"Next stop, Nana", the automated Thai voice says as we approach our stop.  I take a deep breath and gear myself up.  I down one last swig of the coffee I bought to try and shake this last bit of jet lag that has still wanted to hold on, even after almost a week.  We step out of the skyrail and make our way down to the street below.  We wind past street market stands hawking fake sunglasses and DVDs.  Suddenly, we stop below a sign that says Nana Entertainment District.  Before me is a three tiered

open faced building with flourescent lights shining harshly and muisc blaring.  It reminds you of a typical club/bar scene, just much bigger than I have ever experienced.  As you walk further in, the reality begins to hit.  On all sides of you are signs enticing you further.  "The biggest go-go club in town".  "The Sweetheart Lounge".  "Pretty laides waiting for you".  I look and see young Thai women in various level of dress, some in nothing more than string bikinis and high heeled boots sitting on bar stools, looking bored.  Some are talking to western men, giving them back massages or rubbing their leg as they sit and chat.  Other girls stand outside the bar beckoning to the men that pas by, calling to them and laughing.  I catch the eye of a middle age men walking past me leading a girl who looks 16 by the hand out of the plaza.  He quickly averts his gaze, but I keep my eyes steady on him for a few extra seconds.  "When did you lose your identity?"  I silently ask him.  "You are supposed to be a protector, a provider of leadership.  You were not created for this."  But, he was long gone.  I prayed for him and the girl he had by the hand.  For God to reveal himself to them both. 

 

I found Nana stifling.  Since it felt so club like, it was difficult to make conversation.  Joop went up to some girls she knew and introduced us.  While they chatted, Nikki and I decided to make some rounds to check the whole place out.  As we climbed each level of the plaza, the overt vulgarity and depravity heightend.  The top floor had a few lady boy bars (men dressed as women).  Believe, me unless you were trained to know, you could never tell.  Doors would open and I would catch a glimpse of naked flesh dancing on a stage or beckoning us to come in further  .  We finally make our way back down to Joop.  It was decided we would head down to Soi Cowboy, another "entertainment" district.  Maybe it would be easier to connect to someone there.  We walked the few blocks that sepreated the two districts.  We were relatively quiet, each of us in our own personal reflection of what we had just seen.

 

Soi Cowboy is just one road with bars on either side.  Here is where I noticed that the girls have numbers pinned to them, like they are part of McDonalds super value menu or something.  Yes,  I would like number 22 to go, with a Coke? Ugh.  We made our way to a bar where Joop knew a few girls.  They greeted us warmly with the typical Thai bow.  We were invited to sit down and chat.  I began talking to a girl I will call Na.  She looked 15, but was 26 and had worked for about 4 years in the bars.  Her

English was pretty good, so we started making small talk about where she was from, her family, etc.  I found out that they work 12 hour shifts here in the bars, with only two days off a month!  That in and of itself is a form of abuse to our American ears, no matter what the job! The reality is that they have no life outside of the bars.  I am sure that is very strategic on their boss's part.  After a little bit, I had to  use the restroom. I asked where one was and they pointed inside.  With Nikki in tow, I made my way inside the place.  My eyes adjusted to the black lights and I realized that this place we were hanging out in front of was not just a bar, but also a strip club.  Ten topless girls on poles gyratting listlessly were before me.  I quickly made my way passed them, up the stairs to the toliet.  The restroom itself is unisex.  Guess there is not much need for sepreate quarters.  So, we step in and their is a guy peeing in the urinal in the corner and one of the topless dancers waiting for an open stall.  As she sees Nikki and I, she instinctivley covers her breasts in shame.  She bows to us and offers me some toliet paper (most Thai bathrooms do not come with it). I smile and thank her.  All of the sights and sounds of the night just came flooding in on me at that moment.  Where the hell was I? In a bathroom with a topless prostitute being so kind to me and a guy who may very well take advantage of her later pissing in the corner? I began to feel overwhelmed, took care of my business and got out of there.  We left for home not long after, promising the girls we made friends with that we would be back.   On the way home, I prayed as I took this all in.  Jesus, what the heck go I have to offer here?  God reminded me again of the words He gave me so many months ago:

 

In the midst of the greatest darkness, the greatest light will come.

 

I prayed for the light of Christ to penetrate this darkness. I knew this was just the beginning of a laboring for this place.  The principalities that have been given rule here know they have power.  They have been given permission to reign.  But, what if God's people understand that they can take it back as their inheritance?  What if I started to do that?  What would happen?

 

more reflections on this in I Am Responsible...The Bars Part 2