Module 3 & Relationships

Hey friends!

Had some free time this hot Saturday afternoon so I thought I’d fill yall in on the first week of module 3 of Thai class! At ULS (our language school) they teach conversational Thai for the first 3 months and then begin you on reading and writing in the Sanskrit-based Thai script. So we have been using their phonetic alphabet to help us learn the correct sounds for these months. Next month we will leave the phonetic alphabet behind so it is critical during this 3rd module to focus on hearing Thai correctly with our ears so that we can begin associating the hundreds of words and phrases that we know with their correct Thai spellings etc. This is especially difficult for me since I am so visual so the words only register in my mind once I can hear it, then see it in the phonetic spelling, then recall the corresponding English word! This is painfully slow and is really holding me back so pray that Heidi (who is doing great!) and I would be able to hear words correctly.

We’ve done plenty around the city since last post but these outings just don’t seem like the real heart of our ministry so I don’t have tons of pictures or info on them. We did go to a dinosaur park for our team leader’s son’s 6th birthday. He had a blast and even though we were getting scorched by the sun it was fun. We also enjoyed time off of school for 2 weeks for Songkran, the Thai New Year celebration! Everyone carries water guns and buckets of water are being thrown out of tuk-tuks on random pedestrians. It’s pretty crazy and we stayed inside (AIR-CONDITIONING!) for most of it because almost all the stores and restaurants are closed. One taxi driver told us that out of ~15 million residents only about less than 5 million are still in the city during Songkran. The rest have returned to their family homes in the country to visit relatives.

Motorcycle gang of Bangkok?

Dino + Sun = Scary Hot!

I mentioned that these things don’t feel like the heart of the ministry here in the city. While we are still finding our place in the team, I can definitely say that relationships are KEY. I understand that relationships are a main focus of missions everywhere since missions is basically bringing the good news of the gospel to the lost which happens most naturally in relationship. The difference is that in a big city like Bangkok we are not that much help meeting felt needs. The university students are usually being sent to Chula by somewhat wealthy parents. The need is for someone who spends time with them and cares for them as individuals.

The other reason that relationships are so key is the basic missions fact that resources and money and buildings fade whereas people stay. When Envision is no longer in Bangkok these students will be here living and working or spread back to the country and they will not still have our money or events or activities but if Christ is in their hearts and minds – that will last. He will remain and maintain.

Thank you Jesus for Your promises: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” ~John 15:5

Picture of a young girl…in the Red Light

Have you ever witnessed something that you know will become a lasting memory for someone?

My second trip to the red light brought such an experience. I was walking with Nouie to the Rahab Ministry office, down the “soi” (small road) of Patpong (the night market doubling as a red light district). In front of us was a family, not sure if they were Thai or not. A mother, father, elementary-aged son, and a young daughter, maybe four or five years old. I watched the daughter taking in her surroundings.  There would have been a lot to see, from her perspective. On the left, as you walk down the soi, there are countless stalls holding merchandise. Almost anything you would want to buy as a tourist in Thailand: intricate 3D postcards, colorful scarves, name-brand (perhaps knock-off) handbags and shoes, unique wooden toys….

I saw her look to the right, the side of the street lined with bars. A much desired breeze stirred the curtain-door of Thigh Bar, the first one I went in with Maneewan and Nouie. I knew what was inside without even following her gaze. Her eyes lingered inside, curious, not quite understanding. When she couldn’t crane her neck anymore, she turned back ahead to catch up with her family.

As I watched her take in the view of the dancing women, my heart sank. I had just witnessed a part of this child’s innocence being stolen right in front of me. I just saw her become a little more desensitized, at the age of four, to sex right before my eyes.

We see a lot of families walking the street of Patpong when we go on Thursday nights.  To many of them, they are going to a night market. They aren’t even aware that alongside the t-shirts, they’re selling Viagra. Next to the handbags, they’re selling condoms. Within an arm’s reach, they’re selling women.

That night, in a different bar, I spoke with a woman who didn’t look much older than me.  She told me, through her broken English and my broken Thai, that she has three sons, the oldest 15. As is typical for Bangkok prostitutes, she is from Isaan, a northern province. She moved to Bangkok with friends, who also became prostitutes, about a year ago. She sends her earnings to Isaan to her mother, who raises her boys for her. She was going to visit them the following week, the week of Songkran (Thai New Year/Water Festival) when most businesses are closed. The red light doesn’t close, though, as the holiday draws many tourists. But, she was taking a week off to visit her boys, who she hadn’t seen in a year.

As I debriefed later that night, I asked him: “Is the objectification of women something every man deals with?” He answered, “Yes. Every man has those thoughts cross his mind. For men who don’t know Jesus, why would they ever dismiss those thoughts?” I said, “I’m sure her sons, or at least the oldest one, knows what she does for a living. Parents try and hide that stuff, but kids are smart. They always know. What do you think that teaches them about how to treat women? If she’s not there to teach them how to treat women, how will they learn not to objectify them?” Objectification of women is rampant in today’s society, not just in Thai culture, but throughout the world (including America!). Society makes for a terrible teacher.

