Laurie Ishii

But honestly, it’s a bit of a downer too. I suppose that I’m a little
(or a LOT) jet lagged – I’ve been in bed all day until about 5pm
(granted, it’s like 10:30am in Bangkok right now) but I had no problem
sleeping all night last night since around 7:30pm.

It’s just such a difference – coming from such warm (hot – 85-100
degrees F) weather (to 20+ degrees colder) and although it was pretty
poverty stricken – the atmosphere was so much more pleasant… I can’t
put my finger on it – but I think it may also partly be because I
didn’t have any ‘responsibility’ while I was in Bangkok – I mean – we
had LOTS of stuff to do while there, a schedule and our days planned
(packed) for us – but we always had the option of ‘opting out’ if we
chose to.

Being back at home was like having a flood of responsibility dropped
in my lap again – back to reality…back to waking up and walking the
dogs, cleaning up after the dogs, cleaning poop and peepee pads and
washing and feeding, doing dishes and trying to clean up the messes,
bills, things to do, places to go… it’s crazy cause I SO MISSED
Daryl, Pablo and Ziggy – but arrrgh!!! I’m probably just tired…and
still absorbing everything I saw while I was overseas. I saw SO
MUCH…

You know, I LOVE LA. I mean, I’ve lived here all my life and I have
always LOVED it here – have never had any desire to live anywhere
else. I love the weather, I love the people, I love that I can go to
the beach (but don’t, cause I actually hate the beach but like knowing
that if I wanted to go to the beach, I could) I can go to an amusement
park, I can go to the snow, I can go to the mountains, I can go to
different shopping malls – EVERYTHING is here within driving distance
away. We have EVERYTHING here, we are SO SPOILED…

Being in Thailand and Cambodia (especially) really made me appreciate
yet at the same time – resent the fact that we have it so easy here,
if that makes any sense. I mean – it was so nice actually not having
my cell phone ringing all the time – and not even being able to use
the phone at all in Cambodia…it was so ‘simple’ there.

I never thought in a million years that I would say this – but I could
really live in either Thailand or Cambodia if the Lord asked me
to…it’s crazy. Of course I’d want to learn the language and so I
could better communicate with the people, so I could share Jesus with
them – show the people God’s love with actions first, and then be able
to communicate why – communicate ‘why’ I love them, because God first
loved me… to be able to communicate hope and love to them…

Maybe I’m thinking too much. I am still trying to process
everything… I have not really called anyone or emailed much since
I’ve been back (except mass emails) because I’m so exhausted. It will
probably take me about a week before I can really share what went on
there – especially the emotions that came along with everything I saw.

To just start – I have to say thank you for all of your prayers -
because most of the time I am SO spiritually sensitive to demonic
stuff and very affected – but the whole time I was in Bangkok and
Cambodia both (I don’t know if this was good or not, but…) I was
UNafftected – many of the other women in our group were spiritually
attacked with sickness or mentally – not to say that I was completely
unaffected – I did have accusing thoughts and once before I was going
to share my testimony I got hit out of the blue with a wave of nausea
and I thought I was going to puke but I didn’t – everyone prayed over
me and the nausea went away.

But when we went to the bars – I was so excited – I did feel a heavy
oppression as thick as a fog when we walked into some of the bars -
but as a whole, it just reminded me of strip bars here (I used to go
to strip bars all the time when I was on dope) the difference being
that instead of only one girl per stage there were as many girls they
could fit up there – probably around 12-15, dancing around poles.

They also had on numbers, and if a man liked a girl and wanted to buy
her a drink, he could tell his waitress the number of the girl he
wanted, and she would come and sit with him. If he wanted more – sex
or oral sex – he could arrange that with the Mama San, (‘madam’) make
a bar fee and then go in the back or even leave with the girl for the
night. I saw one Mama San who was SO pushy with the men – flirting and
asking them which girl they liked – one old man I saw had the Mama San
bugging him so much – it would be hard for him to resist…I didn’t
get to see if he left with a girl or not because I was engaged in a
conversation with a girl most of the time, but I saw the Mama San
succesfully hook up other men with a girl.

Speaking with the girls – it was really much the same as it is with
the girls here – honestly, prostitution and hookers are pretty much
the same across the world. They’re all in bondage, some prostituting
by ‘choice’ (I always say they’re prostituting by choice but don’t
choose to be a prostitute) – the girls I spoke with that spoke english
I didn’t waste time beating around the bush – I told them right away
that I used to prostitute and I asked them how long they worked in the
bar, if the liked it, how many men they had to sleep with, how much
money they make and if they would do something else if they could.
Their answers were pretty much the same as the girls we talk to here.

Some girls had been in the bars for a few years, others just started a
few months previously. The shorter they had been working, the more
willing they were to stop and were scared and uncomfortable. Most of
them had children, and none of them liked working there. If I didn’t
tell them that I used to prostitute and asked them if they liked
working in the bar they’d smile and say “Yes” – but then when I told
them that I used to prostitute they admitted that they didn’t like
working there.

Most said that they had to go with one man every night, depending on
how long – and depending on how short the time was was how much they’d
get paid – and on the man. Sometimes, the men only paid a bar fee -
and gave them NO TIP at all – so they get nothing. Other men tip
better – but regardless, it’s never very good. (Compared to what the
girls make here – average maybe $20 – but then again, hookers here
make NOTHING if they have a pimp so it’s kind of the same thing)

All the girls said that they didn’t want to work in the bar for long,
they just need to take care of their kids, or family (usually family)
but most came from poverty areas and had little or no education and no
vision, no dreams of ever doing anything else. It was really sad. Most
of the girls were pretty beautiful – and I felt really bad for the
older or more unattractive ones who probably wouldn’t get picked
often.

That’s about all I can write now. I’m ready to go back to bed. Thanks
again for all the prayer….