YWAM Thailand ~ National Office

The Situation
Every year millions of foreign men visit Thailand as male sex tourists. These men are hungry and broken, and in their brokenness they contribute to an ever-increasing demand for sex services. As of mid-2007, several ministries are reaching out to the women (and men) trapped in the life of prostitution, but no one is yet working with the male sex tourists who help drive the demand for sexual services.

HIV

One Part Of The Solution
We want to tackle this problem at one of its roots – the demand for sex services. If we seek to eliminate or minimize that demand then aren't we, in essence, helping to minimize the need for a supply? The answer is YES!

YWAM Thailand is pioneering an outreach ministry to male sex-tourists visiting Bangkok. Men from short-term ministry teams will seek to engage foreign sex-tourists with the gospel through conversational evangelism and the distribution of specially focused "outreach packs."

Stats This is a two-fold ministry: to be a voice of advocacy for those trapped in prostitution (by helping sex-tourists see the implications of their actions), and to be a voice sharing God's hope with those trapped in the emptiness and brokenness of sex-tourism. Jesus was often accused of being a drunkard and a glutton for reaching out to those that the religious establishment thought were beyond God's reach - we are following Jesus into the dark places of Thailand.

An Untapped Resource
Up till now, when outreach teams go to work with ministries that focus on prostitution recovery, only the female members of these teams have been able to participate, as this is the request of the ministry locations. However, this often leaves the men on their teams unable to contribute. We desire to see women mobilized to reach out to those women who are working as prostitutes and men mobilized to reach out to their male customers.

The Outreach
We would like to see male outreach team members go in small groups of 3-4 to evangelize, pray, and distribute outreach packs in areas where they will have the opportunity to meet and talk with male sex tourists.

We ask teams to consider going during the evening of their first day in-country, or following their Thai cultural orientation.

Each outreach pack will contain:

Many of the men you will meet have retired here, either single or divorced, and end up frequenting beer bars (where prostitution is common) or marrying a bar girl.

Our hope is that as these men encounter the love of Jesus (through the men on your team) they will join a Christian community here in Thailand and begin the discipleship process. Though some of the men you will meet are short-term sex tourists, having come to Thailand for only a few days or weeks, they will then return home having unexpectedly encountered the love of God!

Read some testimonies

The Impact
Our hope is that as each man receives one of these outreach packs, that it would cause him to stop, to think about how his actions negatively impact those working in the sex trade, and to hopefully alter his plans for that evening and beyond. If one man were to change his plans for one night, then that is a success.

Included within each outreach pack will be an email address that will allow for male sex tourists to give feedback or comments, both positive and negative.

Read about the MST Project on the YWAM.org website

Final Thoughts
There are so many Christian men that come on a team that want to make a difference in the area of the sex trade, but their options are currently limited. We are now creating a potential avenue for them to get involved, and to share with other men the transforming power of God's love!

God’s richest blessings upon you and if there is anything further we can do for you, please feel free to let us know! We are here to serve and bless you and consider it an honor to do so.

Have more questions about the MST Project?