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Red Lights and Laughter
6/21/09
Our orientation time in Bangkok is drawing to a close, and I am awed by what God has taught us in our short five days in Thailand. Each day was filled with worship times, manuscript studies, laughter, tears, and learning many new things from our InterVarsity directors, staff, and new friends. How does one capture in a few quick words the depths of what we have experienced this week?Saturday night we had our first encounter with a Red-Light district. Along with the Kolkota and Bangkok teams, we split into groups of six and were led into the busiest Red-Light district in Bangkok. As we prayerfully walked in silence, we struggled to look into the eyes of the women and men around us.
The scenes around us were horrific but a surreal sense of normalcy hung over the blocks that we walked. It was business as usual for these broken people. The bars where the prostitutes work are right in the middle of tourist shopping areas. Hundreds of prostitutes lined the streets or stood in bars as we silently walked by, begging God to have mercy. As we took the SkyTrain back toward our guesthouse, many of us felt numb to what we experienced. We gathered back together as a larger group and began to process some of our thoughts.
Many questions filled the air: How can these women keep living? How do we keep from being angry and hating the men we saw with the prostitutes? Is there any hope of freeing these Thai women and the millions like them around the world?
We reflected on how upset we were at the dehumanization of the women; their families, their dignity, their bodies and their very names are taken from them. They stand with numbers pinned to the few clothes they wear. Tears streamed down our cheeks as we talked about this experience.
Jessica reflected on how these women could be our friends; we could have been them if we were born into a different family. They are women with fathers, brothers, friends, histories, and names. This left an especially strong impact on Jessica, Kat and Jennifer as they will be working at Samaritana with Filipina prostitutes.
The whole week has been filled with learning. Through it all, we have experienced God with us. One distinguishing factor about our Manila group is that we love to laugh. In the middle of the intensity of all we are preparing for, we continue to hope – to laugh and to sing and to smile.
We celebrated Chris’s birthday, enjoyed eating Phad Thai on the streets at lunch, watched Kat’s amazing skills playing basketball during break times, swam in the early morning on the roof of our hotel, and have just enjoyed getting to know one another.
It is amazing to see how God has brought each of us together, from a variety of different backgrounds. We are excited to see how the Lord is going to continue working this summer as we journey in Manila.
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