Pattaya, Thailand. (Deep breath as I write that out)
The thing in my soul that creates the most tension in me. This is where the "both/and" was created in my heart. It is the place I am called to but the Lord has not released me. The place that is home, however I feel like a fish out of water in my own nation. As a woman who weeps with desire to have children (and I do not say this lightly), that is how I have wept and longed for Pattaya. It is one of my treasures that I want to share with you this day.
When I went to Thailand, God had not yet unraveled the parts of my heart that looked exactly like Pattaya--dirty, sinful, evil, dead, broken, and shackled. I had just met Jesus that summer, however, there was much to be untangled and healed inside of me. Greed, selfishness, sexual impurity, lust, pornography, poverty, and so much more penetrates the city. You have everything from homosexuality to parents creating their children to be transgender...to men coming from all over the world to have sex at any moment...to men and women having uncontrollable power over these girls and lady-boys. I understand their abuse and their ways more than most people know.
However, I believe prophetically that Jesus allowed me to see Him there so that I would have a visual of what He was about to do in me. Actually, He was about to show me how much He loves me. Pattaya, despite all of it's sin, was the place where I saw how Jesus loves those who are most broken--the outcasts. It is the place that I would call "home" if the Lord allowed me to. All that holds me back is the simple fact that He has not said, "Cortney Rae, it is time." But I know that I am called to be there...one day. I am called to love the women and the men who are part of this completely dark and twisted evil we know as human trafficking. I believe with my whole heart that God is bringing salvation to the people of Thailand and specifically to Pattaya.
This documentary was created by a young man whose name is Cody Sandberg. A quiet and kind man who left America to begin filming in Thailand to create this documentary. I met him on my trip a few years ago. As I watched this 18-minute film, I saw many of my friends who I worked alongside with and who I ministered to. The goal of this film is to raise awareness in the villages to those who are sending their sons and daughters to work in Pattaya. Mothers and fathers are being educated that their child is being sent to use their bodies in ways that none of us here in Western culture could fathom putting our child through.
Please watch this film to learn more about Pattaya. Pray for the kingdom of God to come into this city for the missionaries who are there right now. Pray that the light of Jesus Christ will come into the hearts of the people of Thailand. Pray for Saul to Paul experiences among those who are being used by the Enemy and his schemes.
My we love as He has first loved us.
By Grace,
Cortney Rae