Finding Light in the Darkness
My first few days spent in Thailand, I was intrigued by the delicious food, beautiful nature, and fun tourist attractions. But I was soon dragged down from cloud 9 and reality hit me like a truck. One night I, along with a few teammates, walked through the very real world of the red light district in Chiang Mai. The district here consists of alleyways flooded with bars and brothels. This is a hotspot for 70% of the male tourists who venture here to Thailand. As my eyes were opened to old white men sharing conversation and drinks with young southeast Asian girls, possibly the same age as or younger than their own daughters, my heart broke. The facade of beautiful beaches, elephant sanctuaries, and magical waterfalls shattered and the dark side of tourism in Thailand revealed itself to me. My heart hurt as I saw the brokenness in the young girls selling their bodies and in the men who run here to fill the holes in their own heart by buying one of these girls for an hour or two. When I first got here, I was angry at most of the men I saw walking down the street as I assumed the reason they were here, but after my first experience in the red light district, my heart changed for them as I realized how lost and numb they are. The ones I am truly angry at are the bar owners, pimps, and traffickers who supply for the demand for girls, boys, and children. It has opened my eyes greatly and humbled me as we have walked through the bar strip weekly to pray for and build relationships with the girls by playing pool, laughing, and sharing God's redemptive love with them. Last Friday night as we played a game of pool with a few girls who worked in the bars, I got to know a girl named Emily*. She had only worked at the bar for five days. Emily told me she was 20 years old, although she looked much younger. When I asked how she liked Chiang Mai so far, she hesitated, forced a small smile and said, "it's okay." It wasn't long before her boss called her over, put a drink in her hand, and made her sit at a table near the front of the bar and wait for the next customer. I felt so defeated as I realized I wasn't able to do much more for Emily that night. I stood across the street after we left the bar strip and watched as an old white man with a wedding ring on walked in, carefully chose which of the countless bars he wanted to go to, and approached Emily with his hand on her thigh as soon as he reached her. I wish I could say that Emily did not leave the bars with a stranger that night. I wish family patterns that encourage parents to sell their children could be instantly broken. I wish that the enslaved girls, boys, and children who are drugged and locked in a brothel room to be rented by the hour could be freed today. I wish that every traumatic memory of being bought for sex would vanish. And I wish innocence could be restored. I often have to remind myself that there is not a quick fix for this worldwide issue. But I will never say that there is not hope. There is hope in the organization we've been working with that takes in children from hill tribes and loves, houses, and educates them so that they are not sold to traffickers. There is hope in the coffee shop I hang out at that employs beautiful girls who have walked away from the sex trade industry for good. And there is hope in being able to walk through a bar with a friend who used to work there, and see her share God's love and freedom with the girls who continue to sell themselves there. Human trafficking exists everywhere, yes everywhere. And it's time to act and bring change. Sometimes the things God calls us to do aren't easy or fun. I never walk out of the bars feeling satisfied. My heart breaks all over again each time I walk in and stand face to face with these girls who don't see their worth. And God's heart breaks for them even more than anyone else's does. But I know that Christ is working in the hearts of the girls and men here through each team who walks in here to share His redemption and freedom with them. We should never stop pursuing the ones in the darkest places because God never stops pursuing us. *name changed for protection











