Last month in Thailand we worked a lot with Samaritan Creations to prevent human sex trafficking, help the women that have transitioned out of it, and rescue women who want out.
However, one thing that I haven’t told you guys is about our time off. We have one day a week when we are guaranteed to have a day off. We also have one day called “adventure day” which is not mandatory. Hosts can give us this day off to find something fun and touristy to do (with our personal money) or to rest more.
We decided to go to Pattaya for a little adventure weekend. There was a pretty little island out there where we got to lie on the beach, ride a banana boat, and ride a jet ski for like 10-15 bucks total. Near the port of the mainland is a place called Walking Street–one of the biggest red light districts in Thailand. We had heard so much about this place from our hosts that we wanted to pass through and pray over it firsthand.
Not every red light district is made equally. If you ever want to take an opportunity to walk through one to pray over it I advise that you ask some locals about how safe it is and pray about going in general. We initially wanted to pray over it during the day time since that was when the bars weren’t really open and nothing was happening.
What made this red light district so different from the last one I was in was in was its ability to entice a variety of people. There were reputable restaurants and various street vendors all stocked up with cute clothes and scarves. There was a bar that was open air with a live metal band playing. There were loads of Turkish ice cream stands. At Turkish ice cream stands there’s usually a man dressed in traditional 1800’s dress with a red fez (really funky hats). They hold a long metal rod that they use to stir up the thick ice cream and often do crazy tricks with it and poke fun at the customers with these tricks. Across from another bar was a Thai boxing ring with live fights happening constantly.
All this was happening in the midst of women who were selling sex.
It was a little unsettling.
We were pretty hungry so we decided to leave Walking Street to find a place to eat. After a nice, hearty meal we needed to walk right back through Walking Street in order to find a sung taw to drive us to our hostile.
The second time walking through there felt completely different. I can only describe it as feeling like war. I noticed things that I didn’t the first time around.
Girls would stand outside the bars trying to get our attention to come inside. Their facial expressions were completely emotionless. Even when they would excitedly jump up and down and poke fun at the men walking by they just looked dead. Their eyes looked completely dead.
That’s when I started to notice that there were some families walking down this street. Sometimes the whole family unit, sometimes just a dad and his eight year old kid. At this point I was just so angry. It felt as though the enemy was just showing off and claiming this territory as his own. I felt this crazy rage start to build up inside me.
My teammate Becca looked over at me and said, “I want to fight.” I nodded.
“Not literally, more like spiritually.”
“Me too.”
So I decided to fight.
I started to pray over the women and each bar as I walked by asking to restore and redeem them. I paused for a moment. The evil in that place so thick, I knew I had to call out the enemy. If I had been praying out loud, I probably would have been screaming. Declaring that the enemy did not belong there, declaring that this street, these bars would be claimed in the name of Jesus.
Looking around I felt as though my request seemed ridiculous. There was nothing about that place that seemed of God anymore.
Tear these places down if you have to. God I ask that you would rebuild and restore this and make it into a place built upon your righteousness.
I kept praying these things over and over again. I knew that even if it wasn’t God’s will that was one thing–but I knew with everything in me that He could change things in a few seconds if He wanted. I’d go back in forth between praying for these things and listening for God to see if there was anything else that He specifically wanted me to intercede for. My teammates were praying as they walked as well.
We went back to the hostile, went to sleep, and left for Bangkok the next morning. As we were heading back we got a message from our host. It was a photo of three bars on Walking Street we had passed by–but completely burnt down.
Read the article here if you want: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1215057/transformer-explodes-in-pattaya-3-shophouses-destroyed
In the middle of the night, a transformer exploded and burnt one of Pattaya’s biggest bars (along with two others) to the ground. The incident occurred shortly after everyone–all the customers and employees–had gone home. No one was harmed.
Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:18-19
