So we’ve been doing ministry for a
couple weeks now. We partnered with YWAM and an amazing lady named Emmie here
in Thailand to work in a coffee shop by day and the red light district by
night. It has been a lot of things, among those impactful and interesting- most
of all- difficult to put into words. But since im sure you’re wondering what
exactly im doing… Ill try.
The first day we arrived at our new
home “The Lighthouse” (prophetic I know), rested, then went to discover what
was to come. We quickly discovered we would be going into the bars to develop
relationships with the people working there- most likely prostitutes,
lady-boys, and children. Just be
friends. Seems simple enough right? Emmie tried to prepare us for what we were
going into- issued warnings about the spirit over the place, asked us to split
the group, and half of us pray and intercede, but im not sure you can totally
prepare for it. I had a lot of fears and questions going into it. I wondered
what exactly connecting with them would look like. Would they expect us to pay
to talk to them ? would they want to talk to us and lose business? How would we communicate without a
translator? When should I tell them why im here? What if they think im judging
them? What would we talk about? So many questions and concerns…
What I saw there was darkness, oppression,
hurt and lonely hearts, and injustice. I saw countless men buying women for the
night, like they would rent a car- just business. I saw children in the middle
of the night with no shoes on wandering around trying to sell things to
tourists, women begging for money with exhausted babies tied to their backs. I
saw men with their hands all over women, men leaving with girls that couldn’t have
been over 16 years old. I saw girls who were trying to drink themselves into
oblivion before they sold their bodies for the night. I saw men who, for
reasons only God knows, dressed as women, tried desperately to look beautiful,
to get the attention of anyone passing. I felt the spirit of lust and desire
over that place so thick it was like a fog, the spirit of confusion, the spirit
of despair…
My question was: What the hell am I
supposed to do? Just sit by and watch people sell themselves? Watch little
girls leaving with old white guys? Watch dumb jocks assault girls against a
wall in the middle of bar street? How am I just supposed to watch? Isnt there
anything I can do? Why couldn’t I go over and take that little girl away, take
her somewhere safe? Arent I supposed to bring justice?
The answer I got was “yes, but it’s
not so simple.” I discovered that the mess these people are in is much more
complicated than I had ever imagined. If I took that little girl, it was highly
likely that her parents back in the village would most likely be shot, or
starve (because many parents are under the assumption their little ones are at
some sort of training school and are receiving money from the pimps.) YWAM is
battling this monster we call trafficking or prostitution, and there are many pieces
to the puzzle that is the solution. I am just a piece.
The piece that I am written on is
called “relationships” or “love in action” which I find ironic and wonderful in
many ways. Thai people are extremely relational and complex- as well as shy. We’ve
been asked to go into the bars, get to know the girls, be their friends, and to
let the light of God shine through us. Through our words, through our smiles,
through our actions… I think they’re beginning to wonder why this group of American
girls come night after night- just to talk- why we don’t want anything from
them. I think they’re beginning to see the light in us, beginning to want the
joy and life that we have. And you know what? This week is the week when we
tell them what the source of our light is!
I’m gonna let it shine!
