There is darkness here. It is palpable and hits you in the gut when you walk through the red light districts…even through the streets. It is evident on the faces of some of the “customers,” men who have empty faces and lustful eyes. It is evident through the imagery; neon lights flashing the disturbing names of bars, alcohol freely flowing, menus of girls and what they are willing to do for your American dollar, tickets written up much like you would receive at a specialty shop for a bouquet of flowers or necklace, except it is a ticket for a girl that was “purchased.” All of these things have led us to tears and our knees as we ask God to intervene. All of this has made us question if we can really make a difference. If light can even shine here.

It can. We’ve seen glimpses of it. We see it in the faces of the girls that live at Beginnings. In their remarkable stories of redemption and hope. We see it in our conversations with the girls on the street when we speak about the opportunities that are available to them. We see it as a girl runs to hug us when we enter a bar. We see it as the doors of a bar are closed for the night because all of the girls have gone to a Christmas party in their honor. We see it in the faces of the 34 girls who received Jesus Christ last night. We see it. There is hope. Freedom 4/24…it is worth it.

“Do not throw away your confidence, for it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of Christ, you will receive all that He has promised.” Hebrews 10:34

He is in the darkness. He is in their faces. He is in their stories. He is sovereign over this city and over the hearts of the people here. He is King. He is light.

More pics from Thailand

Another Update

Home of New Beginnnings:

Poverty, gender inequality, and violence has cursed the rural women of Thailand, making them particularly vulnerable to trafficking and the sex trade.  It is through your kindness we are able to offer hope to each of the women and children God brings to Beginnings. 

Christmas has always been an expression of miracles – Christ’s birth, the Star in the East, the immaculate conception, the message of the angels to the shepherds, the wise men who did not report to Herod.  God is still in the miracle business and because of your faithful prayers we have seen them here in Bangkok.  He is still using the celebration of His birth to bring hope to the lost, the forgotten, the poor, the children.  Last week He brought hope to 360 prostituted women and children through our Christmas parties.

There were miracles! – Before and during the parties:

Even the winds and rains obey Him:  The thunder rolled and the lightening filled the sky for two hours before the parties, yet not a drop was spilled on our guests and volunteers who walked to the event.

The global economic downturn: Though the dollar is less than75% of the value it held a year ago, the funds were extravagantly given for the sake of the gospel.

Health issues:  Roy’s surgery was entirely successful (PTL) and Ann’s (my Thai partner) daughter was released from pediatric ICU just a week before the parties and continues to improve.

Generous, loving volunteers flew from the U. S. to help as well as ex-pats and Thais – all praying and waiting to witness God’s miracles.  

We closed one bar by purchasing all the women, the cashier and the mamasan!  At least 8 other mamsans or cashiers joined our celebration this year.

Where else could you gather 360 non-believers (let alone prostituted women) in a Buddhist country to hear about Jesus?

Sixty of these beautiful women prayed, acknowledging their need for a Savior, and left with a New Testament.

One of the girls stood up and then grabbed her friend’s hand.  They picked up their New Testaments together.  When they returned to their seat the first one leaned over to her table host and said, "I met Jesus last year.  He is in my heart.  I talk to Him all the time.  I wish I didn't have to dance --- but my family needs me.  Pray for me."   The host asked her friend if she knew Jesus and she said, "I met Him tonight for the first time, but now he is here." (as she pointed to her heart).  Both the girls read their New Testaments while the gifts were being passed out -- never looked up!

Perhaps the “joy unspeakable and full of glory” for me is the miracle of changed lives.  Transformation from dark to light, from despair to hope, from guilt to glory, from judgment to joy!  All of this so obvious in our Beginnings family.  Our growing family is 14 strong from age 11-33 (some not pictured).  They have all accepted the unconditional love of the Savior and wish for you the joy of witnessing miracles of your own this season. 

It’s not to often that you are able to get 400+ non-believers from Bangkok, let alone Thailand, all together to hear about Christ.  A task that can be difficult in the states sometimes, but in Thailand-where 98% of them are Buddhist, is HUGE!  This week we welcomed these women with open arms, no strings attached, to an event in their honor.  Tonight was an evening of laughter and friendship and love amidst a country of sadness and hopelessness.  All to often these are things we take for granted, things that are so commonplace in our lives.  The soul yearns to have relationships with people that love us and truly care about our well-being, but oddly enough it is sorely missing from the Thai culture.

The girl sitting directly to my right is 16 and has been working in the bars for just a couple months, she is engrossed in a simple foam craft that we had for all the girls, and it dawns on me-she never did this as a child, her mom never sat with her at the kitchen table and spent time with her laughing and giggling while making a craft.  Instead, she was probably being neglected by her parents or hard at work in the rice patties or worse yet being physically or sexually abused by, quite possibly, multiple family members. 

