The darkness of Bangla Road is unfathomable. It is almost suffocating at times. Basically, it is a short road by the beach that has become this major tourist attraction. Over 250 bars crowd this space, one after another. There are about 6 “bar girls” at every bar. They wear next to nothing and dance on poles while men shamelessly stare and touch them. There are glass boxes above the bars where women dance to lure people in. At first glance it looks as though everyone is enjoying themselves, but once you look longer, you notice so many masks and so much brokenness. The girls in the glass boxes look like dancing corpses. The women who dance on the bars are so disconnected. Their eyes are absolutely void of life. They put on a smile when a man walks over, but it looks so unnatural on their face. The men have empty eyes too. It is so overwhelming to see such a longing for love and joy in this hell. There is no other way to describe it. Evil has such a stronghold here. It is so easy to become hopeless and write this place off, but then I think of this. Where light shines, darkness cannot hide. When we walk down the street with the light of the Lord, demons fall. They bow at our feet. The light shines on them for what they are and they cannot stand. When I walk into bars I pray for everyone to stare. I pray for everyone to notice the atmosphere shift. I pray our presence is strong and loud. I pray for glory to fall over this place. I pray a smile will give hope. I pray for favor from the bar managers. I pray for a desire of freedom even if these girls don’t know what it feels like yet. I pray for men to see their true desires and to stand up and walk away. With all this on my breath, I walk with joy and confidence and the Lord shakes the ground I pass over because He dwells in me. I have made friends with lost women. Mo is beautiful. Nang is smart and eager to learn. Pom is so sweet. They are not prostitutes; they are precious daughters of the Most High King. We are sisters, not strangers. I have never been so in awe of Jesus as I am now. No worship has ever felt like this. I have never needed to depend on Him more. How could I ever be content simply raising my arms and singing when the bible says, “the hour is now here, when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.” We don’t have to sit in a stuffy church to worship. We can dance in the streets for freedom and redemption. We can bar hop and shake the spiritual realms. We can love all people until it hurts. This is real life and the Lord is worshipped and glorified in that.
