Around 8pm every night our 4 teams gather together in prayer and worship. After a bit, the 2 teams heading out that night are shuttled over the mountain into Patong City to Bangla Rd. while the other 2 teams stay back and intercede. The intercession is so necessary, you can feel the darkness thicken as you cross the mountain.
That is not the Bangla Road I see though.
I see
men shoving advertisements into my face for peep shows.
women with empty eyes dancing on bars.
empty people looking for their next drink or next high.
little kids working (for parents or pimps) all night trying to sell necklaces to tourists.
lady boys (transvestites) showing off their goods.
old white men feeling up beautiful young Asian girls.
closed doors that only men come out of.
empty-eyed women in costumes trying to entice people into strip clubs.
hundreds of men boosting their egos and temporarily satisfying their lust by paying for sex.
thousands of people searching to fill the empty void in their soul with something. anything.
That’s what it comes down to in the end. People filling the God-shaped hole in their hearts with anything else. We gasp in horror at the idea of Bangla Rd. but take a second look and Bangla is all around you. Lust. Greed. Idolatry. Addictions. Godlessness. We see that stuff every day. It just looks different. We’ve grown so numb to our version of these things that it takes an extreme place like Bangla for us to even recognize that they’re there.
Pray that disguises will be lifted for us and for those we are talking to & praying for as we bring the Holy Spirit to Bangla Rd. And, while you’re at it, ask God to reveal sins in your own life that have been masquerading as something else. It’s a gutsy move but so worth it if you want to grow closer to Him. I dare ya. J
