As you walk down the alley way to our hotel, there are “shops” on either side trying to sell you all sorts of things. They all use the same gimmicks…such as cheap price for you, very low prices, same same, and many more. Well… since we do walk down this alley way several times a day we have become friends with the shop owners and now their greetings are more like… hey hey shoes for me (instead of you), hey where are you going, good morning, can I join on the beach, or the best yet is… how are you doing tomorrow. Hahaha…
Our time here in Patong is now coming to an end. As always, we are sad to leave, but I believe that the seeds that we have planted here will prosper and grow in time… it is only our job to plant the seeds and leave the rest up to Him.
I’m not going to sugar coat things and tell you that our time here has been easy and it has been so wonderful because to tell you the truth…it has been far from that.
You see…my team was called here to Patong to work with and minister to the people here. Well…this is Phuket’s most popular beach and it is worldly known for it’s exotic night life and entertainment…aka “bar girls”. From the beginning my team knew that we were called to minister here…many of the people on my team have personal callings to work with these “bar girls”, so we knew coming in that it would not be easy, but at the same time we excited to see what the Lord had in store.
Patong is very much what you would think when you think of “party central” it is people young and old, families, young adults, and of course…the guys that come just for the girls.
As we “walked” into this place Luke 10:3 continued to ring in my head… “Go I am sending you as lambs in the midst of wolves…” and this is definitely what we have experienced the entire time we have been here.
We came not knowing what to do, what to expect, or where to even start…this I have to say is actually a good place to be because it is then that we are completely powerless and have to rely completely on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide. So…we did just that… we asked the Lord to show us where He wanted us to go, what He wanted us to do, to open doors and to shut the wrong ones, and to bring people (divine encounters) into our paths.
As always…He has been very faithful. We have formed wonderful relationships with our hotel staff, with the store owners in our alley way, with some of the tuk-tuk drivers, and we have even met other Christian that has been called here to minister.
We have sat on the beach and had praise and worship times, we have prayer walked the beach and we have spent hours upon hours prayer walking Bangla (a street about 1 mile long…you can walk from one end to another in less than 10 minutes and this street has over 100 bars on it).
My heart breaks every time I walk onto the street and see the “evil” that is there. It is the stomping grounds for Satan. The heaviness that you feel just as you turn the corner onto the street becomes so heavy that you can barely stand. As we (the girls) walked into some of the “closed” clubs I had to run out at times because I became so nauseous (not at what I saw…but the evil that I felt).
These people are held in so much bondage. Not just the girls, but the people that come here for this “fun” and the fact they do not care what it cost (physically, financially, or emotionally).
Walking the streets all you can do is ask the Lord to “forgive them, for they do not know what they do”. The many prayers that have gone up from this place, the tears that have been shed, and the love that has been shown, I know that the we have done just what the Lord wanted us to do and that is completely trust in Him and walk in faith.
The seeds that have been planted here are “hidden seeds” they are the kind of seeds that the Lord wants you to be faithful in planting, though you can not see what is reaped from them, but He wants you to be faithful in planting them and trust Him that in due time He will do the rest. We are only his vessels, His hands, and His feet, all the power comes from Him.
Many of our hearts are being left here in this place, for these people, for the girls. The Lord has broken my heart in a way that He never has before. It is so hard because I ask “what can I do…it all seems too hopeless”. The answer is I can not do anything, but He can. Ministering in a place like this calls you to give everything unto Him. I have cried many tears over wanting to be able to “help” to “fix” things and that’s just it… the only answer is God.
Please keep this place in your prayers. It is in major bondage (probably the worst I have ever experienced) but I know that there is hope…there is an answer… and in time that light is going to shine, it is our job to turn the light in the darkness on and we have done just that.
Tomorrow morning we are leaving to go and meet the other teams to go to debrief. From there…April 28th at 6am we will leave and “race” to Kuala Lampar, Malaysia and from there catch our flight to Delhi.
As always, I ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel. We miss you all so much and will try and keep you updated as much as possible.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to open the prison doors to those who are bound.” Isaiah 61:1
“..Not by power, nor by might, but by my Spirit says the Lord.” Zechariah 4:6
Last night we (the girls…Paul tends to “skip out” on some things) decided to go and hangout at the beach for awhile…here are some fun, random pictures.