The woman to my left is 21 and has been working in the bars for 5 years!  She has been servicing men since she was 16!!!!!   She wasn’t worrying about passing exams or getting her drivers license, she was more focused on coming out of that hotel room safely with money in hand to send home to her parents.

In my purse I have receipts for some of these girls that are at the party, receipts acknowledging that we paid a bar fee and she is allowed to leave because she had been purchased.  The receipt simply says “Food & Drink” and has the number “221” on it.  Can you imagine life where your self-worth has come down to a receipt and a number?!?!  You have been lumped into the category of “Food & Drink” and no one even knows your name???  It can be absolutely overwhelming if you let it take over your mind, but instead I choose at this moment to look up from my table and look around at the room FULL of young women and girls that have chosen to forego the money from a “customer” and spend their evening relishing in a moment of fun and friendship. 

Overall it has been a wonderful week, we have seen and heard a lot, but in the end we have been able to show a love to our new Thai friends that no one has shown them in a very long time. We had 2 specific nights of incredible blessings, 365 women heard, many for the first time, about our Lord and Savior and how wonderful then to see 57 of those girls, non-believers, “out-casts” of their society, take a step of faith and choose to further the journey of getting to know this Savior on a more intimate level.  Please continue to pray for these women that the Holy Spirit will fill their hearts and that for the Beginnings staff as they continue to reach out and love on them as they continue to learn more about this journey in Christ. 

Team Thailand 2010

A Perfect Circle?????

Today was another day of outreach.  Monday and Tuesday have been days for us to go out into the Pool Bars (Beer Bars) during the afternoon and then into the Red Light District at night.  Personally, I don’t even know where to start about today.  The emotions that were stirred up, the sights that we saw and the words that were shared have all become a blur in my head right now.  This whole industry-no this whole country- just seems to me to be defined as a big circle.  No matter where you start, the girls, the bars, the government, the justice system, the corruption-it all just circles around and around.  There is no end and no beginning.  Every cause seems to lead to another cause never to a resolution.

This afternoon we had the privilege to sit and talk with a young girl who has been working in the bar for 3 months, she is the middle of 5 children-2 older sisters and 2 younger siblings.  She has a mother and a step-father back home (12 hours south of Bangkok) that she sends money to.  She spoke very highly of her mother and step father and how he is a very good man.  She says that she knows of step-fathers that are very mean and “force to have sex” but her step-father is very nice.  Her mother is a wonderful woman but she says that “her mom like older sister and youngest sister best”  you can tell in her face how it affects her, but she calls her mother everyday to make sure her she is ok.  Her mother and father think she is a cashier in a bar, not taking customers.  If they knew that they would think very lowly of her, yet they continue to remind her that they need more money.  She speaks very good English, is very health conscience, knows a lot about fitness and has a bachelors degree in marketing from the university.  I asked her if she liked her job (fully aware of the answer I would get) and she says “No No.” “Then why don’t you work somewhere else,” I ask?  “You could work at the spa or at a store?”  “I make more money here.” she says   What do you say to her?????  When did money become such a God?  How did we ever get to the point that we sell our dignity, self-esteem and pride for big homes, fancy clothes and motor-bikes???  She says she wants to have babies so bad and she oogles over my pictures.  Her desire for true love and a family are enormous.  What she would give (her body and self-worth) to find a husband.    

Evening-Soi Cowboy

The street is lit like Vegas, men in business suits and men that probably haven’t showered in days sit high up on their bar stools sipping on their beers.  Watching these girls (anywhere from age 14 and up) walk by holding signs advertising Girls XXX, beer, music.  We walk behind a curtain with our Thai translator and the girls come running towards us.  They already know we are coming and can’t wait to sign up to come to the Christmas party.  We have a seat between 4 men, 2 to our left and 2 to our right-ALL wearing wedding rings!!!!  The manager comes over to us with her pen and pencil righting down numbers (cuz that is what they go by, numbers not names) as fast as she can.  We look at the list…10 have signed up.  There are at least 100 girls in the bar, quite possibly 200.  They keep coming over…..20 girls on the list now!  The men to our left lean over to us “What is going on over here?” they ask.  “We are having a Christmas party for these girls in their honor” my friend replies.  “Ooohhh, so you’re having a stripper party, huh????”  “Not exactly!”  “Is this a religious thing then?”  “A religious ‘thing’????” We roll our eyes and lose the conversation.  It has gone from simple inquiry to just plain stupid.  I look down at the list 30 GIRLS!!!!”  We look at our Thai friend “Time to go” she says.  We exit the bar getting hugs from every girl on our way out “See you tomorrow” “See you tomorrow”  they say!!  Outside the bar our Thai friend says 60 GIRLS!!!!!  That is 60 girls from 1 bar that our coming to the party to hear about Christ’s love and about a chance at real freedom!

