We have officially been in Thailand for 9 days! Honestly, I still can't believe that I'm here... that Jesus would bring me here with Him. I wake up every morning and think "Wow, the horns on those SongTaos and Tuktuks sound glorious this morning." I am so thrilled to be here and even more thankful that I'm with this group of girls. I've never been more sure that this is exactly where I am supposed to be...
With that being said, things are beginning to get wild around here. For the past week, all 20 of us have been serving in different areas and praying about where God wants us to be and how we wants to use us in each ministry. Each day I walk those streets of the Red Light District and proclaim freedom over those bars, and demand that all chains are broken in the name of Jesus. One thing is for certain, the enemy is definitely aware that we are in town and he's doing everything in his power to distract us, scare us and stop us from what we are here to do.... However, we aren't distracted, we aren't scared and we definitely are not going to stop doing what we are here to do.
Last night eight of us went on a prayer walk during prime time.... In the last five years, Jesus has been preparing me for every single moment that I spend with his girls in those bars. I've experienced their hell on earth in three different countries. I've met many of them by name, I've danced and laughed and made small talk. I've prayed my heart out, cried my eyes out and seen the goodness of God in the darkest of places... but truly, nothing can prepare me for the reality of this place.
In one square mile, there is probably one hundred bars... hundreds of girls trying to catch our eye. These girls are my age. They're beautiful... they have so much life ahead of them; yet they're being held captive... like they're sinking in quicksand. Some of them are new to the lifestyle, and it's obvious because they still have life in their eyes. Others of them appear to have accepted this as their destiny, and they walk through life like zombies... until they caught a glimpse of us last night. As I walked past a particular bar with three of my teammates, I saw the sweetest girl.... I looked at her and smiled with genuine joy and she locked eyes with me as if she had found what she was searching for. We looked at each other for about 10 seconds, but it felt like a real encounter. Her life flashed before my eyes, and I couldn't help but think about what her daily routine might look like... the horrors that she's lived through, the thoughts she has, and the emptiness she feels. My next thought was what her life will look like... healing and joy. Redemption. Laughter. Dancing. Purity... confidence. She will truly be made new... a new creation in Jesus. He has such marvelous plans for her life, and he has had them since the foundation of the world. She has not been forgotten. She has not slipped through the cracks. Jesus knows exactly where she is, where she walks, where she sleeps. He knows her.
I will never ever understand why this happens... why this industry is so corrupt yet so booming in every corner of the world. It disgusts me, I hate it. I hate the way the enemy works. I HATE HIM. I hate his schemes and plots and plans. I hate that he thinks he knows us and our weaknesses. I hate that he has these men convinced that it would be a good idea to leave their wives and their kids and their jobs to hop a plane to the Red Light District of Chiang Mai. I hate that they've been deceived. I hate that they think it will satisfy them. I hate that these girls think this is what life is. I hate that they've grown up in a culture that doesn't nurture their femininity, and protect their innocence. I hate that the enemy is trying to devour them... I hate that this is happening.
These are God's people... these are my people. There is hope. My sweet friend, O, has recently left the Red Light District and now works at Zion Café (the hostel and ministry we are staying at). She's been here a few days longer than me... The battle is real - she feels pulled between her boyfriend, who works at the bars, and Zion, where she is loved and protected and believed in. After eight months of missionaries in and out of her bar, she finally had the courage to leave and to seek refuge at Zion... Zion is truly the lighthouse in the darkness. She is learning about Jesus and I can see the life coming back to her eyes. There are thousands of Os in Chiang Mai who are waiting for someone to come alongside them and offer them something real... something true.. something better. This is why I am here.
I believe in hope because it radically changed my own life... and now it's my job to bring that same hope to my girls, wherever they may be.
Pray for me... my heart breaks every day for these people, but I wouldn't wish to be anywhere else. Pray that the Holy Spirit will direct my steps, and that my steps will be in line with His. Pray for O as she works through the heartache and confusion, and that she will chose to find her home at Zion. Pray for all the Os in this city that will come out of this and find life. Pray for the girls to be drawn to me. Pray that we will build relationships quickly, and that they will be receptive to me. Pray that the men will see Jesus in me. Pray that the men will stop coming here, and that they won't go to the bars. Pray that the bars will be empty. Pray something big. We don't have time for wimpy requests. Ask God to do something big in Chiang Mai...
