Picture this with me for a moment. Roads with constant movement streaming by. Sun shining down through the palm trees, kissing your skin as you walk through the town. Cafes, nail salons, and souvenir shops line the road- all with their owners calling out to you and smiling as you walk by. The sounds of crashing waves and views of families enjoying the many water sports available as you walk along the sand of one of the most beautiful beaches. The refreshing feeling of a splash in the ocean as you get a break from the brutal Thai heat. Mornings and early afternoons that allow you to rest and relax as you enjoy the surroundings.
Now, let’s switch your view for a moment. It is now dark and you walk around for a night on the town. Picture a busy street downtown, blocked off solely for walkers. As you approach the street, you walk past busy restaurants filled with tourists and many side food carts. You pass groups of women outside of massage parlors, donned in skirts advertising their massage services with the inclination that more is offered if you ask the right questions of have enough money. You hear loud music and know that you are getting close to Bangla Street- your destination. It is lined with night clubs and bars- a sea of people in the middle of the street. People that are made up of many men, but also women, and even whole families. As you walk, you are approached by those advertising one of the many sex shows of the evening. You politely decline, but will certainly have to decline several more times as you make your way down the road. As you look side to side, you can’t help but notice the women dancing on each of the bars, the goal being to draw in the customers for the evening. Some of these women merely dance and serve at the bar. Others make plans to leave with men each night as a way to earn a living. You pass women that you know have chosen this because it’s their responsibility to support their families, and this is the best way they know. You also pass women, that you know have been brought here against their will and are modern day slaves. You see men and women that are here on holiday and wonder how they can be oblivious to what it is that they are supporting and partaking in. Your view on this street is one mixed of energy and fun and absolute heartbreak.
Both of these views are the absolute reality of Phuket, Thailand. I am with Team Haven, and these 2 snapshots are daily views through our lenses. We get the absolute privilege and blessing of exploring and resting in the beauty that is Patong Beach. Our days start out with our individual quiet times and devotionals along the beach or in whatever local café that we choose. We get to spend time with one another and it sometimes feels like a holiday as we get to freely spend our time between waking up and mid-afternoon. We convene for team time and prayer before ministry each day, which starts at 4:00. Due to the environment and the mission here, our days are flipped from what we are used to. We typically have ministry between the hours of 4 and 11 pm.
Each afternoon, we spend a couple of hours in a few different local bars. The afternoon scene is pretty low key and tame. The bars are not as busy and it provides a great time for us to continue build relationships with the women that work there that our ministry hosts have made over the last 2 years. We come in to simply get to know them and to love them. This typically looks like us playing bar games- which here, includes Connect 4, dice games, and hitting a nail into a tree stump. We ask them questions about their life and really, just provide a friendly face that will continue to show up and not expect anything from them. We show them Christ through our actions and love, and words if there are opportunities. Time flies by as we sit and sip our Diet Cokes and laugh with women that now give us a face to the stories and statistics we’ve only heard about until now.
A few nights a week, we also go out to bars during the evening hours. The same types of things occur, but there is so much more weight and heaviness to Bangla Road in the cover of the dark. We’ve been visiting the same bar each night we go and are now greeted with shrieks and hugs as our relationships grow. We sit and play games with them as the women take turns dancing. We hear their stories and struggles. We get to see pictures of their families and encourage them however we can. While we are there we have often also been able to get to know and share stories with tourists. We tend to stick out in this scene, as we don’t drink and are there just to hang out with the girls. That’s led to some really incredible conversations.
On the evenings that we don’t go to the bars, we attend Bible studies at the church that is hosting us. We also play Volleyball on the beach once a week- inviting whoever is there to join in. These are just some really beautiful times of fellowship and encouragement.
Ministry this month is definitely unconventional, but it has been incredible for both me and this team. Honestly, it’s a lot of fun, but there is always the underlying heartbreak and tension with what is involved. There is not shame associated with this type of work here- it’s expected that the oldest woman of the family will provide for them and this is just one of the “normal” ways to do so. In many of their lives, it’s seemingly the best option. They don’t enjoy it, but it pays the bills. Many of the women only dance and bartend, but in that, are still objectified for their bodies and spend their work days drinking as men buy them drinks for their time. A lot of women that work at the bars make arrangements with customers that come in and sell their body and their time once they are off of work. This is often encouraged by the establishments, because it brings in more money. There are also establishments along Bangla Road that promote foreign women. Women that are trafficked- mostly from Europe- and are forced to do things each and every day that they have no choice in. Women that we can only smile at as we walk by, because to do much else would be dangerous for both them and us.
Seeing these things each and every day can be heartbreaking. It can also be angering, as we sit back and watch the ways that the women are disrespected by the drunk men who come in. It’s easy to place blame and anger on the men and get stuck there. This ministry brings out the parts of us that want justice, but it’s also provided a perspective shift as we realize the men and women that come here to “buy” another human have experienced a lot of brokenness that brought them to this point. It also has shifted our perspective on the establishments very similar to the ones that we see here that are also all across America. It’s easy at home to judge the people that choose to work at these establishments and to normalize the people who frequent them- but it’s much the same as here and deserves our attention and prayer.
While I’ve wrestled with the full range of emotions that this ministry brings, I don’t leave here hopeless. There is a lot of darkness here, but I know the source of light who is so much greater. I count it an honor to be able to carry a glimpse of that light to the women that we’ve encountered. To be able to sit across from them and simply say “I see you. You matter. You are worth so much more than you know.” I trust that the Lord is moving here and that freedom and redemption will come. I can leave confident that while I may not understand, I don’t have to, and that the Lord is working in mighty ways in this city.
Please join me in praying for Phuket. We have one week left of ministry here, but our hosts and other teams will continue and they can use our support as they go out to combat the darkness with the light and freedom of the Lord.
Also, join me in praying for all of the men, women, and children caught in the sex trafficking movement. It’s not something we think about often, but is a very real issue in the U.S and around the world.
