I came on The World Race thinking that I could change the
world, but the more I live this thing out, the more I realize the world has
changed me.
This month
we are in Thailand! It is Manistry and
Womanistry, meaning that the boys are all together in one location and the
women are split up into new teams, new team leaders, in 3 different
locations. This month we are blessed
with the opportunity to go into the bars, put on the spiritual armor of God and
fight for His children.
were in Bangkok for debrief, we went to the bars to find some of the women
Cristie (my old squad leader) had ministered to 4 years ago. Where do I even begin to describe the things
we saw? There is at level of spiritual
heaviness like no other. As you walk
around your heart breaks more and more after every girl you see. Picture a large U- shaped street; lined with
bars all around, there are 3 levels (XXX).
Each level gets worse, the first level is just women in bikinis and lingerie,
the second floor are no tops and the third floor is no clothes at all. They all have numbers so that the men can
pick which one they want. Some of the women are dancing on stage and some of
them are just walking around trying to get you to come in or to buy them for
the night.
The women in there are not just bar
tenders or dancers, they are prostitutes, but more than that they are someone’s
daughter, they are mothers, wives, friends, students, young women just like us,
young women that have dreams for their lives. This is their way of life and for most of
these women this is the only life they have ever known and will ever know. They don’t think they have any other choice;
they have to feed their family. My heart
breaks for the women as I see in their eyes that they feel worthless, ugly,
ashamed, proud, and numb with hardened hearts.
My heart breaks for the men as I see they are so brainwashed by society
that they think this lifestyle will satisfy.
Porn has screwed up peoples image of what sex is or should be and what
will make them happy. These men are
older American men for the most part.
Most of them have wedding rings on.
My heart broke as I thought of their wives and children at home, waiting
to hear from their beloved father how his “work” trip is going. You have the love of a wife, why are you
here? Some are younger teenage men, and that breaks my heart that they are
getting exposed to this at such a young age.
You can tell some of the men just want companionship, someone to talk
to, and someone to fill their lonely nights and make them feel worth something
for a little while. Some men walk in, take one look and then walk back out,
what that would say to me as a woman is your not good enough, your not pretty
enough. In their faces you can tell they
don’t want to be there and then in others faces you can tell they think it’s a
game, their hearts are so hardened.
This month is going
to be a continual fight, a desperate need to be strong in the Lord and
expecting miracles. Not giving up and not easing up at all. I love it and
it’s hard at the same time. My heart is breaking for these women, but I
am so blessed to be able to be there and fight for and with them. The other
night we spent the night intercessory praying for the bars and the women, and
when we got there, it was so so so slow, barely anyone in any of the
bars. We went and sat in one and ordered a coke, every time a man would
walk by and the women would try to pull him in, we would pray pray pray that he
would be gone in the name of Jesus. And sure enough they all kept
walking. We danced with one of the girls and just got to love on her a
bit. Two men walked in and they were
ignored. This young girl, who her way to
make money is talking and wooing over these men would have rather danced with a
couple poor American girls than go sit with those customers. It’s going
to be a spiritually exhausting month but I’m ready and pumped.
These women just need some hope,
someone to tell them they are worth more than what they’ve always been
told. Someone to point them in the right
direction, show them that there is more to life than selling your body. We are praying that they see something
different in us, that they see Jesus in us, that they are drawn to Him in us,
that they see there is more to life. The
ministry we are working with this month is putting on a 3-month school. The women will get food, housing, money to
send to their families and take classes.
They will have classes teaching about the Lord as well as learning a
trade so that they can go to another job.
There is going to have to be a heart change, a job change is not enough
because they make 3 times the amount at the bars than they would at any other
job, and a lot of these women are feeding their families with this money.
Please be praying that their hearts
are softened, that they will be drawn to Jesus in us. Be praying that these men begin to see them
as more than just something to be bought.
That they can look in their eyes and see that there is more to them than
what meets the eye. They want to be
loved as much as the rest of us. Pray
that God will use us to shower them with Love, with His love. Thank y’all so much for your prayers and
support. 
