Top of mind, here are the highlights from our time in Pattaya (through Thursday night):
SOI 6
Soi 6 is what we might call "6th Street" in North America. It is a long two-block stretch that runs from the ocean front street to the next main in-land street. With one glance from either end, you immediately know what this street has to offer. In short, it is a street lined with girls, women, boys and young men for sale.
This might sound strange, but after forty years on the planet, this has been my favorite place to worship God, pray and intercede. Worshipping Him there was as natural as breathing. It was as comfortable as I've ever been anywhere--as if that was our street, or at least the part in front of the small shop and space owned by "Tamar Soi 6."
As I played the drums, there were large chunks of time where I actually forgot where we were. It didn't matter that prostitutes were sitting, listening and watching from 10 feet away, or that their customers stopped, listened and lingered. At the same time, it COMPLETELY mattered that these precious people were right there with us. We simply worshipped God and proclaimed His goodness, love, compassion, majesty, power and beautiful grace to them.
The people of Tamar Ministries, both in Pattaya and Korat/Issan, are regular people. They have chosen to live and work among the poor in spirit. They often feel alone in the work. Funding is a struggle. Almost no one knows their names. People don't write books about their work. But someday, the story will be told about how this city and nation was radically transformed and Jesus will be given all of the glory.
Two women named Angel and Yoyo were also there with us. They are working together as farmers in a village in the Issan region and working to prevent girls and women from thinking that leaving the villages to sell themselves is the only way to provide food for their children. They, too, feel alone. The work is very hard. They need prayer, funding and other believers to join them in the dirt.
We are meeting with them for lunch on Saturday before driving back to Bangkok to catch the flight home. (It's now 2:45 AM on Saturday morning... I started typing this on Friday morning. Unfortunately, this entry attempt was interrupted by a stream of water pouring down from our ceiling. That's a story for another day.)
CITY HALL
"There is something special about worshipping in high places overlooking the city," said Ian Hannah on Thursday. Ian has been coming to Pattaya Praise for eight years and brought a team of 34 people from Northern Ireland.
As he made that statement while we worshipped on the open air roof of City Hall, he encouraged all of us to spread out to the edges of the roof on all sides. As the "Irish Team" band continued to play, we all prayed over the city as the Holy Spirit led us.
The locals tell us the city is beginning to change and we believe it. On the surface, however, it looks like a hopeless situation. The volume of sex clubs is overwhelming. At night, even the beach-front sidewalk is lined with prostitutes from the edge of "Walking Street" (full of sex clubs itself) to what seems like a mile or more to the north.
We continue to pray that God's great grace would be made known to Pattaya and that He would draw every person to Himself with chords of loving kindness. Some day soon, we believe Walking Street will be a place where people and families stroll among shops, restaurants, good clubs and street musicians lining the streets.
Soon, I expect you will see entries from other team members about Friday night. This was a very challenging night, filled with both good moments as well as painful, heart-wrenching moments. There is much I'd like to say, but it's now 3:15 AM here with the start of a 25 hour trip ahead of us tomorrow evening.
Thank you for continuing to pray for us! We are so humbled and grateful!
-Mark
-Mark
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