I found it really hard to do ministry in Thailand. For one, I felt like my ministry for me personally was to rest in light of the fact that I’d just been released from the hospital. I did not want to relapse. Also, for about a week after reuniting with my team, I found myself weak and overly-exhausted which made it difficult for me to include myself in different activities. When I did find the strength to venture out, I was speechless. We lived about a block away from one of the busiest streets in town which is a huge tourist attraction. Why? Well, the street is lined with bars, women, loud music, street dances, vendors, etc. It sounds all like fun and games, which it is for most people who visit here. But, for me and my team, we knew that this was a place where sin is very prevalent. Where most people come looking for a good time, we came looking to show love.
My first walk down this street was very overwhelming. It was really difficult for me to wrap my head around what I was seeing. To me, it was like Times Square meets Las Vegas Strip (but less populated than normal due to the virus). There were women dancing on tables dressed in skimpy clothing trying to entice passersby to come get a drink at the bar. Others, both men and women, were literally barricading the road where you could not pass until they waved their inappropriate signs in your face to try and get you into one of the clubs. The thing that shocked me the most was that families were walking their strollers with babies and young children in tow. Young boys and girls were being exposed to this at such a young age which was shocking to me. The worst thing, is that no one seemed to care. This street is a tourist attraction, people want to come and live in this type of scene, the “escapism.” It seems as though people are desensitized to what is going on around them.
Our focus this month was on bar ministry. I have never done bar ministry before and I wasn’t even sure I knew what that entailed. Luckily, we encountered a young woman who has hosted World Race teams in the past…interesting coincidence. We went with her and established friendships with women at different bars. Before going, I wasn’t sure what it would look like, meeting women at bars and ministering to them. I thought they’d be super focused and wouldn’t give us the time of day. Thankfully, because of the virus, and the time of night, most places hadn’t picked up in business yet. This gave us time to sit and grab a drink (sodas) and talk with the women who were working. Surprisingly, it was fun and easy to strike up conversation with them. Most times, bar ministry would look like ordering a soda, sitting, and playing connect four with the ladies for a couple of hours. The game was a nice ice breaker that gave us the chance to be intentional and establish a relationship with our new friends.
Since our ministry started after dark, this left the entire day open to exploring the more scenic parts of this beach town. Currently, tourism is low due to the virus so we chose to help out local businesses that depend on tourism. This allowed us to experience many enjoyable things on the island. Some teammates and I went on a boat tour to different islands, we hung out with elephants for a day at an elephant sanctuary, spent one night in a tent at an amazing look out point, and also spent a weekend in a big house with almost our entire team and were able to explore different scenic lookouts along the coast. A few of us even got to experience the taste of local street food at the night market. Though it felt normal for me to be a part of all the sight seeing adventures as a “tourist”, I couldn’t help but think of the women we had met and how drastically different our lives are. They might not get to know what it feels like to have freedom until they meet the Father. Please be praying for them that the love we showed will be a seed that’ll flourish for the Kingdom.
