We first went into the middle east street (we went around 8pm, so there werent alot of girls standing around) which wrecked me apart. Even though we never saw any prostitutes in this districts (although i did see a few ladyboys/girls on their way to work @ nana plaza) it wrecked me to see all these women. I was sitting in a place like thailand, yet there were more beggars than usual and women wearing purdahs everywhere. Because there was such a language barrier i didnt really feel like i could help them.... i looked at them and gave them an empty smile and in my breath i prayed for them. And then we went to nana plaza..... Nana plaza is one of the top 3 most famous red light districts in Bangkok, outside of the main strip clubs and brothels there are a row of bars. Inside these bars there are hundreds of men all with prostitutes, acting as if they were on a date. Men that do not have a love deficit in their lives do not buy women for sex..... tangibly seeing with my own eyes how many of these men were buying a prostitute and it was being treated as normal, shows me how much God is needed in a place like this.
In the redlight district itself, you went into a small sidestreet that had loud booming music. There were signs everywhere advertising "next ________________ show in 15 minutes" there were 3 tiers that you could go up with stairs. On each floor, there were about 12-15 stripclubs/brothels covered with a curtain. I don't feel the need to elaborate what i saw because God deserves the glory out of this situation, Gods heart is for every man in that place. Gods man is for every hurting girl who is terrified every day that they go to work.....
Thailand is not like the United States where you can call an anti trafficking hotline when you see trafficking happen, its just everywhere. I believe the only situation is people being obedient when God calls them to 'GO' to these places.... our testimonies can be redeemed and that is certainly true for me. For me, my first time being in the red light district/nana plaza i feel like i shut down and let God down alot... But i know that i have grace for the next time i go. Evangelism is not about pleasing God but its just about bringing Gods kids back home/expanding Gods family and his love and i just need to remind myself of that....
THESE PAST FEW DAYS....
these past few days, as some of you may have read when we came to thailand alot of the ministries we had planned to work with fell through. We will be going to one of the several red light districts again once or twice. So far what we have/will be doing is focusing on the 7 spheres of influence....
-family
-media
-business
-arts
-education
-government/law
-religion
if we do not have something set up for the day of having a tour of, a ministry, this is what we do for the day... we pray into which sphere god wants us to impact and what he wants us to do for the day. this is very much what our time in Bangkok is going to look like, and our time in Chiang Mai we will be working more heavily in the red light districts the majority of our time with a ministry there teaching the women working in bars english. we are very much being led by the holy spirit in all of what we are doing in Bangkok, it is a struggle for me personally but i believe will be a very rewarding one.
please continue to pray for our team & myself during this time. yo ur prayers & spiritual support for us is greatly appreciated as we are a light in these dark places.
Psalm 82:3-4
-Chelsea
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