It was the country I had prayed the most about and the place I new I wanted to serve. But Thailand was nothing like I expected it to be.
God called my team to the dirtiest city in Thailand. He called us to Pattaya; a place where there are more prostitutes working than actual citizens. Pattaya (much like other parts of Thailand) reeks of sin and evil. There are people in this world who only go to Thailand for the sex industry.
But this industry in Thailand isn’t what we hear about in America. Very few of the prostitutes are sex slaves owned by a pimp or another person. Almost all of the women and men working in this industry have made the decision to work in this industry and not all of them get in to survive.
(I met a woman who had a masters degree in education and chose to be prostitute because it was easier and more fun than teaching school.)
It’s a hard realization to make but the truth is, the culture of Thailand finds nothing wrong with selling sex and often encourage it. It’s hard to see the hurt and pain and spiritual captivity that comes from it and realizing in this case it is often times the people involved have chosen this life.
The fact is, not all prostitutes around the world are slaves. Because of that, the way we as Christians need to minister to them is different than to slaves. We can’t go in and raid a bar and pull women out and help them find another job. Because women are making the choice (weather or not it’s for survival or other reasons) you have to first build a relationship with them and offer them freedom from the spiritual and emotional captivity before offering them another job.
It is important to know the difference between a person enslaved in the sex industry and a person who chose the job. The truth is there are people who get stuck and can’t get out and there are people who a forced against their will and can’t get out. But the other side of the coin also exists, someone can chose in and are free to chose out whenever they want. We, as Christians need to understand that both exist and help minister to each one because the way you reach them is different.