Was this all in one day?  It feels like worlds apart.  1 moment you are so distraught you could cry then next you are so excited you could cry!  My head is spinning and the emotions are swirling. 

Tomorrow we go to pay “Bar fees” to buy out the girls for our first party.  Please pray for God’s hand to be upon the day and ask for favor in the mamsan’s heart  (bar manager) that they will be willing to let many girls go from EVERY bar we have gone into.

Pictures from Bangkok

Pictures from bangkok :o)

Love One Another

We are on Day 2 here in Thailand and I feel like we have already seen and experienced so much.  Saturday and Sunday was the elections here so the bars are closed and most of the girls are not working, so we will start outreach on Monday.  In the interim we have had time to walk around and experience Bangkok.  Even though the bars have been closed it has been overwhelming already the amount of Thai girls and "Western " men that we have seen together.  It has been especially difficult for me so far to Love as Christ would love.  I walk down the street before lunch and already I have been overexposed to the culture that enables this prostitution and corruption and sadness 24 hrs a day 365 days a yr!  Little girls sold by their families at the age of 10, young women sleeping with different men (sometimes multiple men) each night, the inescapable sadness that is in each of these women's eyes is just maddening.  It is so each to want to cry out to God.."WHY?!?!?" "Why do you let this go on?"  But then I come back to the realization that the Lord does not allow this but rather has given us the freedom of choice and in this choice the evil one can take hold.  He died on the cross to forgive us for our sins and offer us eternal salvation if we only choose to do so.  We, as a team, were selectively chosen, by him, to be here to share with them God's love and hopefully be able to share with them the value that they have in the Lord's eyes.  It is so common for them to feel worthless and of such little value because that is what the world tells them each day, but because of the Lord's blessing we are here today to hold a Christmas Party and honor them and look them in the eyes and tell them they are loved by a man so much more important than a "customer."  And so it goes, tomorrow is a big day for us and I am so excited to get out and talk with these girls and invite them out for evening of love fellowship.  It is absolutely amazing how with the support of all of our friends and family back home with Run 4 their Lives and "Frocks 4 Freedom" and individual contributions at how many girls you have all given a chance to hear of God's love and opened up a door for freedom.  Thank you to all of you that have helped in some way! Last yr 400 girls were given an opportunity to hear of God's love and I can't wait to experience an other yr with these women and girls and love on them once more!!

Were on our Way

I can’t believe it has been a year already. Here I am, back on the plane for a 20 hr flight to Bangkok, Thailand and again, I am blessed with the middle section, middle seat in the cabin. It definitely doesn’t make for great sleeping conditions, but I am fortunate to be sitting by 2 great people,1 who has slept the whole time and 1 who is very personable and friendly. We are currently flying over Northern Canada, Lake Athabasca to be exact where the current outside temperature is -65`. Flight time so far is 3.5 hrs and my butt is numb already! I did watch a great movie though- Eat, Pray, Love. Highly recommend!

Our team this year consists of 7 girls (women) Tammy, Jill, Martha, Amy, Sarah, Katlyn and myself. Martha and myself our revisiting Thailand and the rest of the gang is on a brand new journey! I am so excited to see what the Lord has planned for this years trip to Bangkok. This is an amazing group and I am so encouraged by the love and dedication this team has for this trip and the girls that we will be meeting!

I have to admit it has been hard to get into the right mindset of where we are going and what we will be seeing and doing. With the usual craziness that accompanies the holiday season and my business revving up for Christmas I have hardly had a moment to immerse myself in the purpose of my travel. As we sat waiting to board our flight though I saw a young girl sitting by herself, she is a beautiful Thai girl who looks to be no more that 16 or 17 and it all comes flooding back. The images flash through my mind-the sights and the sounds of Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy. Both of which are large 3 story (outdoor malls if you will) centers with nothing but GoGo bars; bar next to bar next to bar just filled with young girls anywhere from age 13 to 40 that are going to be bought and sold for pennies. Young girls who want nothing more than to honor their family’s wishes and help provide what they can monetarily.

I’ll be honest-it’s a going to be a tough week emotionally and we will need your prayers. Please pray for our emotional strength in what we are about to see and hear.

Here is a daily prayer list for those of you that will be praying for us while we are gone.

Prayer for Thailand trip:

Thursday December 9^th- Our team of 8 will be traveling from Washington DC to Bangkok, Thailand. Pray for safe travels and for smooth flight transitions. We will be switching planes in Tokyo, Japan. Pray that as we fly, we are able to get rest and that the 24 hours in flight would pass quickly. Pray that we are all able to stay healthy while in Thailand and that our hearts would be tender to the Holy Spirit’s leading during this trip.

Friday December 10^th- We will arrive the night of the 10^th in Bangkok. Pray that we are able to get through customs quickly and will have a good night of sleep upon arriving at Beginnings.

