Las Vegas Boulevard. 6th street in Austin. Ocean Drive in South Beach. Daytona Beach Strip. Bourbon Street in New Orleans. These are all streets in the U.S. famous for its party scene. Girls, alcohol, drugs, music, and parties……you name it….but none of these can even compare to….
Bangla Road in Patong Beach, Phuket
I can’t help but think of the song “Girls, Girls, Girls” by 80’s hair band Motley Crue when I walk down Bangla Road. Heck, Motley Crue might even be thrown off by some of the things that go down on Bangla. Just down Bangla Road alone, there are over 200 bars with an average of 1,200 girls working per night. There are girls EVERYWHERE. They try and get you to come into the bar so they can sell you drinks. They’ll flirt with you and try to seduce you by their skimpy outfits. They’ll ultimately try and entice you to “purchase” them for the night so you can take her back to your hotel. It’s not that they WANT you to take them home, it’s that they NEED to make money somehow and unfortunately on Bangla Road, it’s the only way to make a decent earning.
For those of you are not familiar on how things go down on Bangla road, I will break it down for you. If you already know, then please feel free to skip down to the next paragraph. The bars employ the girls. The girls earn money by selling drinks to customers that come in. Typical bar situation, right? Well, they take it a step further here on Bangla. The girls don’t make much money at all by selling drinks. Their main stream of income is from selling themselves for sex to men and tourists that come in. The girls are free to go with any man that buys them at anytime. The man pays the bar owner a “fee” of about 200-300 Baht ($7-10 USD) to take the girl away from the bar and then whatever fee is decided between the guy and girl for sex is what the girl keeps. Most of the time after a girl is done with the guy, she will return back to the bar to try and earn some more money by doing the same thing. It breaks my heart to just think about how physically and mentally challenging this process affects the women.
So….back to seeing Bangla Road from a perspective of a guy who just wants to befriend these women and lead them to Christ instead of looking/treating them as sexual opportunities. I wanted to use that last line as my title for this blog, but uhmm….it’s kind of too long. Fail.
Bangla Road at night: Cheap beer, happy hours, BEAUTIFUL Thai women, hot weather, loud music, flashy lights, BEAUTIFUL Thai women, ocean waves crashing nearby, Thai massage parlors, tons of bars, great street food, BEAUTIFUL Thai women….I think you get the idea. Sounds like a fantasy playground that has come true for most men. A typical first timer to Bangla Road might say, “So you’re telling me, I can drink $1 beers and hang out with beautiful Thai women all night and then take one back to my room if I wanted to?! Sign me up!” Wrong mindset, Jack. Now, there are groups of people out on Bangla Road that are just out to have a good time……I’m all about having a good time and having casual conversation and discuss funny stories, BUT it’s the groups or individuals that get sloppy drunk and make it their main objective to bring home a girl are the ones that we need to pray for. These individuals are the ones engulfed by the dark spiritual forces that lurk directly over Bangla Road. These men are being fed lies from the enemy telling them that they are lonely, depressed, and lost. They look to Bangla Road to fill a void, but little do they know that they just need Christ in their lives to redeem them from darkness.
Armor of God.
So obviously being a guy, there is a little thing called lust that we all have to deal with from time to time. Coming into this ministry knowing that I’ll be working on Bangla Road it really made me sit and think back about how I was going to resist those lustful thoughts….especially when beautiful women who are half dressed surround me everywhere I go. Hmm…..let’s turn it over to the Lord and have Him help with it because there’s no way I can do it myself. We do A LOT of prayer here at the ministry site and the girls on the team specifically take time to pray for us guys (myself, Mac, Shaun, & Dustin) for the Lord to protect our minds from wandering off to places it shouldn’t during our time on Bangla Road.
By the time I will have posted this, I will have been on Bangla Road THREE times and I can safely say that NOT once has my mind ever wandered off to where it shouldn’t. The Lord has done a phenomenal job of allowing me to turn AWAY from the images that would pollute my mind. Praise Jesus! He has helped me FOCUS on the task at hand and that is to build relationships with these women. Even though they are in a profession that isn’t very morally correct, they still need to be loved, respected, and cherished because they are daughters of God.
(at Luck Bar with 22 yr. old “Mia”)
(at White Sand Bar with Mew-Mew (left) (the oneI’ve gotten close to at this bar) and another gal I don’t really know..oops!)
The Lord has programmed my eyes to look at these women as sisters that NEED help finding their way to the Lord. He has opened my heart to these women who seek desperately to find a way out. He has led me to women that need a friend. He has blessed me with the ability to speak the same language as these women. He has placed it on my heart to LOVE them like Christ would. He has allowed me to look deep into their eyes and see the hurt and pain of working in an industry ruled by satan. My heart breaks for these women.
Walking around Bangla Road is definitely an eye opener. There are people from ALL over the world. Some are out to just have a drink and have a good time. Others are unfortunately out to pursue women and commit adultery. It would be wrong to assume that everyone strolling Bangla Road is out for sex. I’ve seen families out shopping and couples spending their vacation here out enjoying the night life. It’s a great place to be social and be part of a lively atmosphere. It’s the fact that the enemy has a stranglehold on a hidden industry that is so prevalent here it makes it sometimes difficult to minister here. It’s easy to be discouraged; especially when the girl you have built a relationship with isn’t at the bar the night you visit. Is she out with a guy? Does she have the night off? Did she just up and leave the bar scene for good?
Whatever the case may be, God is with them. They may not know it, but He is there….just like He always is with us. Watching over them. Protecting them. LOVING them.
(Soi Crocodile- well known as the “Lady-boy” bar)
In my next blog I will share some of the stories of women that I have befriended and have truly come to care for. These women are amazing and the Lord has placed it upon my heart to specifically pour into them for the rest of my time here!
*Support Update*
I can hardly imagine that about 5 months ago, my support account was lagging with only $3,000 to start out the race. Through generous donations by loving supporters and strong faith in God, I only have $521 left to raise in order to be fully funded! Whaaat?! That’s right folks, I am currently at $13,778 raised! Praise the Lord! Thank you to ALL of you who have helped me reach this goal. Our next deadline to be fully funded is March 31st. I am kindly asking you to please prayerfully consider supporting me to help FINISH the race by helping me raise the remaining $521 before our next deadline. By becoming fully funded, I will able to travel to Africa to hold little African orphans and preach the Good News to all! I’ll be able to finish my last month in India and do whatever God leads me to do! I’m so excited to see what else God has planned for me and I just know it’s full of GREATER things than I have already experienced! Please click the “Support Me” tab to find out how you can partner with me and help me finish “The Race.”
