Riding in the back of a pickup truck heading up the mountain, our host asked what our Valentine’s Day plans were. I thought for a minute. What if we make cookies hit the streets and go into the bars? Living close to the red light district and Valentine’s Day being on a weekend provided an incredible opportunity to really love people on a night where so many are looking for love. How could I not feel compelled to go?
I proposed the idea to my team and they were all excited! After making grocery runs and discussing what we would encounter we prayed and got our things together. Stuffing our bags and purses with cookies we grabbed some notes my teammates wrote with little phrases in Thai and English. We caught a ride into the city and headed out for whatever awaited us.
Walking the streets it was evident the city was ready for the crowds of tourists to come and “celebrate” the holiday. We split into groups and took off. You could feel the heaviness everywhere. It is impossible to ignore the knot in your stomach when you see it: when you make eye contact with the prostitute who’s dancing or the one who’s waiting to be picked up by a man. Your heart breaks seeing so many young European girls who have been trafficked in for the purpose to get the highest paying customer for the evening. Feeling the glares of the men who “own” these women make you very aware of the realness of the situation and the fear these women carry constantly. Then there are the older white men who flood the streets looking to buy a young girl. My heart breaks for them too. I’m not sure what brought all these people to this point in their life but I cannot sit by doing nothing and I absolutely cannot pretend it’s not happening when it is literally in front of my face.
We took off down our first street and walked up to a prostitute. I asked her if she wanted a cookie. Obviously she’s confused- a white girl offering her a cookie? All night people were surprised we simply wanted to give them something not expecting anything in return. She spoke incredible English and we talked to her for a while. I looked down the sidewalk and all her friends were peeking around to see what we were doing so I yelled for them to come and get a cookie too. This moment is one I’ll never forget. Nine or ten prostitutes started running in their high heels squealing how small children do when they cannot contain their excitement. We gave them all cookies and talked to them until one grabbed my arm and ushered me into the bar saying she had food for Valentine’s Day. I looked back at my friends telling them I was going in. We grabbed a table and ate the food they gave us. One of the prostitutes brought each of us a rose. They were so incredibly sweet! It was hard to talk to them for more than little spurts of time here and there because their boss was nearby making sure they were looking and pushing through “customers” as much as possible.
We stayed for a while and I made eye contact with an older man at the bar. He was an American and I watched him as he watched the girls. I had to go talk to him. I sat next to him at the bar blocking his sight of the girls. It was clear he was not interested in conversation with me, but I wasn’t going anywhere. I talked to him for a long time and after certain things were shared he became more receptive and actually started asking me questions. It turns out he was born about an hour and a half from where I grew up and I have family in his hometown. (God works in pretty incredible ways!) When I left him he too took a cookie and my blog address. I pray he reads this and knows my heart goes out to him and that he too is loved.
We left the bar and the original prostitute we met pleaded, “Please come back and see me! I’m working here every night”. We will go looking for her again soon I promise you.
The rest of the night was full of incredible moments from hanging out and praying for the homeless man who had been hit by a scooter, to the ladyboy standing on the street corner who couldn’t believe we approached him to find out his name, wish him a Happy Valentine’s Day and give him a free cookie. The women outside the other bars we gave our roses to and spoke with, and the ladyboy my friend gave her rose to and hugged. The look on his face was incredible. Who knows when someone last approached him in a dark alley to hand him a cookie, ask his name, tell him Happy Valentine’s Day, and hug him. I doubt these people get a lot of genuine hugs.
We crossed a bridge looking for our next spot when I saw a homeless man sitting in the shadows by the river. I told the girls I was going to give him a cookie. I went up to him quickly discovering he didn’t speak a lot of English. I pulled a cookie out of my purse and showed it to him. At first he acted like he didn’t want it but when I told him it was free he took it and thanked me. I reached in my pocket in hopes to find one last note written in Thai. There was one that had, “You are loved” written in Thai. I handed it to him and got a little closer. I pointed at it and asked him softly if he knew what it said. He held it, ran his fingers across the symbols then covered his eyes. He began to cry. I sat down next to him and the other girls came over. We sat with him and my eyes began to fill with tears. We didn’t need to exchange words. He looked at us and started to take his shirt off. He bent down and pointed at a tattoo on his shoulder. It said, “I love you” in English. Again I had a lump in my throat. This man….
Hands down this was the best Valentine’s Day I have ever had. Going into some of the darkest places in the world and showing the greatest love that exists, how could it possibly get any better than that?! I have not been able to stop thinking about that night and everyone we met.
This month we are working with a preventative ministry protecting children who are at high risk of being sold into the sex trade. Typically a child is considered high risk if they have lost one or both parents and/or their family is living in extreme poverty. A lot of times children are sold in order to get the family out of debt or if the family cannot afford to raise the child. Other times the child may have been abandoned resulting in “others” picking them up. The ones being sold rarely have a say in it all and once sold, they are considered an outcast in the community. I have to be discrete with details intentionally protecting the children because there are people who actually get paid to find young virgins to sell. Through sponsorship programs the organization provides housing, schooling, and all other needs the child may have for the year as long as the family allows them to stay here.
It has been incredible working with these people helping build another home by day and spending time with the kids and house parents at night. I’m thankful we have an opportunity to love on those around us and be a light here. There is a heavy darkness, which so many are trying to fight but fortunately it only takes a little light to break even the thickest darkness.
