One of the first and most elemental lessons we are taught on the World Race is,
"have no expectations."
What I am finding easy is having no expectations myself, but what I'm finding difficult lately is feeling like other people have expectations of me. (Is it true? I don't know. But I'll get here later.)
As I sat down to write a blog on Bar Ministry last month, I felt the pressure to write about how terrible the sex industry is, how out of control the bar scene is, and how disgusting and perverted all the men are; yet after two hours of typing and deleting, I was back to a blank page.
The truth is,
Bar ministry was a good experience.
&& don't hear me wrong, the sex industry is bad. The number of bars is a problem. And some men are disgusting. Don't hear me wrong on this.
But for me, God showed up in so many greater ways that the evil occurring all around us was not a challenge to Him. The battle had already been won 2000 years ago on a cross in Jerusalem and I felt that victory deep in my bones.
How it worked:
Monday night, went to the bars
Tuesday night, prayer and intercession on the roof (while the other team went out)
Wednesday night, went to the bars
Thursday night, prayer and intercession on the roof (while the other team went out)
Friday night, went to the bars
Saturday night, prayer and intercession on the roof (while the other team went out)
This was our nightly routine, and here are a few journal entries of mine on the events that occurred:
"Tonight we saw the Red Light District. We joined the YWAM team in circling the bars like Jericho, and we happened to arrive in Thailand just in time to go with them on night seven. Each lap that we walked the Lord highlighted something or someone specific to pray for. There was no doubt about it. We prayed and prayed. Eager for something big to happen on our seventh lap. As we were 20 yards into our seventh lap we passed a bar with the song 'When the Saints Go Marching In' playing. I had a good laugh. To much surprise, the bars didn't come crashing down, but instead as we went in with full confidence, we came out the side door with a woman chasing us. Not quite what we imagined, but we blew our trumpets none the less. ..Later after we walked back as a group, 3 YWAM girls were headed back to the bars to do ministry and I wasn't about to sit at home. Sarah and I walked in a bar, went to order our pineapple juice, and before going any further we were stopped by a man named Larry from Los Angeles. For the 2 hours we were there we talked with Larry along with the bar owner 'B'. Larry seemed lonely yet not the overly creepy type. He wasn't interested in sleeping with the girls, and they knew not to bother him in that way. I didn't mind lending the listening ear. Larry knew lots of bar owners in the area because he would just walk in past the girls and plop down at the bar, I thought his connections could be valuable later so I saved that for a rainy day. Then as it was time to leave we walked to join our friends Karen and Elizabeth. They had been sitting with two sisters ages 21 and 23, along with a few other young girls. Their new Thai friends were open about why they work in the bar they work, they explained that 'those old white men were gross' but the job provided quick cash. In their free time the girls liked to vacation and hang out with boys; Karen and Elizabeth had tried to maintain relationships with the sisters after this night but it turned out to be harder than they thought."
"Tonight only five members of our team went out. Having gone to the bars already I was eager to lead the way. I felt empowered and encouraged that God had already gone before us and prepared a way for us to walk in. He knew exactly where we would end up and with exactly whom we would be talking. We started with a prayer walk and ended up splitting into groups of three and two. Jessie, Ciera, and I went to a bar where they had Connect 4 and Jenga on the table. Perfect way to break the ice. We made friends with a woman named Joy. Joy has more kids than she can count and doesn't exactly know where they all are to this day. She had a few tattoos and was super friendly. After a night of laughs we were all excited to go back in two days."
"Tonight we went back looking for Joy and the bar was randomly closed! Although, the last time out there was a young Thai couple that was watching us laugh and play games with Joy. I noticed them watching us but never initiated conversation. So although the bar was closed and Joy was nowhere in sight, we at least were able to try and talk to this couple we had seen last time. {God worked in a lot of repetition this month.} Slowly realizing that this couple didn't know any English, Jessie and I sat, smiled, and prayed for further direction. After some time passed we were on the move looking for a bar with green lights. While we searched for green lights we came to a street with two brothels and a bar and all were named, 'Red'. I asked God if we were really looking for green lights, and a minute later I laughed as I heard, 'green means go and red means stop.' ..Get it. Traffic light. Very funny. Looks like Jessie and I found a place to go next time…"
