I have been putting of writing a blog about this. It hurts too much, It makes me cry. It makes me not want to continue on this trip sometimes. Every once and a while God brings someone into your life who completely changes everything. How you view yourself, how you view the world, and how you view God.
Here is the story of Lin….
3 weeks ago my pod and I were lead to this bar. Captain Kirks. Unknowingly, my whole world was about to be rocked.
Lin came up and served us our drinks. We asked her name and she asked ours. Really the rest is history. That night we shared with her about ourselves. We learned she has a 2 year old son, and that her heart had been shattered by his father. We learned her own father abandoned her after her mother died when she was 2 years old. She was raised by her grandmother. She had to leave her son in Northeast Thailand to move to Phuket to work and make money to support her son, Phil. We learned she feels insecure working in the bars, that she is constantly comparing herself to the hundreds of other prostitutes working on that street.
We invited her to come out to lunch with us that night. Her eyes clouded over as the fears that we may hurt or traffic her flood her mind. She looks defeated as she tells us she gets off work at 3 and we can come back and buy her for the night. A firm reality of this beautiful woman's life smacked us in the face.
"No we don’t want to buy you we only want to be your friend."
Two days later when we arrived back at Captain Kirk’s, nothing could wipe the surprise and happiness off Lin’s face. She could not believe we actually wanted to be her friend, enough that we came back to her bar. We scheduled an afternoon date for her the next day.
For the next two and a half weeks we met with Lin at her bar every other night, and we had several lunch dates with her. We talked about her son, her broken heart, her desires and hopes in life. We became instant friends. We had that moment that beyond all odds you find someone who is nothing like you- but somehow just fits perfectly in your life. We bowled, drank coffee, got pedicures, jet-skied in the Indian Ocean- we were just friends.
We often talked of her dreams, what she wanted to do. But what broke our hearts is we had no practical solution to offer her. She worked at a good job before coming to Phuket to prostitute herself, but she didn’t make enough money. She hates being used by men- but she feels like it is the only way to support her son. And she hopes someday that a man will fall in love with her and take care of her.
We told her about Jesus often. We prayed with her numerous times. We told her she is worth more than selling herself. We even told her that it is possible to have another job, and even her son could come down and live with her.
All too soon, our friendship came to a halting stop. Rachel, Bekah and I were headed to Africa, and Lin was headed back to the bars.
On paper we did everything right.
We made friends, we asked her about her heart, we shared Jesus, we prayed and prayed for her. But she is still miserably living in the bars, hundreds of miles away from her son and every life she has ever known.
But I guess what I learned Jesus doesn’t work “on paper.” That sometimes what He wants is for me to trust Him. That everything doesn’t work out according to the plan, that someone finding Jesus isn’t a formula to fill out.
So here is the unfinished story- I am still broken, Lin is still a prostitute, and thousands of people are still flocking to Bangla Road every week.
Please pray with me that Jesus will redeem this road and this women, because right now- I don’t know anything else to do.
