Tonight was the first night we visited the red light district of Pat Pong. I had a very different scene imagined in my head. In some ways it wasn't unlike some places in the US.
When we first arrived we walked through Pat Pong 1 and 2. This allowed for time to pray for the people that we were going to come in contact with as well as for strength for the team.
I was a bit anxious when signing up for this trip about the awkwardness that would take place in the red light district. I have seen places where Christians went in with a spirit of condemnation and therefore weren't received well and ended up looking like self righteous hypocrites. This group has been amazing. Everything is approached with a spirit of love.
It makes no sense to the outside world that this team from AIM over the years has built such great relationships with bar owners and vendors that they love seeing our team walk into the district. Literally our leader is like a celebrity as we walk through certain areas. What makes her so great? That she sees these people as God sees them...people who need someone to love them.
Like any problem there is more than one side. There are the bar owners, who in many cases have a sort of ownership over the women. There are the touts. Touts are the marketers of the district. Their sole job is to get you into the bar and get you to buy more and more. Then there are street vendors. The district doubles as a bazaar. Many people come there just to shop at night and see the spectacle that is famous. The obvious is the talent. The talent range in age, but it has high turn over from trip to trip because of the demands of the job. One of the ladies last night told us they get one night off a month. All of these people have children and many of them roam the streets at night, as well as other children who seem to be waiting for next. Lastly, there are what we refer to in the US as the Johns.
It may seem crazy to think that to fix a problem this big that you have to be willing to love all sides of the issue. When you are face to face with it it may seem unfair. However, to ignore one side is to have a broken link in a chain. You will never be complete in your approach.
It's amazing the response you get when you show someone you love them. Language is a really tough barrier in many cases we have to work through. We were asked to bring things like friendship bracelets that we could give to the girls and children each night. These would be conduits for conversation. I brought several items with me not sure how the process would all work.
We met for prayer before going out into the district and we're given our assigned teams for the evening. I was on the first team that would actually go into the bars. I had no visions of what this would look like, but knew I would walk through the doors as they were opened.
To provide a little detail of what the bars are the main area that we enter looks like a stage with several women in small swimsuits dancing on a catwalk. They are clothed top and bottom. The dancing is more of a sexual sway by a girl who stares with empty eyes off into a mirror to see anything but what's in front of her. The bars increase in vulgarity as you go up in floors. Often men will come and just hang for the entertainment on the first floor while they drink. It's the girls job to up sale them. Their version of "would you like fries with that" could be anything from the man paying to take them for the evening to any assortment of fetishes.
To spend time with the ladies we have a very deliberate approach. Hopefully AIM has had a positive relationship with the owner/management. We want to be invited in by a Tout. Then once inside we must buy time with the ladies to be able to talk to them. Time with us means positive relational time and time they aren't "on stage" with a John.
Tonight's mission went better than planned. The leadership at the bars had changed and we weren't sure what doors would be opened. However, God used a tout by the name of *Sookie to introduce us to many people. Sookie, not her real name, has a huge personality and had remembered the team from past visits. She invited our leader in and introduced us to the new management. They were so excited to see us and everyone immediately wanted a bracelet. So in my head I had rehearsed how awkward it might be handing out the braclets, but God had other ideas. I had rainbow Jesus Loves Me snap bracelets that I had brought for the children. I began pulling them out and a couple of male touts wanted one. So picture these two guys that are trying to sell a sex menu wearing rainbow Jesus Loves Me braclets. As crazy as that visual might be, if you are familiar with scripture you know it's true. Jesus loves all of them regardless of the role they play and that's something you have to be able to get your head around if you are going to be successful in this out reach.
I also brought some plastic colorful cross necklaces. They looked cool so I brought a handful into the bar. The same little tout wanted one of my necklaces. I searched in the bag and found a more masculine blue one and attached it for him. He was so excited. He came back a few minutes later saying that the large drunk man who had just been dancing on the bar would also like a necklace. Again, so many thoughts go through your mind at once. "I dont want to give one to him" "why on Earth would he want one?" being a natural ones. I came here thinking I might be cursed by people in these environments, especially the men, but my first 2 interactions in the bar were with men who wanted to in some way be associated with us. It was a simple piece of plastic, but it represented so much more than that. To bring the story full circle, later that night during our debrief one of the ladies who was working on the children's team told about a drunk man coming out of a bar and being so impressed by our group working with the children in the district that he came over and gave one of the little girls a blue cross necklace. I had seen that little girl wearing one of my necklaces but couldn't figure out the connection. God wanted that man to have my necklace so he could represent humanity to that little girl. He can use anyone.
We also got to spend time with the queen bee of the dancers at the bar for the first time ever. She is one of the few people in the district who has lasted from year to year. She is 44 and very fit. She picks and chooses who she wants to spend time with. In years and visits past she has avoided the team. Tonight she came over and spent 15 or more minutes with us. We laughed and talked about as many life details as we could. They love to know that someone is praying for them and cares about them as a person and not a commodity. They don't understand it all but seeds are planted that ultimately we hope that Rahab and Nightlight are able to harvest after we are gone.
That's a long but brief summary of my first night in the district. It touched me. I can never see these women and men as their roles again. I see them as people with needs, hurts, and desires that have a job to do. Tomorrow we will work with ladies who are ready to find a new job. It's a slow harvest, but one with great rewards.
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