The Magic Numbers:

It starts at 5PM each night. Makeup. Hair. Perfume. Bikinis.

Thai women are 20ish but look 15... the younger the better. They are not on the stage to cause you to lust with their pole tricks. The poles are just there for them to hold on to. They are on stage dancing together as items waiting to be sold. They all wear a number.... Numbers are daunting.

Here are a few:

64 Million people live in Thailand.

4,000 female dancers each night in Pat Pong. 3,000 - 5,000 in the Nana District.

98% of marital unfaithfulness in Thailand

2 Million women are trafficked through Thailand each night.

60% of male tourists to Bangkok that visit bars each year.

12: number of girls on the stage at each time

66: the ID number for a girl I saw who looked 14 years old

20: age of girl #1 I met who was a dancer at the bar

24: age of girl #2 I met who was a dancer at the bar

2: number of children girl #1 had

3: number of months each girl worked in the bar

350 miles: #of miles girl 1&2 traveled to work in Bangkok for money

120: number of girls since 2006 rehabilitated by a ministry in a local district

1: the number of girls I prayed with tonight and told about Jesus

God saw her, and even if He sent me to Bangkok to plant the seed just for her, it was well worth it. God will move heaven and earth for the ONE…think back to your story, He did it for you.

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? (Luke 15:4 NIV)

The Red Light District

Today was a day to pray for the city that we are in as well as see and prayer walk through the Red Light District. I got some background of how some of the women end up in the sex industry and some (not all) are sent here to bring money to their family. Forget bringing honor to the family, these women are shamed to bring money to their family. So I begin to meditate on that fact and I started thinking….

I’m sure this started through one family who desperately needed money and sent their daughter to make money through sex. I’m sure it was something that was a huge sacrifice and was only considered a last resort option. Over time, other families, who had a greed, and not a dire need, begin sending their daughters to make money through the sex industry. What started as something for one young women now impacts thousands of women, night after night, in Bangkok alone. And I started thinking…

It’s so easy to point at them and to look at how greed and selfishness completely turned this city into a city now known for its Red Light District. But how many of us “pimp” out people and things in our lives to get what we want with our own selfish motives? The Lord started showing me areas in my life that can become my own Red Light District to serve the god of myself. We all have selfish things and we must stand guard in order to not have our children’s children living in a Red Light District because of our decisions to desensitize ourselves from our own selfish ways. I pray we all stand guard. It only takes one decision, one time not listening to the Holy Spirit to cause a ripple effect that the generations after us will eat the fruit of.

Lets take a stand against selfishness….it’s odd, but hey we are Christians, called to be kinda odd :)

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. (1 Corinthians 16:13 NIV)

*this situation does not depict all stories here*

**Photo by Kristen.