A Strange Sight

“Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.” Psalm 47:6, NAS.

One evening, our small troop of five jumped on the back of a taxi-truck and went down to the busy red-light section of town. We walked past the open bars lining the streets with young women sitting on bar stools inviting customers to come in. We approached the small groups of working Thai men and women and gave Gospel presentations on DVD, “Thai Family” magazines, books featuring testimonies of well known Thais who are Christians, and a booklet on the life and message of Jesus.

We told the ladies how much God loves them and that He has a special plan for their lives. Almost every one of them seemed touched to hear that they were loved by the Greatest God and that He cares about them. We invited each to come to a nearby Thai church.

IMB missionaries, Cooky and Rick Kuter were talking to one small group of working ladies and giving them DVDs and literature when a Thai pastor friend, Saeng, ran up to Cooky.  “Tell Rick to come over here! There’s a person who wants us to pray for him!”

We walked over to the corner where Maliwan and Saeng were talking to a person named “Sonya.” It was obvious that Sonya was a man who had undergone body altering surgery and now presented himself as a lady. We asked him what his prayer needs were. He said that he wanted us to ask our God to help him in his life and keep him safe. We explained who our God is – that He is our Father and we are His children. We told Sonya,  “We know that He hears us when we pray and that He is here with us right now.”

Sonya explained that he had heard of this God. He said that he had been in Korea in years past and had heard about Jesus. He even knew a song about Jesus in the Thai language. We asked him to sing it and as he began to sing. Maliwan and Saeng began to sing because they knew the song, too!

So there we were … standing on the street corner singing a Thai song about Jesus in front of an open beer garden full of working-ladies with their customers. What a weird sight we must have been! After the song, we prayed for Sonya, thanking God for His love and mercy and for giving us all a way to be saved from our sins. We asked Jesus to bless Sonya by revealing Himself to him and leading Sonya down the path of hope that God intended for him to follow.

Before parting we invited Sonya to come to church services. We told him that there would be much singing about Jesus and assured him that he would find people who would welcome him and be glad that he came.

After leaving Sonya, we told Pastor Saeng and Maliwan that they were going to have a very unusual congregation with people coming from all kinds of backgrounds. Of course, all of those who follow Jesus will be as much a part of God’s family as any of us.

Pray that:

Sonya, and others caught up in the sex trade in Thailand, will hear and respond to the Gospel and find spiritual and physical deliverance.

Pastor Saeng and Maliwan will be faithful ambassadors of God’s grace among the red-light districts of their city.

God will call more workers to share His love among the many red-light districts throughout Thailand.

Believers in Thailand will extend grace, love, protection and support to those coming out of the sex trade to find new life in Christ.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.