This blog contains graphic details about child trafficking. Use your own discretion with the reading and sharing of this blog. I can’t stomach actually going into detail, so take it upon yourself to do more research. We are held responsible for what we know, so realize the gravity of all this. And let your heart be broken.
The buying and selling of children for sexual favors is way more common than any of us would care to admit, which is a lot of the problem.
Here are SOME of the facts:
-Thailand is the sex tourism capital of the world.
- 60% of all white males flying through the Bangkok Airport at any one moment are in Thailand for the purpose of sex.
- 90% of Thai men have had sex with a prostitute.
- The average age of a girl in a brothel in 1997 was 17. That was 13 years ago.
- In 1999 the average age was 15.
- In 2003 the average age was 13. In 6 Years the average girl in prostitution was 13!
- In 2007 case workers found that there were girls as young as 3 years old being sold in brothels.
-There are hundreds of thousands of children sold into the sex trade in Thailand alone.
-Families will sell their daughter for a few times before finally selling them permanently into a brothel. This is because virgins get more money.
-Yes, their virginity is sold multiple times. I don’t know how to write this appropriately at all. Their hymen is sewn back up, a pimp comes and has the doctor confirm their virginity, and they are re-sold.
-Honestly, as I’m sitting here in my bed, surrounded by little girls that were saved from this (one of which just came and kissed me goodnight and told me she loves me), trying to google facts and information, I want to cry and throw up. I can’t stomach the internet search anymore, so here is one link with some information.
So, here we are at Remember Nhu. The statistics above are staggering. When you go into the Red Light Districts and see the women and children that have been sold into the industry, you can’t help but wonder WHERE IS GOD IN ALL THIS?! It is the most gut-wrenching thing in the world, and it’s SO easy to be angry at these men, and God. This is the facebook status one of our squadmates posted today:
What?! That is normal, NORMAL, day to day life in the sex tourism areas of Thailand. I want to scream.
So. What about hope? What about a good God? Honestly, if I only saw the bars and brothels, with ministry ONLY being rescue and intervention, rather than prevention, it would still be hard for me to see His goodness. And honestly, I’m really struggling with this one. It’s hard. But here’s the good news. It’s two words…
REMEMBER NHU.
I sleep tonight in a giant room, with 48 beds, full of little girls who were saved before any of this started. This isn’t an orphanage or normal children’s home that claims to save children, they only accept seriously at risk children, and every. single. child. here. has been saved from the wounds and scars that this world so desired to be put upon them.
Three beds away from me sleeps little X, one of the most beautiful two year olds I’ve ever met. Recently, the house mother here went to the market, and along with the fruits, vegetables, cheap cell phones, and trinkets, was this little girl. Part of a family so desperate for money that they were willing to sell her virginity. At age two. She went to the market for groceries, and came home with a new daughter.
God is so good. He has saved so many children through Remember Nhu. Our God IS a God who prevents hurt, who intervenes. And their testimonies are those of a gracious, loving, and saving God.
It is definitely a reminder to me about my testimony. I don’t have the sex/drugs/alcohol type testimony with some big crazy turn-around. For those that do, and God has saved you and shown you about true life, AWESOME. But I’ve never done any of that. And sometimes, I’ve felt like God just forgot to write a cool story for me. But being here with these girls has reminded me that I am so blessed to have a story, and a heavenly Father, that shows faithfulness, prevention from pain, and grace.
These girls here are never told what they were saved from. Little X may never know why she was taken from the market and brought here. And sometimes, in our lives, we never know what God has saved us from and is saving us from. But we can trust that He is a good and Sovereign God, who is active in our lives at all times.
Thank you, Daddy, for saving me from hell, both on earth and after I die. God you are so gracious and so loving to have protected me all these years. And tonight, as these precious little girls are sleeping around me, keep protecting them. Thank you for reaching down and scooping them up into Your loving arms, rescuing them before all the hell began. And tonight, be with every woman and child in the brothels – the ones that have not yet been saved. Comfort them, bring them hope, and let us be the answer to our own prayers. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Amen.
