Prayer on ****** Road As I sit here in an air conditioned Starbucks it’s easy to forget what is just outside these doors. Hundreds of women work in the bars off of ****** Rd. There are strips of bars reaching just off the road. Each strip is named, Soi Easy, Soi Tiger, Sea Tiger,etc. and each strip contains 40+ bars each. Bars can have managers and bar “moms� watching over them closely. If you don’t buy a drink, you don’t get to talk to them. You can sit with your drink and play games with them of jackpot, bang the nail, jenga and connect four. They will talk to you and laugh with you because they just want another sale. But through that sale can come friendship. What is a friendship worth? And where does it begin? Does sitting and drinking a 60 baht pop with them worth your time? Simply the answer is YES. A 2 dollar pop can change the world. But only through God. The women we make friends with have a choice to attend a school here run by a ministry here that will charge the hundreds of baht less then local schools will. They also can have hotel training to help the women change into a profession that shows them their self worth and the love of God. The women want to speak better English because then they can do better in the bars but in the course of learning they meet real, true friends who show them God’s grace, forgiveness and love. So bring on the 60 baht drinks and the bar games! While we are here nightly from 9pm -midnight we also come during the day to prayer walk all around the strips of bars. It’s a whole different world here during the day. A popular touristy area with a beach at the end of the main rd. It’s just what you picture an excursion on a vacation cruise to look like. (and that’s what it reminds me of) But nightly men take advantage of women and the shallow look in both the men and women’s eyes will shock you and stay with you in your mind. Not even the women pole dancing on the bars is as powerful of an image as that is. Please think about this blog before you take your next vacation. It’s not always just a bar- it’s people lives.
The center ones that run down the center of the strip, are “open� the side ones are “closed�. One of the differences between them is that the women can “choose� who to go with and if they even want to go with men in the open bars. Closed the women are practically sold. Another difference is the horrid sights you see when a door swings open from the front of a closed bar.
