How can you explain that?

I’ve put off writing this blog for a long time.  I just didn’t know what to say or how to say it. I couldn’t find the words to describe what it is like being on Bangla road.   How can you describe being on a short stretch of road that is home to over 250 bars and 1,500 women who regularly sell themselves for money? And how do you explain the feeling of constantly having to say “mai ow kah” (no thank you) as flyers for “ping pong shows” (live sex shows) are repeatedly shoved in your face? Or what about the sadness you feel when you see women after women in bar after bar wearing almost nothing and dancing on poles because they think they have no other option?  How do you explain what it’s like being friends with a prostitute?  How do you explain the deep pain you feel for your friend when you ask her if she likes her job?  How do you respond when she tells you no and that she has no other choice?  Is it even possible to explain the sickness you get in the pit of your stomach when you ask your friend what she does during the day and she explains that she goes with “customers” for money? What about the intense sadness you feel when you see the low price of your friend on a bar menu?  Can you explain the deep rooted desire you have to get a girl out of this lifestyle when it is no longer some girl across the world somewhere but it is your friend who you know personally, a beautiful and sweet friend whose eyes are deep with pain and loneliness?  And how can anyone understand that despite all of this darkness that each night before I step on to Bangla road God fills me with a spirit of His joy that gives me strength?  He gives me a love and compassion for the women in the bars and even for the men that buy them.  He fills my team with His light so that we can pierce through the darkness that is Bangla road.