This month, God is sending these people…
['Team &' (Ampersand): Kyle Stinnett, Joey Willis, Justin Greenawalt, Melissa Milroy, Julie Morsfield, Chelsey Owen, Me]
…into the Red Light District of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Every night, my team will be going into the bars, building relationships with the girls who are involved in sex trafficking. Right now, there are about 5,000 people in Chiang Mai who are being trafficked, and that number goes up to 20,000 during the really touristy seasons. For most of them, selling their bodies night after night is just a job. They’ve become numb to any pain—physical and emotional—and accept that this is their lot in life. It’s a means of survival. Our hope is to befriend these girls (maybe even just one) and speak truth and love into their lives, teaching them about their innate value as human beings, children of the only living God. We want to build real friendships with them, eventually establishing a relationship that allows for hangouts outside of the bar scene.
And this is where you can help us. As you know, our World Race budget covers our lodging, food, and transport. However, in order to really love on these girls, we want to be able to take them out and treat them to lunch/coffee/tea/a fruit shake/etc., which would require extra funds. If you have the desire to partner with my team in ministering to these girls and give financially, *please email me at [email protected].$1 is the equivalent of 30 B (Thai baht). An iced coffee is about 50 B, which is less than $1.50. A donation of $20 would buy 12 cups of (good) coffee!
I’m done underestimating what God can do through a simple drink and conversation. Our friend, Liz, bought a girl a Coke a few years ago, and had a 10-minute conversation with her. Two years later, Liz returned to Thailand, and the same girl called out to her on the street, ran up and thanked her for the Coke and time they’d spent together so long ago. Some of these girls will have never been treated with such respect and love in their lives. And even a small taste of that is significant.
Maybe we’ll get the chance to lead them into a true relationship with Jesus. Maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll be able to see their chains completely break away from life in the Red Light District. Maybe we won’t. The only thing we can do for certain is love them where they are, as who we are, with what we have.
I want to thank you all in advance for reading this blog, for praying for me and my team, and for financially giving as an act of love to these girls.
"The wages of the righteousness bring them life, but the income of the wicked brings them punishment" (Proverbs 10:16).
*(Please do NOT send money to my World Race account—those funds are separate, for AIM’s use.)
