This is heavy stuff guys, working in the red light district of Thailand.
Many of my team had hopes of going into the bars here and saving girls out of their objectified lives as prostitutes.
But I had to face a hard truth:
As followers of Christ, it isn’t our job to bring people to God’s Love….
but we have the priveledge to bring God’s love to people.
This past week, I dress up every night and head out to the rows of bars and brothels drenched in darkness and lies.
I have to give the heavy feeling to Christ and ask for His light, and He always gives more than enough.
The things I’ve seen, the old men with young girls, the ladyboys, the drunkenness, the materialism, the fake smiles…it’s enough to make me want to run around and grab every girls hand and run out.
…but some nights all I can do is slip a paper that says:
“You are cared for, you are loved, you are valued.”
into a girl’s hand on my way out as she is fought over by 2 men.
_____________________________________________________________
We start a conversation with some girls one night,
and I take a liking to a girl who opens up to me.
This 26 year old girl, who we’ll call Poh,
tells me about her 66 year old boyfriend in Europe.
He pays her bills and covered her hospital bill when she almost died from drinking too much.
He pays for her daughter’s needs back in the villages of Chiang Rai.
In fact, she only survives and has clothing because her boyfriend pays for everything…
in exchange for occasional visits and what we would call ‘explicit phone calls.’
She tells me how she comes here to the city to visit her friend’s bar
and have ‘fun’ and meet other guys on the weekends.
(but she doesn’t tell her boyfriend that!)
She is not living the life of a prostitute, and she may
not even know this but she is being treated like and has accepted the role of an object nonetheless.
She explained how she used to be pretty,
needs to be younger, and knows how ugly she is now.
I told her the opposite.
So I got her number and invited her to get a smoothie at the coffee shop I’m living above.
We hang out and talk about life, boyfriends, her daughter…
she does most of the talking and I listen.
It’s really cool though that she wants to talk about boyfriends so much,
because I’m one of the few girls on the squad who has a boyfriend at home.
I get to tell her about Matt and she is shocked at how much I love him while being apart so long!
I got to explain what a Godly relationship looks like for me,
and how my boyfriend is a leader.
She left our date still buddhist,
still being used in her relationship,
and heading out to the bars.
But at least she knows someone cares about her.
My teammate Jess tells me about another girl she met who has the same boyfriend story.
Just recently, this girl’s boyfriend sent her an email with a link to an online prostitution website.
Unfortunately, it’s common for western men from the States or from Europe to meet a foreign girl online,
pay for all her needs,
then sell her online. It’s horrible.
I can only pray Poh meets more people who love her.
The thing that was hardest for me to understand was how to love the men at the bars.
We naturally look at them with disgust.
But their past’s bring them here for a reason too.
Everyone does the things they do for a reason.
They lack an understanding of true love.
Many of these girls actually want to stay in the bars and not leave.
Selling themselves is an escape from the poor life in the village,
and here they feel pretty.
They are holding out for the night they are chosen over the other prettier girls working with them.
The men are often men who are tired of a bad marriages and
travel to Asia to feel love for one night at a high price.
It made me think how it’s so easy to love when I’m here on the mission field, but easy to judge others back home.
I’m on a journey to learn to love better.
So here I go once more, out to the bars tonight shedding a light in the darkness.
It’s awesome, because I see Jesus sitting at every table in every bar hanging out with His daughters, smiling upon them. I know He’s keeping them, and us, safe tonight.
No, I may not see one girl come to Christ this month, that doesn’t matter!
You or I can’t save people…God does that through our relationship with others.
Pray that you and I can show the love of Christ in a smile,
a conversation,
a hug,
and through love.
______________________________
I HAVE ONLY $1,000 LEFT TO RAISE!
Thursday, my team and I are fasting to
pray for the rest of our funds to come in,
they are due by the end of this month!
If you can donate a little or a lot, it all helps.
Thank you so much!
Love,
Rach
