As we prepare to leave yet again in a few days to our next country, Cambodia, I can look back on the month in Chiang Mai, Thailand and see a heart and perspective change. You see, ever since I learned of human trafficking, it has weighed heavy on my heart. I have always been a stickler for ethics and justice, and stood against anything that does not honor morals and humanity.
Coming into this month, I was a bit afraid because I have known the statistics and facts of human trafficking for about 3 years. However, staring the evil right in the face had me shaken up. I didn’t think I could do it, and although I knew in my head that God had everything under control, my heart was torn up inside.
The first week, my team was assigned to monk chat and slum ministry. I was relieved because I knew my heart was not prepared for bar ministry. I had a rough time through monk chat simply because of the spiritual heaviness that my body experienced. Although we sat and talked for 2 hours with these monks, I felt as though I had run a marathon. I was physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted and came to realize that there was such amplified spiritual oppression near the temples where we sat.
Week 2, my team was assigned to bar ministry. My heart jumped into my throat and I was overwhelmed with fear. “Can I handle this? God, why are you sending me here? How can I possibly make any difference in this global pandemic? It is too big. This is too much. I can do nothing.”
All I remember Him speaking to me in that moment was, “I don’t need you to fix it. I just need you to show the love I have given you to others.”
Each morning we would spend 2 hours in prayer over the bars, the women, the men and the city. It was such a wonderful time to sit with the Lord and hear what He has to say about this issue, this city and these people. After lunch, we would go out for another 2 hours to the bars as they were opening and spend time just talking with women and playing games with them to build friendship. Every evening we had an hour praise session before part of the teams would go out to the bars and part would stay back to pray and intercede for them. I went out one time.
I will be honest and say that I beat myself up and felt guilty many times for only going out at night once. However, that is all the Lord needed me to do at this time to see what He needed to me to see. There is no set rule that you have to go out at all or how many times you should go and I gained a lot of insight during my time in prayer as well. But the pivotal moment for me personally was during the day. My team and I were at a bar where some of the other girls had made friends with the women who worked there. I had finished playing pool with a girl down the street and come back to meet with them. Not long after I arrived with them, a man walked in.
This man was tall, handsome, had dark hair and normal tourist-type clothes (i.e. beach shirt and cargo shorts). He seemed to be only in his late 20’s or early 30’s. As soon as I turned to see who was walking in, my heart melted.
His eyes were glazed over, he was stumbling around, and I instantly could relate to him. You see, on the flip side of this situation, I used to be that man. No, I didn’t pay to have sex with men, but I definitely drowned my sorrow in alcohol for many years of my past. I dabbled in drugs for a short season, but alcohol was more socially acceptable and less looked down upon because getting drunk and partying was deemed “living the life.”
So as I saw this man stumbling around, unable to keep himself balanced even once he sat down, I had so many flash backs. To nights at the bar with friends where I couldn’t even hold my head up. To the wee hours of the morning when I was too prideful to let someone drive me home so I drove myself, endangering not only my own life but everyone around me.
During these 15 or so minutes before our group left, I watched the man flirt with the woman who worked at the bar, letting her scratch his back and try and perk him up as they both drank down a beer. I just pictured her thoughts being something like, “Maybe he is so drunk he will just pass out and I won’t have to have sex with him. Maybe if I drink enough, I won’t remember this.”
It was during this interaction that I felt a deep compassion and love for this man. Not in a sexual way or in a desirable way, but as a brother. A lost brother. One who desperately needed to know the love of His Father, His Savior who died for him to have life. This wasn’t life. Living in a constant state of depression, drunkenness and emptiness is not the life Christ intended for him to have. God created this unnamed man for His Kingdom. Gifted with specific talents and abilities that could be used to glorify God. To share the love of Christ with others and to make an impact in the universe.
Up until this point, I was so mad at the men. Perverts. Pedophiles. Users. Abusers. These were labels I had created for them and slapped on their forehead like a big flashing neon sign. Hate. That is all I felt for the men all over the world who buy, sell, force, abduct, and trick these women into selling their bodies. But God was finally showing me that they need His love and acceptance just as much, if not more than the women.
One of my squad mates shared one night during intercession the message the Lord was putting on his heart for these men. He said, there would be no supply if there was no demand. Let me say that again:
THERE WOULD BE NO SUPPLY IF THERE WAS NO DEMAND.
This struck my heart like a knife.
“DUH! Kyla, what were you thinking?! How could you be mad at the men? THEY ARE LOST! Satan has somehow deceived these men into thinking that using and abusing women is okay. That it will fill some void in their life! That the endless amounts of money the traffickers make will make them feel better. That it will erase the guilt and shame that keeps them in this vicious cycle, making them feel more and more unworthy of forgiveness and redemption.”
As all of these thoughts raced through my head I could do nothing but feel heavy. My heart was burdened for these men. Yes, it is absolutely necessary and wonderful to have tons of organizations that are fighting to break up these trafficking rings, sending the perpetrators to jail and rescuing the women. Yes! I am all for it! They still deserve the punishment for their actions and the women still deserve freedom!
Please hear me when I say that I am not belittling these things or disregarding the need to help the women!
But, let me ask you this: Who is fighting for the men’s souls? Who is praying for them? Who is working to share Jesus with them so they can escape the life they are currently numb to in order to receive the fullness of life that Jesus died on the cross for them to have? Who realizes that they need Jesus too? Who is willing to stand up and say that their sin is not any worse than anyone else’s?
The bible does not rank sin. Sin is sin is sin is sin. Whether we like it or not, we cannot point at them and say that they don’t deserve Jesus. WE don’t deserve Jesus. No, we may not have murdered or raped or beaten someone, or multiple people, but Jesus did not come so that we could pick and choose who gets to have a chance at accepting Him into their hearts.
As part of our training, we watched a documentary called Nefarious. Various women shared their testimonies about their lives while being trafficked. One man, formerly a “john” (a.k.a. A man who purchases women for sex) shared his story and how he had been redeemed from the empty life of purchasing sex. Another man, formerly a trafficker, shared his story of redemption through Jesus.
These men are the best insight into the trafficking rings that we have! To be effective in eradicating human trafficking, we can only do so much from the outside! If you haven’t watched any movies or shows about double agents and secret spies, you should! The people who go in undercover have the most pull in making a difference when trying to bring the bad guys down! These former “johns” and “pimps/traffickers” are THE best resources we have to make a difference! They know when, where and how these deals go down, they know the people involved and they know ways to get in there and explode it from the inside!!
LIGHTBULB!
I am not saying that these are the only reasons to share love and Jesus with these men. It is simply an added benefit to helping win this fight against trafficking! My main point is that these men are LOST BROTHERS IN CHRIST! They are just as precious and valuable to Jesus as you and me. They desperately need to know their Savior that can break them free from the bondage of alcohol, drugs, sex and all the things that hold them in chains!
So start asking the Lord to change your perspective. Instead of being mad at the people involved, be mad at the devil who is tricking and deceiving them! HE is the culprit! He would love for us to forget that so we can judge others and deem who is worthy of saving and who isn’t, and that is just not what God wants! So allow yourself to feel the emotions of anger and hate, because that only means you are human. But then ask God to peel back those emotions so you can see these lost brothers and sisters as worthy of redemption because He died for them, too.
