The Foreign Man

“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.” Psalm 118:8, NAS.

Many bar girls in Bangkok have a secret dream of being rescued by a foreign man. He will come into the bar and fall in love with them and take them away to live happily ever after in America. While it doesn’t happen all that often, it does happen enough to keep them hoping.

Tara, a recent graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, spent her summer working among the bar girls in Bangkok. When the girls tell of people they know who are “rescued” by foreign men, Tara asks, “How do you know these are good guys ? Have you ever heard from the girls who have gone with these men?”

The answer is always similar. The girls say, “No, but they are rich so the girls have to be better off by being married to them.” One girl got a thoughtful look on her face when Tara asked her that question. She said, “You know if the guy would come here in the first place, then he’d probably come back even after he married me.”

This is exactly the point Tara hopes they will see, but even those who see it still think so little of themselves that they will accept anyone who will show them some attention. One girl said, “I wouldn’t mind being a second wife as long as he doesn’t beat me.”

The lies that Satan has these girls believing about themselves are truly diabolical. While the girls love to hear about God loving them, they are so caught in this snare that they can’t believe it, and even if they do, the pressures of needing money keep them from hoping for anything better.

Pray that:

God will draw these girls out of the bars and into His endless love.

Believers working among the bar girls will have boldness and persistence in sharing the Gospel in the very pit of human depravity.

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