Walking into the bars is hard enough,Having to sit down is horrible.Paying for a girls time with a overpriced cocktail feels wrong.Pretending to enjoy myself, laughing, singing, and smiling is almost impossible. I don’t want to be here… I would rather be anywhere but this place sipping on a Coke and pretending to enjoy watching these girls dance on our table. But then is happens, I see HER. I start to talk to HER. SHE is looking at me. SHE is staring at me.SHE is telling me her story. SHE says where SHE is from, how long SHE has worked here and about her family.SHE tells me I’m...

Sweetly broken, wholly surrender. // Y’all God is good and I am so excited to share with a sweet story of His redemption. So, my last blog was about the brokenness I saw and felt in the Red Light District. If you haven’t read it yet I would encourage you to do so before reading this blog. It is called “Sweetly Broken.” If you have read it, here is a sweet story of redemption to follow the story of pain that came with our last trip to the Red Light District. As we sat in the tuk-tuk (taxi) I did not experience the heavy feeling I had the previous time, I went into the...

Last night I saw the prettiest lady boy. His eyes were dead. He danced at a karaoke bar on stage in front of mostly men. He dressed down to a G-string and nipple covers. His body looked like a woman’s to a tee. His eyes were distant. When he is finished he walks table to table allowing the men to rub him down. It’s hard not to be disgusted. It’s hard not to gawk. Abby and Kassidy’s “Gawking faces.” 🙂 Pretty sure they hate that I shared this one. There are bar girls sitting at our table. We are trying to build relationships with them but I know when they look...

We had a crazy few days of travel, including delayed flights, one missed flight, and lost bags that just arrived today!!! We have been here 2 full, great days. Our hosts, Mike and Kay, are incredible!! I feel so welcomed and loved. We have met most of the girls who were rescued from the bars and are now working for Samaritan Creations. The day we got here (Sunday) was one of the girl’s first day out of the bar work. This ministry had been building a relationship with her for 2 years and that was the day she decided to leave her past behind and begin a new life. It was incredible being...

Thailand has looked a lot different than I imagined. In my naive ways, I pictured a glorious movie scene. Where we would be running into bars filled with sad, hopeless women who were eager to find freedom. I imagined that my team would be the warriors that God brings to share his victory, justice and freedom. If could describe the whole red-light district in one word it would be numbness. People there just don’t seem to feel anymore. The women, ladyboys, bar moms, pimps, and john, have lost all sensitivity to the value of a human. They don’t recognized how lovely, divine, and absolutely...