little Pong

I planned to blog more here but time did not permit, nor has my mind have time to process all my thoughts, so I'm down to my last night and thought I would share what's been the highlight of my time here and will blog about the other things later. Thank you all for your prayers and support, they are felt in abundance!


1 john 3:18 "dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other, let us really show it by our actions."

this verse sums up our trip, if not our lives. bar ministry can be sensory overload to say the least. dim lights, bright lights, loud music, smoke, incense, girls dancing, inappropriate surroundings, etc. its a lot to take in and more importantly a lot to try and NOT take in all at the same time. one night we divided into teams of two and prayer walked the streets of patpong. that night we not going to go into the bars, but just talk to the girls working outside the bars, the street vendors, and those that sell "sexy shows". my teammate Sarah and i decided after walking and praying we would sit at one of the outdoor, corner bars and see who we could talk too. as we sat there we saw a little girl who we assumed was the daughter of one of the men who sells "shows" sitting on a dirty wood flat trying to put together a bracelet we gave out earlier in a ministry gift bag we made for the kids. she was having trouble so we invited her over to sit with us so we could help her and buy a her a coke. well, where there is one kid, there are more just around the corner.... so twelve kids later haha we introduce to you "little Pong" our red light district version of VBS. before Sarah and i knew it, we were sitting at the bar with 4-6 kids at a time making bracelets, drawing pictures, playing an absurd amount of tic tac toe, and singing Jesus loves me. my bar ministry just took a drastic turn!

the people did not know what to make of this! what foreigners choose to sit at a bar with kids and just play with them and buy them cokes? these are the kids of the vendors, show sellers, dancers, and some vendors themselves (the kids who sell items, I was just told by Rahab Ministries today, are more then likely the kids who are also sold underground). it does not seem to happen here, there is no ministry outreach to the children of Patpong, these kids are inundated with so much darkness that to me the real question is, how could we not? to allow them a little space to just be kids and distract them from the surroundings was a amazing blessing for me and a game changer for the rest of my trip. the smiles and laughter they expressed was answer enough for me, God blessed Sarah and i with so much joy to just "be" there with them and play and draw despite the language barriers.

the first night the surrounding adults gave us looks of uncertainty, but were curious as to what we were doing and would come up to the table and smile while keeping a watchful eye on us, the second night they warmed up a bit and stayed and asked our names, by night 3 and 4 we were welcomed by them shouting our names across the streets of patpong to say "hello Rachael!" and shake hands, even our bar maid was showing us to what table we could use and bringing more chairs for our growing VBS! by our last night, heartfelt goodbyes and tears as we send the kids back to what they know, long nights from 7pm -2am and only God knows what else. i could do this every night, this would be my ministry here, the effectiveness of simply showing love, His love by our actions with these kids opened so many doors to share with the adults and be a light. even the western men stopped and asked if we were teachers or if we worked here and if not, why we would sit here and play with these kids? my only answer is because its what Jesus would have done, simple, relational, real. light casts out darkness, that's what little Pong did, in a place where it seems only darkness reigns, The Creator allowed us to take over the night to bring Him glory, let your light so shine before men.

on that corner for just a few nights our friends stopped selling sex shows around us and allowed themselves to enter into the joy these kids were having and i am amazed and humbled at the work of the Lord. watching these little ones and how the adults reacted to us showed me that maybe the best defense again trafficking or selling yourself is to end the cycle before it begins, red light ministry with the kiddos!

"Jesus love the little children, all God's children everywhere. red and yellow black and white they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children everywhere."

ps - please pray for Bap and her friend in the picture above, they more than likely are trafficked underground.


In His Love,
Rae