Day 9 : More heaviness sets in…

As I mentioned in the previous blog, it’s is getting harder to stay on top of writing more frequently. There’s no real rhythm or rhyme to our schedule here, it really is flexible, meaning we are able to feel out things and rest more or go for it more.

Yesterday our main plans were to head over to the Tamar Center, which is the YWAM base here that really operates much different than many other YWAM’s I have experienced or seen. They offer so much to help women get out of prostitution, and really are on board with several ministries here in Pattaya to rally together to fight and contend against the spiritual warfare. The three women who run the base prior to really digging into outreach, really surrendered themselves to the Thai culture by learning the language and observing first. It has helped them so much in being very relational and successful in ministering to many. They still have a lot of vision and desire to see more come.
We met there for a weekly worship and prayer meeting that happens every Wed morning with all the other churches and ministries in the area. It was good to worship and see who else is working in Pattaya and what their needs and visions are.

The rest of the day we hung out at Tamar, had lunch there, then went back to the House of Prayer, where they have a salon downstairs that has helped employed girls to give them other job opportunities than selling themselves. Some of our girls got their hair or nails done to help support the women and the business. During that time I actually hopped on Jess’ motorbike with her to go pick up over 400 roses for the outreach we were doing in the afternoon with Tamar staff. I wish I had taken a picture, but it was pretty funny the two of us on her bike carrying a huge bouquet of 400! Thai people are so expressive and loved watching their faces as they saw us ride by.

So in the afternoon we walked from Soi 6 to another center to go to the bars on the other side of Pattaya and pass out roses with little notes that said something like: “God sees you and says you are Beautiful and He loves you!” Everyone split up into groups, prayed and then went out with a translator/staff. Many of our girls from the team have some awesome stories of opportunities they got to pray for the girls and really pour into them. It was fun coming together and hearing the excitement from the different girls they got to love on! I’ll have some of the girls write their stories and post more later.

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After, we met up with Jason and Sarah again, had dinner, then went on a prayer walk with them. We met up at the IT mall, in a location of town where the most child sex slavery occurs. It was so heavy as they shared that hidden behind the streets of the shops, were what are called closed communities where occurred families that would sell their own children. They told us that you would see children go into the local restaurants surrounding and make contacts with the customer and sell them sex.

Jason and Sarah have been working with other organizations helping children of the bar girls or even with Hand to Hand Ministries that helps with daycare for local families, but in years of living in Thailand they have learned more about the need to save kids from being sold. We walked through the streets, and the whole team could just feel the turning in our stomachs and the weight of how dark everything was. Jason and Sarah took us to a potential building on the corner of the most prevalent block of child prostitution and even human trafficking of many European women. As we walked the block we began to pray over the street and ask God for the building. We prayed over Jason and Sarah and honored them for their boldness to want to be in the midst of it all and have such a burning heart to see freedom in children and on that specific part of town. Many people on the outskirts watched us as we cried out and declared, and even some joined us in raising their hands, although I’m sure they had no idea what we were doing. We split ways with them at the end and returned back to our hotel for sleep.

It was another restless night for Carrie and I. We spent some time talking and really praying intensely over our night and breaking off the heaviness we felt from the prayer walk and things they shared with us. We found Peace in just releasing things, but both of us all night could not enter deep sleep. We tossed and turned all night.