I was talking to my mom and we were king of laughing how my prior
years of “Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll” were not all in vain! Don’t get me wrong, I am not condoning
the life that I lived and am SO thankful God has taken me out of it, but I do know that Gods promise has held true. The bible says that “And we know that in ALL
things God works for the good of those who love Him.” (Romans 8:28) and that is
just what is happening right now, I’m thanking HIm that He used the crap in my past for the present moment!
About a week ago I arrived in Patong Beach, a main tourist
resort town situation on the west coast of Phuket, Thailand. Acting as one of the main locations in
Thailand for the commercial sex trade, this area holds around 1200 girls (this
number does not include closed door night clubs) in bondage of prostitution. These girls come from poorer rural
areas to provide income for their families. The majority of the girls are not paid salary or any regular
wage, they simply receive room and board by the bar and survive solely on
earning tips and selling themselves to male tourists and Thai men…a girl can be
bought for a night, a week and even months on end.
So how do I fit into this heartbreaking equation…well really
its very simple. You see I was
never bound by prostitution, but I was bound by a life of seeking men sexually,
using my body to attract them for the wrong reasons, binge drinking, using
drugs and more. Just because I did
not collect money for things, does not mean I did not experience some of the
same emptiness, confusion and pain that these woman are in the midst of. I would not relive any of those past
moments, but I do thank God for them now. The word says “to be thankful in all
circumstances” so that is what I am doing.
When I go out to these bars at night, I feel for these
woman, I understand some of their pain, I love them and see beauty in
them. When you see them from down
the street with stone faces trying to lure men in and then they turn and see
you and a smile bigger than I can explain comes over their face, I know every
moment is worth it.
Right now we are working with a ministry called SHE (self
help and empowerment). Started in
2006, Mark and Sharon Biddell have been obedient to a call and are stirring
things up in Patong Beach! With
the help of teams like The World Race, YWAM and others they go out nightly to
these bars, build relationships with the girls and eventually invite them over
to the house for lunch. That is
where the girls are offered an alternative job making jewelry, chocolate and
beautiful boxes. They get the
option to leave a life of prostitution and move into the house to learn another
trade and most importantly learn about Jesus Christ.
I will share more about individual girls, but for not please
pray for these woman to be released from the bondage they are in. In addition, please pray for the girls
and I, that our minds would daily be renewed and we would have strength to go
out and build relationships nightly…it’s a dark atmosphere, but I see light in
it! I love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and support. xoxoxox