Freedom is coming.
With that being said, things are beginning to get wild around here. For the past week, all 20 of us have been serving in different areas and praying about where God wants us to be and how we wants to use us in each ministry. Each day I walk those streets of the Red Light District and proclaim freedom over those bars, and demand that all chains are broken in the name of Jesus. One thing is for certain, the enemy is definitely aware that we are in town and he's doing everything in his power to distract us, scare us and stop us from what we are here to do.... However, we aren't distracted, we aren't scared and we definitely are not going to stop doing what we are here to do.
Last night eight of us went on a prayer walk during prime time.... In the last five years, Jesus has been preparing me for every single moment that I spend with his girls in those bars. I've experienced their hell on earth in three different countries. I've met many of them by name, I've danced and laughed and made small talk. I've prayed my heart out, cried my eyes out and seen the goodness of God in the darkest of places... but truly, nothing can prepare me for the reality of this place.
In one square mile, there is probably one hundred bars... hundreds of girls trying to catch our eye. These girls are my age. They're beautiful... they have so much life ahead of them; yet they're being held captive... like they're sinking in quicksand. Some of them are new to the lifestyle, and it's obvious because they still have life in their eyes. Others of them appear to have accepted this as their destiny, and they walk through life like zombies... until they caught a glimpse of us last night. As I walked past a particular bar with three of my teammates, I saw the sweetest girl.... I looked at her and smiled with genuine joy and she locked eyes with me as if she had found what she was searching for. We looked at each other for about 10 seconds, but it felt like a real encounter. Her life flashed before my eyes, and I couldn't help but think about what her daily routine might look like... the horrors that she's lived through, the thoughts she has, and the emptiness she feels. My next thought was what her life will look like... healing and joy. Redemption. Laughter. Dancing. Purity... confidence. She will truly be made new... a new creation in Jesus. He has such marvelous plans for her life, and he has had them since the foundation of the world. She has not been forgotten. She has not slipped through the cracks. Jesus knows exactly where she is, where she walks, where she sleeps. He knows her.
I will never ever understand why this happens... why this industry is so corrupt yet so booming in every corner of the world. It disgusts me, I hate it. I hate the way the enemy works. I HATE HIM. I hate his schemes and plots and plans. I hate that he thinks he knows us and our weaknesses. I hate that he has these men convinced that it would be a good idea to leave their wives and their kids and their jobs to hop a plane to the Red Light District of Chiang Mai. I hate that they've been deceived. I hate that they think it will satisfy them. I hate that these girls think this is what life is. I hate that they've grown up in a culture that doesn't nurture their femininity, and protect their innocence. I hate that the enemy is trying to devour them... I hate that this is happening.
These are God's people... these are my people. There is hope. My sweet friend, O, has recently left the Red Light District and now works at Zion Café (the hostel and ministry we are staying at). She's been here a few days longer than me... The battle is real - she feels pulled between her boyfriend, who works at the bars, and Zion, where she is loved and protected and believed in. After eight months of missionaries in and out of her bar, she finally had the courage to leave and to seek refuge at Zion... Zion is truly the lighthouse in the darkness. She is learning about Jesus and I can see the life coming back to her eyes. There are thousands of Os in Chiang Mai who are waiting for someone to come alongside them and offer them something real... something true.. something better. This is why I am here.
I believe in hope because it radically changed my own life... and now it's my job to bring that same hope to my girls, wherever they may be.
Pray for me... my heart breaks every day for these people, but I wouldn't wish to be anywhere else. Pray that the Holy Spirit will direct my steps, and that my steps will be in line with His. Pray for O as she works through the heartache and confusion, and that she will chose to find her home at Zion. Pray for all the Os in this city that will come out of this and find life. Pray for the girls to be drawn to me. Pray that we will build relationships quickly, and that they will be receptive to me. Pray that the men will see Jesus in me. Pray that the men will stop coming here, and that they won't go to the bars. Pray that the bars will be empty. Pray something big. We don't have time for wimpy requests. Ask God to do something big in Chiang Mai...
Freedom is coming.
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