One of the coolest things about this trip was seeing the fruit from ministry from previous teams. For instance, in June of 2014, the team threw a party at Rahab for 17 dancers, waitresses, mamasons, and touts. Five of them came to Christ. Another woman later left the bars and is now working at Rahab – and bringing her friends!
*Photo by Connie Rock of June Party
This trip we saw more than half of the women who were at that party. It’s six months later, and they remembered our faces. And the second night of ministry, three of them invited us into a bar we’d previously not visited due to the curtain in the doorway.
All 8 of us sat together, laughing and talking with the women. The bar was mostly empty, save for one girl in a black dress standing on a stage at the far end. There was a western man sitting with a Thai woman in a red dress in the middle of the “J” shaped booth. I was sitting on the end of the group, less than a foot away from him, my back turned. This is for safety, and also because our focus on these trips isn’t the men. We are to pray for them, have compassion for them… if they talk with us, we can respond kindly in a way that closes the conversation. But the best people to minister to men are men. We are there for the women. But if the men see Christ in us because of that – that is an answer to prayer.
When the man next to me spoke, I originally didn’t want to respond. “Why are you here?” he asked.
I caught Connie’s eye (my leader), knowing she was watching the situation closely. My thoughts were to be vague, honest, and to the point, so as not to keep the conversation going. After all- he was sitting with a living, breathing woman he’d paid to spend time with. “We’re here on vacation, telling women that God loves them.”
“Oh, okay.” He said. “I don’t believe it for myself, but I respect that. I’m William*, by the way. William from Scotland.”
The conversation didn’t last too long. He talked about his life in Thailand, gave us some history on the Red Light District, and talked about places he’d been in America. When it was time to leave, I turned to him and said, “Nice to meet you, William. And I completely respect what you believe, but I want to let you know- God loves you too.”
“Thank you,” he nodded. “Yeah, I don’t believe it… but I’ve been wrong before.” He said the final portion almost like an afterthought. As we left, he looked at my teammates and said, “Keep spreading your message. You’re doing a good thing.”
And I can’t help but think, we met William because of the party in June and the faithfulness of God using that team in that moment. This is only 1 of many stories of us seeing fruit from previous teams. Short term missions does have a lasting impact!
*Name changed for privacy, and what better Scottish name than William?