Saturday December 11^th- As we wake, pray our bodies will be able to make an easy transition into the new time zone. Bangkok is 12 hours ahead of Lynchburg. Pray that as our first-time team members are introduced to the sex industry in Thailand, that they would be able to process what they are seeing and would be able to “save face” while seeing the evil that is going on around them. Pray that as we go over our plans for the week that as a team we would be unified, flexible, and ready to serve in any way possible.

Sunday December 12^th- Pray as we start doing outreach in the bars that our hearts would be broken for the plight of these women. Pray that we would be able to communicate clearly, even with the language barrier, and that many would be able to commit to come to the parties. Pray that we will be able to continue to fight jetlag and transition into the time zone and culture in Thailand. Pray that we would continue to save face and to show the women we come in contact with the unconditional love of Christ.

Monday December 13^th- We will be doing outreach during the day and at night. Pray that we will be able to continue to communicate clearly with whose we are inviting to the parties. Pray for favor with the bar owners and mamasans to allow us to spend time with the girls in the bars. Pray that we would not be numb to what we see, but that it would stir our hearts and strengthen our resolve to give these women a pathway to freedom. Pray that as a team, we would continue to be unified, and would be able to communicate openly and clearly with each other. Pray that we would be the hands and feet of Jesus not only in the bars, but to the residents and leadership at Beginnings. Pray for the residents of Beginnings as they will be helping with outreach and the parties as they are completing final exams at university.

Tuesday December 14^th - We will be doing outreach during the day and at night. Pray that we will be able to continue to communicate clearly with whose we are inviting to the parties. Pray for favor with the bar owners and mamasans to allow us to spend time with the girls in the bars. Pray that we would not be numb to what we see, but that it would stir our hearts and strengthen our resolve to give these women a pathway to freedom. Pray that as a team, we would continue to be unified, and would be able to communicate openly and clearly with each other. Pray that we would be the hands and feet of Jesus not only in the bars, but to the residents and leadership at Beginnings. Pray for the residents of Beginnings as they will be helping with outreach and the parties as they are completing final exams at university.

Wednesday December 15^th- We will be preparing the banquet hall in the morning and afternoon, and then going into the bars in Soi Cowboy to bring girls to the Christmas parties. Pray we have favor with the bar owners and mamasans, and that they will allow us to take many girls to the parties. Pray the girls who have verbally committed to attend will be able to come. Pray that all logistics with the party and transportation to and from will run smoothly. Pray for meaningful conversation and points of contact between our team, the residents and staff at Beginnings, and the girls attending the party (This is key for follow up and outreach after the parties). Pray that the girls will feel loved, honored, and respected. Pray their hearts will be open to the message of Jesus Christ that will be presented at the party. Pray they will consider moving into Beginnings and leaving the sex industry. Pray that we will rest well after the party and have energy to move forward with excitement for the next day’s parties.

Thursday December 16^th - We will be doing last minute preparations for the second party, and then going into the bars in Nana Plaza to bring girls to the Christmas parties. Pray we have favor with the bar owners and mamasans, and that they will allow us to take many girls to the parties. Pray the girls who have verbally committed to attend will be able to come. Pray that all logistics with the party and transportation to and from will run smoothly. Pray for meaningful conversation and points of contact between our team, the residents and staff at Beginnings, and the girls attending the party (This is key for follow up and outreach after the parties). Pray that the girls will feel loved, honored, and respected. Pray their hearts will be open to the message of Jesus Christ that will be presented at the party. Pray they will consider moving into Beginnings and leaving the sex industry. Pray that we will rest well after the party and be refreshed the next day to follow up with those we have met at the parties.

Friday December 17^th- We will be resting in the morning and spending some time as a team re-grouping and sharing what God has revealed to us in the last few days, and doing follow-up with the girls we met at the parties in the evening. Pray we will be able to make meaningful connections with the women we met. Pray these connections would bring them to trust Beginnings, and that it would be the beginning of a long term relationship between them and Beginnings. Pray as we visit them, they would see a genuine spirit in us and would seriously consider making the difficult decision to leave the sex industry.

Saturday December 18^th- We will be having a free day and will be getting out and enjoying the city. Pray for a fun, relaxing day for our team. Also, we will be packing up and preparing to head back to the US. Our flight leaves at 11:55 pm on Saturday evening. Pray for safe return travels, and again, that we would be able to rest on the flights. Pray that our flights would not be delayed, our baggage would arrive safely and on time, and for good weather in DC upon our landing.

Sunday, December 19^th- pray for a safe arrival at Dulles. Pray specifically for Stacey, who will be driving us back to Lynchburg. Our team should arrive back in Lynchburg Sunday afternoon. Pray that we will all be able to rest and transition back into the new time zone. Pray that we would be forever changed by what we saw and experienced in Thailand.