The heat of the smoggy Bangkok afternoon was beginning to fade as we walked back towards the Nana Plaza. Nikki and Allen, our gracious hosts while staying in Bangkok and guides of sorts while we were out prayer walking the area surrounding one of the city’s major red light districts, wanted to meet up with some of the friends they knew at Nana at around 5:30. Though that was about an hour away we had agreed we wanted to find a bar and sit down and talk with someone while we waited.

As we walked, a Thai lady with an older westerner called out hello and begun to strike up a conversation with us. My curiosity awakened, I chatted with her in English. She had shown the gentleman to the post office and was on her way back to her bar. We continued talking with her and the gentleman as we walked since we were all heading in the same direction. When we neared her bar, she invited us to go and have a drink with her if we’d like, which we readily agreed to.

After serving us our sodas, Kin sat down with us. As we talked to Kin, Matt spoke with the gentleman she was with. A business man from Germany, his work often brings him to Thailand, which he doesn’t mind as the bar scene provides affordable pleasures that are not as freely found back home. Matt was able to pray with him for physical healing and blessing in his life.

With little prompting Kin shared that she had been working in this bar for over 13 years, but recently the bar had changed owners and with that change had come steeper quotas for the number of drinks she needed to sell each month and the number of times someone had to pay her bar fine to take her out of the bar. She said it wasn’t so good for her now but since she’s in her 40s, she felt like she couldn’t switch bars or try a different career. It seemed like it was all she had known. It saddened me to hear that, but unfortunately, this is true for many Thai women of her age.

We offered to pray for her to bless her, which she readily received, asking us to pray for her for good luck. I prayed a simple blessing for her for provision, blessing and that she would come to know God’s love and be able to love Him back, which was met with a grateful smile. She then pulled out her phone and showed us this song, telling us that it was her favorite:

I had never heard it before, but was struck by the chorus:
You are my freedom
Jesus you’re the reason
I’m kneeling again at Your throne
Where would I be without You
Here in my life, here in my life?

I asked Kin if she understood what the song meant.

“A little bit,” she replied. “I like how I feel when I hear it.”

“Jesus wants to be your freedom. Do you know what He did for you?” I asked. When she said not really, I told her He had done everything it takes for Him to be her freedom and he wants to be in her life. I asked NIkki if she could help explain and she reached into her bag and handed her a tract, but first wrote her number on it so Kin could connect if she chose to.

Though the interaction was simple, it was profound. Of all the people in that area we could have gone to, of all the possibilities of encounters, the Father had sent us after this one that He was already pursuing and already demonstrating His goodness to.