Hello friends. This is Alan and I have asked my friend, Christian Lenty, to share about his ministry seeking to combat the sex trafficking in Thailand with the compassion and love of Christ.

It is Sunday morning and I look out at the crowd before me knowing that some may like what I am about to ask, and some may not. I begin with the first question – “How many of you here would say that the issue of human trafficking interests you?” and I notice that half the hands go up. I ask the second question – “How many here would say that you care for, support and would want to help women who are involved in prostitution?” This time more than half the hands go up. I ask the third question – “How many here would say that you care for, support and would want to help children who are involved in prostitution?” Almost every hand in the room goes up. It’s now time for me to ask the fourth and final question – “How many here would say that you care for, support and would want to help the men who buy services from those same women and children?”

More times than not, no more than a few will raise their hand to the final question, and that is when I ask myself “why”? Because for me the injustice that is the sex industry must be tackled from all sides. Every year millions of foreign men visit Thailand as sex tourists. These men are hungry and broken, and in their brokenness they contribute to an ever-increasing demand for sexual services. Several ministries are reaching out to the women and men trapped in the life of prostitution, but no one is yet working with the men who help drive the demand for sexual services. We want to tackle this problem at one of its roots, which is the demand side. If we seek to eliminate or minimize the demand, then aren’t we, in essence, helping to eliminate or minimize the need for a supply? The answer is YES!

The MST Project is a two-fold ministry: to be a voice of advocacy for those trapped in prostitution (by helping men see the implications of their actions), and to be a voice of hope for those trapped in the emptiness and brokenness of sex tourism and sexual addiction. I work in the MST Project because I believe that some of these men who come to Thailand looking for sex are hurting and in need and are trying to fill that need and hurt with love and intimacy. Yet, the love and intimacy that they seek in a red-light district is not the answer. When I first started this ministry there were a few people who told me that there was no hope for these men, that they were better left alone or ignored. But where is the compassion of God in that? You see, I do not look at these men for where they currently are but rather for where they can be in a relationship with God. Why? Because that is how several people looked at me many years ago. I grew up in a broken home, I have looked for love and intimacy in all the wrong places and I have struggled with issues that are common to men; yet God has brought about redemption in my life. I want to reach out to these men and be an example of hope, restoration and redemption for where they can be with a transformed heart.

I believe that it is our responsibility to go to these men, when very few will, and bring the love of God to them in an area where they least expect it, by those whom they least expect it from. These men are like us, and it is my hope that these men will experience the redemption, the restoration, the love and the hope that is found in a relationship with Him. I believe that the Father’s love is available to all, in all places and at all times, and that the hope we have in Him will cause a man to return to his wife and become a husband. Will cause him to return to his children and become a father. Will cause him to return to his community and become an example, not a statistic.

God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. This includes men in red-light districts. Therefore, I choose to be one of the few who will stand on the street corner and offer them HOPE.

For further information on the MST Project please visit www.mstproject.com.

Please pray for and support Christian and the MST Project.

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Tags: Addiction, Christian, Community, Compassion, Exodus, God, Heart, Intimacy, Life, Love, Men, Ministry, Prostitution, Relationship, Sex Trafficking, Sexuality, Support, Thailand

This entry was posted on November 11, 2009 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Around the World, Church, Culture, Educate, Featured, Guest Post, Sexuality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.