Red-light Redemption
Testimony at InterVarsity Staff Conference 08by Carrie Sunwall
This past summer I had the privilege of leading 16 staff and students from around the United States and Canada on a Global Project to Thailand. The team divided into three smaller teams and we partnered with various ministries around the country including a ministry called The Well, which reaches out to bar girls in the downtown part of Bangkok. These bars cater to Western men.
You see, Thailand is rated number two in the world for prostitution, as there’s 300,000 to 2.8 million women involved in the sex industry. Ninety percent of the men receiving services are Thai, and of the men receiving services, it’s mainly financially supported by Western men.
The main focus of our girls-only team this summer was to go and outreach to these girls in the downtown bars. We would walk the filthy streets of Bangkok two by two. And we would pray, up and down the streets, just asking God to lead us to some bars, and for some girls to talk to.
The first week, Marci and Jessie and Crystal happened upon DC Ten, a bar that’s located in a dark corner of Street One. They met seven girls who did not have anyone watching over them. They were kind of unruly girls, and they were completely and utterly bored. They did not have any customers; [the bar] was just neglected. Every other day the girls visited these bar girls at DC Ten. We’d buy drinks – water and soda, of course – and play pool.
The college girls’ hearts were broken. Apen was working at the bar because her parents forced her to, to help pay off some family debt. Ann was working there to support her children, who were living with her parents, up north in the village. We spent many nights crying out to God, praying for him to bring justice, to make things right in their lives, and for their hearts to be captivated by him.
The second week we were in Bangkok, one of the girls on the team asked the Well staff, “What would happen if we paid for a bar full of girls?” And the Well staff said, “Well, I don’t know. We’ve never really tried that before.”
Our entire team spent a whole week, just planning and scheming, asking God just to provide a way for us to pay for these girls and take them out. We wanted to give them a “Girls’ night out,” which included bowling and ice cream. Thai girls love bowling. And these girls don’t eat, and one of their favorite things to eat is ice cream.
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about this. It was a potential for a logistical nightmare. But God provided through one of our teammates some money where we could pay for every single girl and four more from neighboring bars down the street. And when Jessie and Marci went to pick up the girls from DC Ten, the girls could not comprehend what they were even asking. They were like, “You want to pay for every single one of us?” They just did not understand. This had never happened before, and DC Ten closed down for the night.
The entire way over to the bowling alley, I was just thinking, “What are we going to do with all these girls?” We were just this awkward mob of bar girls and white American/Canadian girls walking down the street. It really didn’t help that people were staring at us and making funny faces at us.
I also felt this huge pressure for helping these girls, as they did not want to be working in the bars.
One girl, Dee, had the saddest look on her face. She looked as if she would cry at any moment. And her sadness completely broke my heart.
But as the night progressed, I saw something beautiful happen. The girls’ countenances became softer as the girls were dancing and they were laughing and bowling (we weren’t really good bowlers but we had fun). The walls and the barriers seemed to come down. It was as if the bar girls had no more troubles or sorrows. It’s as if they were normal 17- or 18-year-old girls.
I realized that night that these girls were not so different from me or from my students. They had the same desires. They wanted to be loved; they wanted to be secure; and they wanted to live freely. The only difference was that we were born in America or Canada and that our parents loved us and took care of us.
That night I also felt that God gave me a glimpse of what he wanted and intended for these girls. He desired to lavish his love upon them, even if it was through bowling and ice cream. And we were able to explain that to the girls as they heard the gospel for the first time that night.
As we finished our ice cream, one of the girls asked if she could come over to the Well, if we could bake lunch together and hang out. The following week, six girls came, and they saw more about the Well was about. And several of the girls wanted to quit. They couldn’t, because they had debt to pay.
I think this experience changed the way I think about how God draws people to himself, how he brings justice, and how he redeems people – that God uses imperfect people like us, with broken accents and a very small Thai vocabulary. He poured his favor out on those girls that night, when most of the time, they just work and they sleep – that’s all they do. He gave them a taste of what he wants for them, and it was beautiful to watch them enjoy it.
And the story doesn’t end. Sometime this year, all the bars on Street One are closing down, because they do not have enough business.
The thing that I kept coming back to was Psalm 72:14: “He redeemed their life from oppression and violence, and precious shall be their blood in his sight.” The Lord is faithful to carry out his promises.
Carrie Sunwall is an InterVarsity staff worker in New Mexico.
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