I have been walking Banglar Road for one week now. It feels
like I have been walking Banglar
Road for a month already. Time is fleeing quickly
and time is standing still.
Friday afternoon we prayer walked Banglar Road before the evening’s
ministry started. This time I walked into Soi Eric, one of the seven bar
allies. It was deserted. Dead. Lifeless. The only difference between now and
what was to come that night would be loud music and flashing neon lights, but
it would still be a waste land, filled with the walking dead. About twenty bars
lined each side of the alley. Outside each bar was a pole and a platform.
Ironically, one of the bars was called FREEDOM. I stopped and prayed over it. I
imagined what Thai beauty would be moving her hips and wrapping her legs around
that pole this evening bound there by invisible yet very real chains. I
imagined her lifeless, empty eyes, longing and searching for something that is
pure, something that has meaning. I prayed that true freedom, freedom in Christ
would begin to break through in that oppressive place. I continued walking . .
.
At the back of Soi Eric was erected a tall and grossly
garish-looking gold shrine with a four headed Buddha sitting in it. On the
shrine were sacraments of incense, shot glasses filled with various liquor, tin
foil ornaments, food offerings, and small plastic toys.
Of course Lord, why
wouldn’t their be a shrine to their god here in the middle of this place where
so much debauchery and whoredom takes place!? Their god has no eyes to see what
they do, no mind to judge their heinous deeds, no ears to hear their crude and
slanderous words, no spirit with which to convict them! Why not have his
dwelling place in the midst of such darkness; after all it is this very thing
that keeps their minds darkened and closed to the truth. I am disgusted Lord.
Your glory belongs to no other. You share your praise with no one! I pray that
your Glory would fall heavy on this place like an evening rain! I pray your
name and power would show itself here, that every knee would bow and every
tongue confess that You are Lord! The one and only God Almighty!
That night I found Soi Eric to be exactly how I had imagined
it; flashing neon lights, loud music, drunk men groping the bar girls, a woman
on every platform, one hand grasping the pole, hips barely moving, looks of
boredom and lifelessness on their faces, empty eyes. My heart sank; Scooby’s
bar. The girl on the platform looked so young! Lord, she is no older than 16!! Leisa and I sat outside the bar at
a round table and prayed. Another girl at the bar flirting with a Westerner.
She looked about the same age. One more girl bringing drinks to customers and
quickly flashing smiles as she passed, she also looked as young. After praying
we left; feeling helpless and unsure of what good I could do there, my heart
was heavy.
On Sunday night I was reading in Isaiah 42 when Erin interrupted me to speak a vision over me that God
had given her:
walking down Banglar Road
and God said, “This is your area.” And I said, “This is my area?” unsure that I heard him correctly. “Yes, this is
your area.”
I asked Erin if God had
given her anymore. She said there was a round table but didn’t know if that
meant anything! Afterwards I continued reading in Isaiah. . .
“I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my
praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new
things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Suddenly it hit me!! Leisa
and I were sitting at a round table praying over Soi Eric Friday night! The
hideous carved idol in the back of the alley; God telling me of the things to
come through Erin before he does them; Soi
Eric is my area!
Monday night I revisited Soi Eric with my teammate Jeanne. When
we tried to talk to the three younger girls they acted like they did not
understand English. They laughed and ignored us and tended to their male
customers. I tried not to get discouraged. The Westerner from the previous
night returned. Jeanne over heard him deliver the bad news, “This is my last
night”. Instantly, the bar girl’s demeanor changed. She was crushed. It was so
evident her heart was breaking. She was much more attached to him than he was
to her. She dabbed her eyes and did the typical teenage girl,
I-don’t-care-about-you-I-am-going-to-ignore-you-but-secretly-I-am-dying-inside-act.
We decided to leave. I walked up to her and told her it was nice to meet her.
She laughed and pretended she didn’t know what I was saying. Then I held her
hands, looked her right in the eyes and said to her, “You can pretend not to
understand me, but I know your heart is broken.” She stopped smiling. I
continued, “You need to know you are beautiful and there are people here who
care about you more than that guy does, and I will see you tomorrow!” she then
smiled, pulled me close to her and gave me a kiss on each cheek!
On the way home that night, God told me, it is not going to
be easy, but you need to be relentless. Pursue those girls and love them the way
I pursue you and love you. Love them relentlessly. I knew I would be revisiting
Scooby’s bar.
The next night I was greeted by all three of the girls with
a kiss on each cheek and the greeting “My friend!” We sat around the bar and
began teaching each other our respective languages, playing games, and learning
a little more about each other.
I have continued to show up and be a presence and each night
they grow more and more excited to see me and conversation goes just a little
deeper. Slowly and surely a light is dawning on Soi Eric. The Love of God is
breaking language barriers. Freedom is falling. The kingdom of God is near.
