“We are seeing life transformation in supernatural ways. These young girls, coming out of the bars, are experiencing a deep work of God and within weeks are going back to rescue other girls with the Good News.”(View our Thailand Project Video)

These words came out of the mouth of OCC supported missionary Randy Nelson recently as he and Edie were visiting and planning with us for future ministry. It was through the giving, and the going, of people like you two years ago that supported a series of outreaches that led to over 400 young girls coming to Christ. The response was so great that a new church was birthed within a month. Now that congregation is strong with both men and women reaching out to their city of Pattaya… a city literally founded and held captive to the sex slave industry.

Randy continued, “We are seeing spiritual breakthroughs. The national church, as small as they are, now has a vision for their city. Even the church in Bangkok is praying for this movement in Pattaya. We need more short term teams to come and pray, reach out to the bar girls, encourage the Christians, and even do training on practical life skills. We have to respond to this movement and provide the exit for these young girls out of the bars.”

OCC is sending a Marketplace Ministries Team in November to do leadership and business training with Thai business leaders, both Christian and non-Christian. Through this event and in partnership with the Nelsons, OCC hopes to launch the Pattaya Job Training Center Project providing counseling, discipleship, job training and placement for these young women. God is doing an incredible work in the hearts of people who have been oppressed and we get the opportunity to respond to it. Won’t you join in?

Globally, it is estimated that 700,000 to 4,000,000 women and children are trafficked each year. Children who are victimized by trafficking* suffer the affects of dangerous, often violent living conditions, rape and exposure to life threatening diseases such as sexually transmitted diseases that include HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases. Apart from health risks faced by children, Asian societies are impacted through an exposure to health epidemics; loss of a rural and community-level labor force, as well as the tragic loss of youth and childhood opportunities through normal recreation, education and values development with the normal societal context.

No country is free of commercial and sexual exploitation, but the problem is especially rampant in the greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), which includes Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. This area has experienced a significant increase in trafficking during the past 10 years. Reasons for this include rapid economic and political developments, gender relations and widening disparities, accentuated by economic crisis. Thailand is a significant source, destination and transit country in the trafficking of children. Children most at risk of exploitation are those from families whose parents are drug users or alcoholics; those from the countries of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar; and hill tribe children born but without citizenship papers. Lack of information, lack of education or vocational skills, and naiveté also contribute to the problem. Additionally, most at risk within these groups are girls. This is partly because of the deeply-held cultural expectation that the daughters are to provide for her family’s economic livelihood.

At least half of Thailand’s hill tribe population — estimated to be 600,000 to 1,000,000 people — is not officially recognized to be citizens. Lack of Thai citizenship is the single greatest threat to the health and welfare of hundreds of thousands of hill tribe residents. Hill tribe children are vulnerable to every form of exploitation. They can’t register their marriages or even work outside their district. With little education, limited work skills and the pressures to support their families, tribal children are ripe for exploitation.

Thailand Outreach Team, Late March, 2007 * Approximately $1900
Join the team going to participate in a citywide festival outreach with the Illuminate Worship Team. Activities include distributing evangelistic material, prayer walking, hosting conversational English classes (no expertise required), and outreach to the bar girls with Thai Christians.

PATTAYA JOB TRAINING CENTER PROJECT
Through a matching grant, every dollar you give for Pattaya will be used to support projects like it around the world, but these funds must be received by December 31. Feel free to click on the link to donate on-line or make your donation by cash or check during the weekend services. Please mark your giving envelope designated toward missions.

· For the purpose of this program, we are defining child trafficking as “all acts involved in the recruitment, transport, harboring and sale of children within and across international borders through deception or fraud, coercion or force, or debt bondage, for the purpose of placing, and maintaining a person in a situation of forced labor or services, such as forced prostitution or sexual services, domestic servitude or other forms of slavery practices,” and a child is defined as 18 years old and younger.