I shared my heartache for the women working as prostitutes. He shared heartache for the men paying for sex. He said, “No one leaves there feeling better than when they went in. I’m sure if you hung out there late into the night and early morning, you’d see a lot of empty men leaving. No one leaves there feeling good about themselves, happy about what they just did. That emptiness they came in with leaves with them as well. I doubt any of the guys leaving the red light have a spring in their step when they go to catch a cab home.” Sex is powerful, but so is shame. There is so much need for Jesus.

The focus of Rahab is not to deliver women from prostitution. It is to share Jesus with them. Obviously, the ideal would be for these women to fall in love with Jesus and leave that work, but the focus of Rahab is solely focused on sharing the Gospel. They will help any woman who wants to leave, but that’s not their main focus, and they don’t talk to the women about helping them leave. I think that’s why the bar owners and mamasans respect Maneewan and her work. They know she’s not trying to take away their workers, she’s trying to share Jesus with them. (That is a question I still have though, because if you’re Thai, you’re Buddhist. So if you’re Thai and Christian, that’s one thing, but if you’re Thai Christian trying to make other Thais Christian, that’s not so great. So I wonder how that dichotomy works for Maneewan and the bar owners.)

I have too many worship songs that speak deeply to me, but one is by Elevation Worship. The bridge is so powerful:

Sin was strong but
Jesus is stronger

Our shame was great but
Jesus, You’re greater

I pray that one day I’ll be able to stand next to the former prostitutes who have found Jesus, and sing of He who is stronger than our sin and our shame.

 

First Night in the Red Light

January 31

Talked with God a bit (and listened) just now. I was working through my struggle with the thought of going to the Red Light District, and why I am so bothered by people’s mention of going there (for stupid reasons).  Why am I so annoyed by it?  Is it because they think the Red Light is no big deal? Am I afraid of the darkness?

But You are there. You are in the rooms the unspeakable takes place in. You love the buyers of sex, and the sellers of sex. Your love is in the Red Light District, waiting to be discovered. So why am I afraid?

I am afraid of the darkness, but I don’t know why because You are already there. I’m still afraid to stand in the darkness and stare it in the eyes. But Your love is perfect, and it casts out fear. I’m afraid of the darkness, but greater is He that is in me.

So, I think I need to talk to Nouie.

March 4

Went to the Red Light last night. It went better than I thought it would. I didn’t think about it a lot, so I didn’t have any expectations going in. But it was me, Nouie, and Maneewan hanging out at a bar with women “dancing” in bikinis on a platform in the middle of the room. It was like what you see a strip club as in the movies, only no stripping (on the first level). It was awkward to figure out where to look because I didn’t want to watch the women, but I also didn’t want to avoid looking at them and seem like I was ignoring them. Luckily, there was a screen playing a music video type thing, loud music, and mirrored walls, so the women mostly watched themselves and I mostly watched the videos.  There were no customers when we came in, but about 15 minutes in a group of middle-aged Asian businessmen came in. They didn’t stay very long. Didn’t buy a woman.

A few women came over and sat and talked with us (mostly with Maneewan). One of the women said (I think) she liked my nose. I couldn’t speak very much with them because my Thai is so bad. They talked with us for a good while and then we left.

On the way to that bar, we stopped and talked with a few other prostitutes. One was a “ladyboy” named Bew. She was very upbeat and nice.  Nouie told me the two girls we talked to at the bar had expressed interest in knowing Jesus at the last party Rahab put on. Their names are Pang and P. Nouie said it’s really rare for younger women to express interest because they are still into partying and they think they are having fun.

She also said that in Thai culture it’s the oldest daughter’s responsibility to make sure her parents are taken care of. So a lot of the girls come from Isaan/the north and send money back to their parents.

Debriefing:

You can buy sex in Thailand for less than $20. The reality of this world, and especially Thailand, is that you don’t have to go looking for sex. Sex comes looking for you. One simple Google search shows you where the Red Light Districts are in Thailand, and just a quick perusal of blog posts gives reviews on the services you can purchase, as if it’s giving a review of a hotel or a restaurant. That’s what it is for most people. One quick nod of the head, or the slightest gesture of curiosity to one of the “Ping-Pong Show” hustlers, and you’re whisked away to a bar, up, up, up, and away into the heart of darkness. Each of the bars in each of the three “foreigner” Red Light Districts have several floors. The bottom ones are the one we got into, with scantily clad women “dancing”. As you go into the higher levels, the women are less-dressed, and the “entertainment” gets more raunchy.

Nouie said when she goes to the Red Light District, she often thinks most of the customers probably have a wife and kids back home who have no idea where they go and what they do when they are travelling for work. But here they are, purchasing Thai silk for their wives, and sex for themselves. The double life that so many people participate in. The dark no one knows about…

A Couple Extremes In Bangkok

Extremes can be found in most places in the world. Often there are contrasts that catch our eye when we see them. In Bangkok I frequently see a stark contrast between rich and poor.

Cars:

McLaren MP4-12C

Something with bondo and spraypaint!

So the contrast can be cars or living arrangements. In this photo you can see slums by the river and behind is Siam Paragon – probably the most expensive mall in Thailand!

Tonight we are headed with a few other team members to do a prayer walk in Phatpong Red Light district. The contrast will be good and evil. We have eternal riches to share with those who are so lacking in hope. Please pray that we can be a light in the dark.