The sun is setting, music starts to blare, shot glasses line the bars, the red lights begin to flash and the girls start making their way into the streets.
I don’t really know what I was expecting… the atmosphere was oddly light as people strolled along looking at different vendors and occasionally stopping to say a friendly hello to the girls.
I was plagued with many different emotions as me and another teammate prayer walked through the red light district.
Things seemed almost familiar, like it was just another bar scene, but we knew better.
I wondered if the “friendly” hellos were just a way to size her up… to decide if she was the one that he wanted to spend his time and money on tonight.
We stopped at one girl who greeted us with a beautiful smile and had a nice conversation. She even let my teammate try out the hula hoop around her waist and laughed with us as the hoop fell immediately to the ground. As customers approached we were swiftly shooed away…
As we walked, we continued to see new faces and I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew. If he knew where he was or if he had accidentally stumbled into this place.
Out of the corner of my eye I see a man caressing the bartenders face. He bites his lip and makes it clear what he wants.
I get angry.
Did he not know? That she was someone’s daughter… that she was someone’s wife… that she was someone’s mother…
How could he not see that she was a person that deserved respect and love?
And yet she still beckons. Her laughter fills the air and she leans in and whispers in his ear. Her eyes are inviting but they both know this isn’t love, this is business.
Coming into Thailand I had a hope to work with the girls and get to know their stories. I wanted to save them. I wanted them to know just how much they are truly loved and worth. The truth is it’s a really slow process. There’s a lot that’s hard for me to understand because it is a totally different culture. And coming in trying to save them can make them feel more like a project then loved.
We spent several days prior learning about the red light district and how so many people get pulled into it. It’s actually crazy how deep the roots go.
It’s a way of surviving, a way of taking care of her family, a way of escaping poverty.
Maybe it was a decision made because she felt she had no other way. Maybe it’s what she already knew because she had been pulled into trafficking as a child.
We were told stories about the things these women go through and during worship I broke down in tears. The things that they believe about themselves. How they see their worth… I’m not going to go into details because they aren’t my stories to share.
My heart is truly broken… not just for the girls but for the guys too…
Am I still angry? Heck yeah I am.
But we are living in such a broken world and so many people are searching for that thing to fill the void and knowing the love that my Father has for me has been such a game changer in my life. I tried to fill that void too and there were things that temporarily felt like they did but nothing could do it but God. I want it for them.. I want it for all of them.
I couldn’t help but feel a little hopeless seeing the size of it all. It’s too big for me.
But it’s not too big for God.
The song God of This City was actually written for Thailand. It’s a beautiful reminder that God is so much bigger and He’s not finished yet.
“You’re the god of this city
You’re the king of these people
You’re the lord of this nation
You are
You’re the light in this darkness
You’re the hope to the hopeless
You’re the peace to the restless
You are
There is no one like our god
There is no one like our god
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this city”
