Blog

“Bank,” the student featured in our short film on our website, graduated from Le Cordon Bleu last December. Previous volunteers and staff over the years have seen first-hand this talented, diligent individual and all who meet Bank absolutely adore him. Many gave generously in 2015 to help Bank study pastry at this expensive, prestigious culinary school and he did it exceptionally! He continues to shine and was asked by the school to continue in the program as an intern; assisting the chefs prepare for their daily teachings. Bank completed a three month internship there in March, and than was offered a full time job. There were several discussions on starting a pastry chef job in a nice hotel or fancy restaurant (Bank’s original dream) or accepting this culinary job. He decided to continue working with Le Cordon Bleu and is now assisting chefs daily, learning even more about French cuisines, not just pastries. Bank loves this job and is our first student to officially “graduate” from DtonNaam. We actually celebrated with Bank when the first paycheck arrived from LCB! With your help, DN has supported Bank monthly since 2011 to see him reach this dream. He has a good paying job now, and no longer needs financial help from DN but continues to stay in contact with our crew.

It is such a gift to see one of the ladyboys walk away from drugs, prostitution, addictions, etc; love Jesus whole-heartedly and begin to walk out healing; reconcile with family; finish a high-school diploma plus a degree in something they are passionate to do; and find a successful, legitimate job in a healthy environment. It definitely took time, time full of prayer, conversations, love, friendships, mentoring and more. Thank you for making this possible! His life and his family’s life have been completely changed.

Outreaches
This year, we’ve focused mainly in two main red-light areas. One district within Bangkok has a street where young males work at night. The bars range from drinking spots, to massage parlors or “dance” clubs (strip clubs). We are meeting more than young Thai guys but also boys from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. It’s strange and sad to see but also complicated in knowing how to help them in the best way, due to typically having an illegal status and possible trafficking set-ups. We were given an open door a while back though, to teach weekly in one of the bars and to begin helping these young guys through English, medical issues and more. Pray with us in how best to proceed, pray for these young men, their health, healing and future. Also, please pray for us to connect with a good official (police and higher) that are not corrupt but will be a good partner with us to serve these guys well. Pray for non-profits in the guys’ home countries to be willing to help young guys, not just females. We need more collaboration and resources to offer these boys healthier and alternative options.

The other district we visit weekly is where ladyboys are working and the bars continue growing. In 2014, there were four bars in this one area that advertised openly as ladyboy sex workers. Now, there are at least seven bars on this one street and even more ladyboys standing on the street late at night. Pray for volunteers to commit even 2x monthly in helping our outreach team build relationships and offer help to the ladyboys in this district. We are assuming there are at least 700 individuals working in the various bars, but probably up to 1,000 working on this one street.