A YWAM team in Thailand recently began ministering to male sex tourists in the red-light districts of Bangkok. They began by conducting non-intrusive surveys of male tourists to find out if they were open to reading an “outreach pack” once they returned to their hotel rooms. As the core team prayed, they were led to specific areas of the red-light district and found men who were open to deeper conversations about life and spirituality. These were seen as confirmations that many men seeking sex in Thailand are also seeking something much deeper and that YWAM needs to reach out to them on a regular basis. Bigger outreach teams are now assisting the core team to reach these men with the Gospel. This is the second of two reports sent from our team in Bangkok. – Editor, YWAM International Communications Network

Recently we had the opportunity to take our very first outreach team to one of the many red-light districts of Bangkok to engage male sex tourists in conversation (story below). While it was a great night with many highlights, something amazing happened when my friend and I took a trip to the red-light district a few weeks ago.

This was the last time that my friend and I would go to these areas to conduct surveys and pray before bringing outreach teams. However, on this particular night we brought along a few of our friends to see how it went with a small group of men talking and sharing with male sex tourists, as opposed to the previous week when it was only my friend and I.

Before we began the night, we prayed and asked the Lord to lead us to the right place, the place He wanted us to be. One of the men in the group felt that the Lord spoke to him the number “23” during this prayer time. While my friend had no idea what this number meant, both my friend and I knew that it was a very famous street in one particular red-light district. With this confirmation from the Lord, we boarded the sky-train and made our way to Soi Cowboy. Once we got to Soi Cowboy, we started interviewing men, having a few conversations, and just gathering as much information as possible. At one point during the night, my friend and I walked to the other end of the street… and there in front of us stood one of my friends' old college friends!

Now, to understand the significance of this event you need to first know more about the college my friend attended. He did not attend Florida State, Nebraska, USC or any other major college, but rather a small liberal arts school with a student body of around 1,500 students. Once they both recovered from the shock of seeing each other (and perhaps some one-sided embarrassment) my friend was able to share the Gospel for the next 45 minutes with this man, who professed Judaism as his faith.

While he did not accept the Lord right then and there, he began looking at the Thai women selling their bodies as women with emotions and feelings, and he changed his behavior for that one night. Our meeting with his college friend was one more small step in the right direction for that man.

Report Two

We used the survey outreach packs with a Discipleship Training School (DTS) team from Youth With A Mission-Denver recently. Here’s an account of what happened that night:

We spent some time seeking the Lord about where to go, as there were three red-light districts we were considering. After some time praying, we all agreed that we should go to Patpong, one of the most famous red-light districts in Bangkok. Once we arrived, we split up into several smaller groups and started chatting with men in the area. It was after a few minutes that I saw him from a distance – he was staring at me with an intense stare and started making his way towards me. His name was “Thomas” and here is his story...

Thomas was born in Europe and grew up Jewish. Due to several circumstances when he was young, he questioned who he was and eventually became bisexual. He now lives in Bangkok and comes to the area of Patpong to visit both men and women on frequent occasion. During the course of our conversation, Thomas was very open to hearing about what we were doing and especially keen to hear about our faith. I was able to share with him that God loves him, cares for him and has always wanted to have a relationship with him. It was interesting as Thomas has the head knowledge of who God is because he used to attend Catholic school when he was younger. However, head knowledge had yet to transfer to a heart relationship.

However, by the end of the night, I asked Thomas if we could pray a prayer of blessing over him and he agreed. He also asked us what book in the Bible he should read if he wanted to know more about God and a relationship with him, and we encouraged him to read the book of John. Right before he left he turned to me and said “do you think God still loves me?”
I responded by saying, “the question is not if God still loves you, He always has. The question is – will you accept the love that He offers”?

I then went on to say “Thomas, when you lay in bed tonight, I want you to reflect upon this meeting between us. It was not by chance and it was not by luck. If you doubt that God loves you or doubt whether He thinks about you, just think about how He let us cross paths tonight. I encourage you to pray tonight and to ask God to reveal Himself to you – somehow, someway, so that you may know that you are precious in His sight.” Thomas smiled, turned around and walked until he blended in with a typical Bangkok night crowd.

Report Three

Our next story comes from a man whom we will call “Adam”. Adam is an atheist, not particularly interested in knowing about God but he was willing to participate in our survey and receive an outreach pack. While one of the DTS students was talking to Adam, this particular student felt that the Lord was prompting him to share a bit of his life story. So, in obedience, he opened his mouth and started sharing.

Adam listened. When all was said and done, he started opening up about his own life. As it turns out, Adam was sexually abused as a child and grew up with the pain and the emotional scars of that tragic event in his young life, an event that in one way or another led him to a red-light district in Southeast Asia. While Adam did not make a decision to accept the Lord that evening, he was willing to have this student pray with him.