Elephants, Dragons, Temples, Monks, and Pristine beaches.
When you think of Thailand, these are likely some of the pictures that may pop into your mind. What with the recent exposure the media has given us, I am sure three other words pop into your head.
Sex Trade Industry.
Excerpt from my new team leaders ‘Emily’s’ blog:
“Let me try to set up the scene for you: it is around 9pm on a crowded street lined with bars and small street vendors. There are motor bikes parked everywhere and the smell in the air is a mix of incense from the Buddhist shrines and cigar/cigarette smoke. I am walking on the narrow sidewalk and to my left I see women. I see beautiful Thai women- they could be my friends, they could be my teammates or my sisters. They are standing there, waiting to be purchased by men, to be used for the night, solely to earn money for their families.
The men.
Husbands. Sons. Brothers. Uncles. Grandfathers. Fathers.
The men come in all ages,
but the ones I kept meeting the eyes of, were my fathers age and older.
Hair gray.
Eyes weary.
Full of desperation.
They are there to buy.
The men -in a group or alone approach the girls-
-offer them a price – normally $12 USD buys them for a date at the bar and $75 USD buys the girl for the entire night.
Purchased for less than a tank of gas in the U.S.A.
Bought for the same price as a pair of SHOES.
Watching the interaction made me feel sick to my stomach. Seriously, this process is worth vomiting over.”
Chiangmai is known as both Thailand’s rose of the north and as a sex tour destination.
Home to at least 5,000 male, female and child prostitutes, a situation like this can seem hopeless…..
…if you just talk statistics.
This month our squad has separated girls and guys in order to meet the needs of this ministry. My new team consists of some women that are life speakers, chain breakers, radical lovers and limit pushers. We are team Tangled. A group of girls from all different places and teams, tangled together for a month to be God with skin on, and to love on these girls who are so tangled in the sex trade industry.
We are partnering with a ministry run by YWAM called ‘Lighthouse in Action’. We will spend our afternoons interceding on behalf of the girls, the ladyboys, the bar owners, and the men. Asking God to break the mental strong hold that has a hold on their lives. The one that tells them this is ALL that they can do, the one who tells them this is ALL they are good for. At night we get to enter the bars, buy one coke for us and a one for a girl. We smile, sit, and talk. No strings attached. A foreign concept to these ladies. As we listen and watch for the Spirit to direct us we also get to ask these ladies on ‘dates’! In short this means that during the day, if they are free, and want to, we will invite them to eat with us, walk the markets with us, go get a pedicure with us- all to just show them what they NEVER get to experience, which is LOVE.
I am beyond pumped to jump into this ministry. I want to love these girls SO well….I want to date these girls SO well. If ‘Aoy’ wants steak, I want to be able to give her steak and potatoes. If ‘Euey’ wants to see a movie, I want to be buy her popcorn as well. I want to be extravagant with these girls because of the One who has been extravagant with me.
