Strobe lights, loud music, and girls dressed in 6-inch heels and scantily clad clothing, dancing provocatively to get the attention of the men who were gawking at them with lustful eyes.
What would be a college dance scene in America was a place to buy a girl for the night here in Phnom Penh.
It was the last Tuesday night of my time here in Cambodia. My friend Sarah invited a few of my teammates and me to go dancing.
Fast-forward 3 hours:
I walked in the bathroom stall. As I turned to close the door someone walked up and slammed it back against the wall. I spun around, not entirely sure what was going on. Bam! A punch hit me right between the eyes. Unbeknown to me, I had upset a ladyboy earlier that evening.
*If you would like the backstory on the series of events leading up to the incident in the bathroom, you must donate to my support account! (Just kidding. You can email me at [email protected].)
I walked out of the stall in a state of shock. “What just happened?” I tried to talk with him, but he just continued to yell a string of colorful words at me. I made my way over to the mirror and wiped the blood off of my forehead from where his ring had cut me. All of the girls in the bathroom starred at me with a looks of disbelief. One of them then asked me, “ Why didn’t you hit back?” I told her that I understood why he was so upset. I told her that my heart loved him even though he was angry with me. “How,” she asked?
That was it. That was my opportunity to tell her about Jesus. A little unsure of how she would react, I asked her if I could talk to her about Jesus. To my surprise she said yes. As I began to talk with her 2 more girls joined in. I sat in the bathroom and told them about Jesus and his incredible love for them. After talking with them for about 15 minutes they allowed me to pray with them. I walked out of the bathroom knowing that they would probably end up going home with some man 20+ years older than them, bought for a mere $50. Although this broke my heart, my feelings of sadness were nothing in comparison to the overwhelming joy I felt, the joy of knowing that 3 seeds were planted that night.
What started off as a night of fun became my favorite ministry opportunity on the race. That night made me realize that I had been putting ministry in a little box. I was always eager to do ministry as long as it was in my ministry location and specified by my contact. I never considered that my ministry was wherever I was, even if that meant the bathroom of a dance club.
You have to love those crazy God moments!
What would be a college dance scene in America was a place to buy a girl for the night here in Phnom Penh.
It was the last Tuesday night of my time here in Cambodia. My friend Sarah invited a few of my teammates and me to go dancing.
Fast-forward 3 hours:
I walked in the bathroom stall. As I turned to close the door someone walked up and slammed it back against the wall. I spun around, not entirely sure what was going on. Bam! A punch hit me right between the eyes. Unbeknown to me, I had upset a ladyboy earlier that evening.
*If you would like the backstory on the series of events leading up to the incident in the bathroom, you must donate to my support account! (Just kidding. You can email me at [email protected].)
I walked out of the stall in a state of shock. “What just happened?” I tried to talk with him, but he just continued to yell a string of colorful words at me. I made my way over to the mirror and wiped the blood off of my forehead from where his ring had cut me. All of the girls in the bathroom starred at me with a looks of disbelief. One of them then asked me, “ Why didn’t you hit back?” I told her that I understood why he was so upset. I told her that my heart loved him even though he was angry with me. “How,” she asked?
That was it. That was my opportunity to tell her about Jesus. A little unsure of how she would react, I asked her if I could talk to her about Jesus. To my surprise she said yes. As I began to talk with her 2 more girls joined in. I sat in the bathroom and told them about Jesus and his incredible love for them. After talking with them for about 15 minutes they allowed me to pray with them. I walked out of the bathroom knowing that they would probably end up going home with some man 20+ years older than them, bought for a mere $50. Although this broke my heart, my feelings of sadness were nothing in comparison to the overwhelming joy I felt, the joy of knowing that 3 seeds were planted that night.
What started off as a night of fun became my favorite ministry opportunity on the race. That night made me realize that I had been putting ministry in a little box. I was always eager to do ministry as long as it was in my ministry location and specified by my contact. I never considered that my ministry was wherever I was, even if that meant the bathroom of a dance club.
You have to love those crazy God moments!
Love y’all…mean it…
Chelsie Layne
Chelsie Layne
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