Voice for the Voiceless

We have arrived safely and have settled into our rooms.  Yesterday we slept in since we arrived in Bangkok at 1am and then spent the rest of the day exploring the neighbourhood.  We spent most of our time in a huge market down the street.  I have never seen such a big market in my life.  The people are not use to seeing white people and are very fasinated by my blonde hair.  You can't walk down the street without attracting the attention of each person you walk past.  I am very observant to when people are looking at me so I constantly feel like I am being watched.  Although I am a complete foreigner, it feels natural being here.  I am so ready to jump in and help people.  There is so much I want to do and I can feel God moving in this city. 

This morning our team started the day off with a half hour of intercession for the city.  I purchased a book from our base before we left and it was 30 days of prayer for the voiceless.  It has many topics from prostitution to eating disorders to child labour.  This morning our prayer time was for the people that have been sold into prostitution.  I am going to tell you some of the facts about it and I warn you that they are mind blowing and heart breaking.  Out of the 3 million people that are currently in the sex industry in Thailand alone, 1 million are children.  The average child here has sex in between 12 to 15 times daily and sometimes upwards of 20 to 30.  It makes me absolutely sick to read these statistics and literally makes me cry each time I read it.  God has definately broke my heart for these people and is breaking it more each day.  Please pray that we will be able to minister to the children and women that have been sold into the trade.  Also pray for the parents who are currently struggling financial and are debating whether or not to sell their child for some extra money.  Pray that they will reconsider and that God will place another option in front of them to meet their financial need.

The city is very dirty.  It is very polluted and full of garbage.  There are stray dogs and cats laying everywhere on the streets but there is no need to be afraid of them because they are usually sleeping.  The air is very polluted and smells horrible.  I live in the country back home so it is weird being in a city that never sleeps.  There is constant noise day and night.

Today our team had some orientation where we were informed about the do's and do not's of the culture.  They gave us a sheet of paper with some Thai words and phrases so I am going to work hard on using them.  We have some more orientation tonight telling us about MST (on of the minitstries we are working with).  This specific ministry works with the men who are looking to buy women and children for sex.  This ministry is very important because this is where the demand for sex can stop.  If we can make a difference in these men's lives we will be able to stop one girl from being exploited.  I don't know too much about this ministry right now, but I will learn some more about it tonight.

Next week we will be starting ministry with an organization called Night Light.  It will only be the girls on our team working with organization.  We will be working with the girls who were sold into prostitution and ministering to them.  We will be using some of the dramas, dances and songs that we prepared while we were in Australia.  We will also be taking a few of the girls out for a nice dinner next week, just to have a good time with them and treat them like they deserve to be treated. 

The YWAM base that we are staying at right now does so much work in the city.  They have so many different ministries that they are apart of and you can see the impact that they are having here.  I am so excited to be here and I still can't believe at times that I am actually here.  God has blessed us so much already with a nice place to stay, affordable food and hospitable hosts.   

I want to end off by saying this:
He is the God of this city, he is the God of this nation.