Our team spent a lot of time in Pat Pong, walking the streets, meeting people, even going into the bars. Our focus is ministry to the women and ladyboys. We've gone in with bracelets, given them out, and prayed for those who allowed us to tie it on their wrists. We've order drinks and watched the women dance so that we could spend a few moments talking with them when they are allowed a break from the stage. So many of them wanted us to pray for them. They wanted to share about their lives. When we told them in Thai, "You are beautiful… Jesus loves you," they'd smile, hug us, and their eyes would light up – a completely different demeanor than what we'd see on stage.
Every time I return to Pat Pong, I see something new: the sign, higher than all the rest, of Lucifer, watching down on the entire street…the men walking through, looking at all the goods to buy and staring openly at the half dressed women dancing on stage and standing just inside doorways… western women walking beside their husbands/boyfriends (I just can't understand this–how could someone want to bring or even be with their significant other in such a place?)…the Thai children peeking out from underneath tables, sitting next to displays of lingerie… and walking holding the hands of western men… the dwarf who works outside of the German bar…the ladyboys forced to dance in a cage high above the street, so that everyone walking can see them, the fetish bar complete with a bright red metal cage and leather handcuffs hanging just inside the doorway…. the heartbreak, the depravity, the darkness the desperate need for Christ.
It's hard not to be so angry and disgusted by the men. 60% of Western tourists are officially here for "pleasure", but there is also a high rate of Asian men who are customers as well. And it would be easier to want to punch someone in the face, to wish them ill… but they are broken too. They need godly men to show them what true manhood is and isn't. The same for the ladyboys, who are officially considered Thailand's "third gender" – female from the waist up and male from the waist down, literally with no place they can feel safe and as if they belong.
(Final of man on the left and handcuffs – above- by Connie Rock).
It can feel overwhelming, seeing all the need and knowing you have so little time. And we found we had a lot of questions on things like "etiquette"… could we just walk into a bar and star talking with a go go girl (dancer)? What do we say? What can we say? How can we best share the love of Christ?
The truth is, if we are open to where God is leading us, listening for Him, and willing to obey, He will lead us to people to speak to… and bring people to us. People like Nok Nok (below). Our first night in Pat Pong, I was wearing a new pair of shoes I'd purchased just for this trip. Nok Nok came walking down the street– big hair, hobbling on her heels as if she had hip pain, and a tired face. She walked up to me and said, "I like your shoes". That opened a conversation for us. She told me her brother lived in Santa Ana, California, and that she had been dancing at a bar for three months (for her safety, I'm not going to say which one it is, but it's name is one of the most degrading on the street… not that they all aren't in some way). "Many baht," she said (baht is the currency in Thailand). Soon, she had to leave, but not before I was able to hug her and pray over her silently. I told her I'd look for her whenever I came back and I have. The thing that scares me the most–for her–is that the bar she works in starts on the second level of the buildings. We aren't allowed to enter a bar beyond the first level, because the farther up you go, the worse the conditions/things you see are. What kind of danger is Nok Nok in every night? What things must she do? Does she know that God loves her?
And then there's another girl I met, a dancer standing in the doorway of a bar, inviting men to come inside, scantily clad in a bikini. That night, we had orange cards with Psalm 139: 13-19 on them in Thai and were handing them out, asking people to read it to us in their language. With her big eyes and soft voice, she began to read out loud. Standing in the middle of Pat Pong with "Lucifer" directly overhead, the words of the Lord about her were proclaimed. When she was finished, she looked up at me and smiled. I asked if she understood and she nodded. We talked for a few more minutes; I was able to pray for her, and then I left. I'm sure that not long after, she had to go back up on stage.
That first night, prayer walking in Pat Pong, there was a moment when everyone in my small group got the chills. As we read the signs that said, "King's Girls" and watched the people prepare for work, we began to pray for the continued process of freedom for those who are trafficked, for those who work sharing the love of Christ in Pat Pong, and that the market would one day be no more. And as we prayed for the women and men to come to Christ, we prayed that they would return to Pat Pong to share their story and preach the gospel on the same streets… that even a church would be built there, upon that very rock.
From the Red Light District to a thriving Church – Lord, please let it be!
One great thing about the threat of flooding, Pat Pong has been virtually empty of customers for the past 3 nights, meaning the girls get a break! Praise the Lord!
*Photos by Connie Rock and Kristen
