This month part of our ministry is to prayer walk the streets of the bars during the day and at night go out to build relationships with the people at the bars. These bars are filled with women from the age of 16-40 trying to solicit men into buying them for the night. These men come from different parts of the world and are different ages, mostly older white men.
Yesterday I went on a prayer walk; I had prayer walked this street before but something about that day was different. The night before I had a restless night sleeping and had a dream of being held captive but still living a somewhat normal life. As I’m walking down the street I had an overwhelming feeling of hurt, anger and hopelessness. At that moment I realized everything that I was feeling is how these women working the bars feel. The dream I had of being held captive is how they feel. They might not be behind bars, but they don’t have freedom either.
Later that night we went into the bars with intentions of building relationships with these women. The first bar we walk into had a pool table, we played a game of pool with two of the girls. They seemed very receptive of us being there because they invited us to come back, and they held our hand, which in Thailand is a sign of friendship between women.
As we were playing pool I observed the bars around us. The bar next to us had girls in short shorts and crop tops dancing in front of old white men. I was quick to judge the the men at the bars. I asked God to allow me to have grace towards these men and He showed me their disparity and loneliness. I don’t know the story of these men and I’m not justifying their reasons for being there, but its obvious they are lacking something in their lives and they are trying to fulfill it with the temporary affection from these women.
I can relate to these men because I used to fulfill myself with empty voids. Our choices of voids might be different but none the less they are voids. When you put your happiness in things of this world you will always come out empty. But if you have a solid foundation in Christ nothing of this world can bring you down, not people, not material things, not any trials life throws at you, NOTHING! I pray that everyone reading this blog knows and experiences God’s love.
The hostel we are staying at focuses on spreading the word of God to the people of Chiang Mai through bar ministry, slum ministry, monk chats, and through their cafe located on the bottom of the hostel. I’m beyond blessed to be working alongside an organization so passionate about bring the word of God to people! Below is some of the artwork around the hostel and cafe, just to give you an idea of what a warm feeling this place gives off.
“Everlasting your light will shine when all else fades”
~These paintings were created by previous World Racers~
As most of you know I’m $2600 from being fully funded. I’m looking for help from 26 friends. If I can have each friend donate $100, I will be fully funded for my trip and they’ll allow me to stay on the field. If you could please consider praying about it, and if you feel lead to give and support me, please click the ‘support me’ button on my page. I have a deadline at the end of this month to be fully funded.
An option the World Race is allowing me to offer is for my supporters to commit to donate $25 a month from March-June. If this is something that you feel is more affordable or appealing, I would be happy to help you set this up! Just let me know. Thank you for all your support, love and prayers!
