Our last two days off we decided as a team to use our days to take a trip to Pattaya beach in Thailand. You can imagine Pattaya as one of the roughest places in your home down and it will probably give it a run for its money. Pattaya is not, per say, a family vacation spot for the conservatives. At this current moment, it is ranked higher than Bangkok for sex trafficking.
Don’t get me wrong the R&R was much needed and was super great for the soul, however there were deeper reasons as to why we wanted to go to Pattaya out of all the beaches we had at our hands in Thailand. Our team decided that we wanted to take a stroll down “Walking Street” because we wanted to see its reputation in person.
Our ministry this month is bar ministry, and working with women who have come out of the bars. So with this new found confidence we were ready to get our fight on with prayer.
Oh how the devil attacked us this night for sure. The prayer walk down, “Walking Street” was very heavy and dark for us to come through. There was such an overwhelming feeling of what really can we do here? We only have prayer… Doubt and disbelief of our abilities began to set in but we fought through. We were so surprised by how packed the streets are. We saw so many different people, smiling, having fun, enjoying themselves, looking for adventure, looking to mask their true pain. We saw women, we saw men, and we saw old and young people. We saw heterosexual, and homosexual couples. We saw single individuals and people in groups of friends. We even saw mothers and fathers with their small children.
I thankfully had looked up before walking through the red light district in Thailand what is would be like. I had never walked into an atmosphere before Bangkok and didn’t want to be so overwhelmed that I would not be of use. So Walking Street is the extreme to all that you think about when you think bars, prostitution, sex-trafficking, nude shows. There is no small suggestive signs, no read between the lines, no surprises of what you are really getting. It is the complete opposite. There are flashing signs, there is no denying the women in the street are there, there is no way you cannot hear the man asking if you want tickets to the “ping pong” show. Walking Street is a main attraction. It is a place tourist come to just to get a show, “just to see a bit of culture.”
Walking street to individuals can be seen as the coolest ride at a theme park.
Walking through this street, our voices and minds were strong in prayer but our hearts were very heavy and broken. Broken because we saw the truth behind the eyes of the women working in the bars. Broken for the individuals who see these women as just a piece of meat, rather than a human being. Broken for the men who were so hard not to judge their actions and give them grace. Broken over the people that came to Pattaya and didn’t think twice of walking street. Broken for the young men and women who were out in the bars just to have a good time. Broken for the tourist who just come because they believe that is it pure entertainment.
Personally and as a team we have been learning a lot about the power of prayer. When we feel defeated we have come to realize that the only thing we can do is just put our trust in His word and pray and come with a humble heart crying out to the Lord to provide what we need. We have learned to fall on our knees, with open hands and saying Lord this is yours to work and move in. We know you are here and we know you walk before us and you can cause destruction, you can put disgust in the minds of the people buying and selling these women, you can cause celebration of these women walking out of the bars, you can cause a hope to stir in the hearts and minds of these women.
I went into Walking Street feeling powerful and came out exhausted. I left my all in that street. I was attacked, thrown down, stepped on, and had my eyes opened to the true reality of such a strong disease. I felt myself questioning, “God if you are so good, where are you? Why are you letting something like this happen?”
So this is what happen.
This is God saying let me show you. This is a picture that we received from our host of one of the bars that we walked past that burned down this morning. Not only did this bar burn to the ground but the two bars on the side of this one have been severely damaged with need of long term repair. 3 bars. These bars, of the many, that sells women. These bars are where prostitution is not denied to happen. These were bars that we prayed over that night.
AND… to top it all off no one was hurt or injured during this fire when the transformer blew and caught fire.
There is hope. There is hope and redemption being this is one of the many bars that could burn to the ground through prayers. God has destroyed entire towns, and He is showing His authority through burning down this bar.
I ask that you continue to pray over Thailand. I ask that you pray over my team as well continue to work with the women who have seen the hope and come out of the bars. I ask you to pray for my team as we continue going into the bars weekly. I also ask for you to pray for the culture and generations to come to have this cycle broken and to bring restoration and hope.
