Party/Farewell in Bangkok

Hello friends,

Tonight was our wind-up party, and what a party it was. Melissa, Boo, Nit,
and Sai spent all afternoon cooking in the outdoor kitchen. There was
certainly enough food for an army, including green currie, glass noodle
salad, steam-fried vegetables and custard for desert. Delicious! Jenn,
Britni, Sue, Jennifer, and Amy spent the afternoon decorating. We found
these great hanging lantern lights at the market, and the upper room had a
warm and welcoming atmosphere, very different from that in the bars.

At first, we only had a few guests, and we were fighting back discouragment.
It was pouring rain outside, and Thais really don't like to go out in the
rain. I think all of us had pictured this party as the culmination of all
the work we have been doing over the past 2 weeks, and perhaps imagined that
the attendance was a measure of our success. Puzzling over what God was
trying to teach us, we decided to go back to the bars and pay 5 girl's bar
fines, so that they could come be with us. The expression on their faces
when we told them that we wanted to pay their way to come with us was
absolutely incredible. The girls squealed and ran to get their street
clothes, thrilled by the knowledge that they got to spend a night as a women
in the presence of her friends, not as a bar dancer. If I came to Bangkok
only for that one moment, it would've been completely worthwhile.

When we arrived back at the center with our new friends, the party was in
full swing. There was a crazy game of musical chairs going on, and we
quickly joined in. We proceeded to teach them some "Canadian" songs &
games, such as the macarina,YMCA, and the limbo. I've never seen people
laugh so hard. And in the midst of all our fun, the language barrier
disappeared. We didn't need a common tongue to discern that somebody wiping
out after trying to get under the limbo bar was funny. We all just knew!

We closed the night with Christy and I teaching the girls a dance we had
choreagraphed to "Did you feel the mountains tremble." There is a line in
that song that speaks of dancers dancing upon injustice, and that had been
our prayer for this trip. At the beginning of the song, there is a line
that asks, "Could this be the land of the free?" We truly believe that, and
so together, we danced.

God has been incredibly faithful (as always!) The friendships that have
been made will last for a lifetime in our hearts. Thank-you for your
prayers, for they have been answered.

In Him,
Lyndsey