Last night was our first night actually IN the bars. I didn’t really know what to expect. Olivia and I went out with one girl in mind to see so we first went to that bar. She was already with another set of girls that is working with the organization we are partnering with this month so we sat there and had a drink (coke) anyway. We sat down at the bar next to a man who looked to be in his 60′s and a young woman, I’d say early 20′s. He was white. Sure sounded American. You can call me crazy… but the look in his eyes as he talked and chuckled with the girl was the look of a man who simply needed love. His wife could have died and he is lonely or maybe he is on a “business trip” while his wife is at home. To be totally honest, I don’t really give a rip WHY he is there. I just care THAT he is there and THAT he is so so stinking lost. I wish you could have seen it.

It’s so easy to throw things out there that are just derogatory, about how he shouldn’t be there and what not. But if you could have seen the look in his eyes you would say otherwise. Your heart would break for that man and the fact that he went so out of his way to come to a bar in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and get a girl. It’d break and so desire redemption for him. I left there with a heaviness that I didn’t expect. I wanted to get that girl out but I wanted to get the man out just as much.

Later on in the night we went into a bar just to pray. We sat down and ordered cokes and it was an entiiiire different atmosphere than the first bar. The first one was pretty chill. The only music was a man playing a guitar and singing out in the open area. This one had music blaring so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself think. Liv and I were yelling at each other and it was about the noise of a whisper.

At the front of the bar where you walk in, three guys who seemed to be about college aged, were sitting with one girl. She was wearing an outfit that was sheer from the waist down. She was mainly with one of the guys, and when she went back to the bar to get him another drink, she got on all fours on top of the bar and definitely made a show of herself. I won’t go into a lot of detail, but it was just this in-your-face stuff that wasn’t at the first bar.

On the other side of us were some older men with girls that looked as young as 16. There was such a contrast between this bar and the other. But the feelings remained the same. These people are lost. From the men who are old and seem to just want love, to the ones who are on their spring break having a grand time without a care in the world. From the women who sit in silence, barely smiling, to the ones who will do anything and everything right out in the open.

Today we went back for day ministry. It turned out to be such a great opportunity to get to know the bar owners, girls, and ladyboys. We went back to one of the bars that we went to last night (not one of the ones I talked about above) and talked for a while to the bar owner. We learned a crapton about her. She is just a normal woman. She has a 16 year old daughter and a 4 month old grandson who she loves dearly and she has been working in the bar for about 10 years now. She would randomly say “it’s for Buddha” or “all for Buddha” and I assumed that she was talking about her work or whatever, then about halfway through our time there she starting getting out food and pouring drinks “for Buddha” and sat them in three different places on the counter. She explained how they give Buddha food everyday for luck. She poured four drinks each for three separate places on the bar. And had plenty of food at each. For. Buddha. My mind doesn’t even really wrap around that.

This woman, these people, live in such deception.

We got on the topic of weather (original, I know) and she talked about how she doesn’t like the weather right now because the sun is out and it makes her skin tan. She hates tan skin… the whiter the prettier. That is a theme here. Whitening stuff is everywhere and in everything. Everyone wants to be white. She also mentioned that she “wasn’t sexy” in what she was wearing. First… who CARES if you look sexy 24/7? It’s sad that she was even concerned about it right then. There were TWO people in the bar. Me and Olivia. Second… she was wearing normal clothes. Jean shorts and a tshirt. She feels the need to dress up to look pretty. What a weight that must be. The lies that are in her mind seem to be endless.

After about an hour we left her and let her know we would see her soon. We talked about going to get a manicure or going to the movies and she seemed interested but works pretty much 24/7. We are going to continue to love and build a relationship with this lovely woman. Please pray that God would open doors for us to take her out, whether that’s for a day date or a night away from the bars.

We made our way to another set of bars that is on a side street off the main road. We were just walking and praying that the Spirit would lead us somewhere, and we ended up at a ladyboy bar (ladyboys are men who want to be women… they call themselves women and act, speak, talk, dress like it). There were several standing around and immediately one came up and sat us at a table. He was super nice so we asked if he wanted a drink (we buy them drinks and that is how they sit with us and chat) and he said yes so he went and got a drink and sat down. Gosh he was so dang funny and nice.

A little while later he said he wanted us to meet his boss (the owner of the bar) so we bought him a drink too and he sat down and chatted with us. He worked as a ladyboy at the bars for a while before opening up his own that he was currently working at (for about 10 years now). He seemed more closed off than the others but was still friendly. Another one came up then and asked if he could sit with us so we bought him a drink too and the five of us just sat talking for a while. It was so natural. They were so so friendly and we laughed for so much of the time. One of them offered us some food and it was actually pretty good!

The owner and the one that sat us left but we stayed with the last one who joined us for quite a while. We got a little Thai lesson, talked about how long he had worked there, what his life was like before, and a plethora of other things. He mentioned how he dropped out of school at 14 and couldn’t read or write, then said “but at least I can do this” and ran his hands down his sides. I just wanted to scream THERE IS SO MUCH MORE YOU CAN DO THAN THIS! It was hard because I know there is so much more out there for them, but they just don’t see it. We talked to him about going to lunch or something with us and he also seems to work around the clock. At least we were able to buy them drinks and get to know them. They wanted us to come back and of course we want to go back so we are so looking forward to getting to know them more and possibly taking them out for a day or night. Please also pray that God would open doors for that.

We are back home now and it’s weird… it’s like God gives us the emotional energy to “be okay” while we are there, but when we get back home we are just out. There is so much to take in, so much to process through, so many aspects of this. Do continue to pray for us as we continue to get to know and love these women and ladyboys. Pray with us that the chains of deception would shatter, that we would continue to follow where God leads us this month, be intentional with them, and really just give all of ourselves to loving them. We have less than three weeks left here. It’s easy to think that not much can be accomplished in such a short period of time. But that’s a load of poo. Thanks for praying.

-Natalie Reeves (World Race W-Squad)
(Photo by Kimber Jean YWAM Orlando)