The Vulnerability of Tribal Girls

It’s estimated that 65 percent of young teen girls trafficked into the red-light district in Bangkok are from the poor Hmong Hill Tribe, a migrant people group with no country. Most education stops at the sixth or ninth grade, and fathers looking for jobs for their daughters are easily duped by traffickers into believing a good job is available. Many other girls are taken as child brides and chained to a life of abuse and servitude by an older man.

Just before Compassionate Hope first met Yang and Yeng (names changed), two sisters in danger, one of our Home of Hope leaders in Thailand came face to face with the desperate reality of child brides. After school one day, some of the girls in that Home of Hope came crying to Naree, his wife. The girls had heard that one of their fourteen-year-old friends had been stolen as a child bride. After being taken, their friend became so distraught that she took rat poison and was in the hospital, near death. The girls begged Naree, “Can we please go pray over her?”

Entering their friend’s room, the girls were told by the nurse that their friend was not expected to live through the night. God answered their prayers, and the next day she was improving. But shortly afterward, they received a call that the man who stole her was on his way back to take her from the hospital. Thankfully, a family member came and got her before the lustful older man arrived.

That very same evening, Naree received another shocking phone call, and this is where Yang and Yeng’s story intersected with Compassionate Hope’s. With a trembling voice, their mom told Naree that an older man was tracking her oldest daughter, Yang, to steal her away as his bride.

Having just seen the distraught young girl in the hospital, everyone felt an urgency in their hearts. A call for prayer went out to Compassionate Hope leaders and the prayer team.

Two Lives Spared

Early the next morning, Naree drove two hours to meet with Yang’s parents. She offered them a different future for Yang, filled with hope. They agreed to allow Yang to come live in the Home of Hope, but after only traveling a few miles down the road, Yang burst into tears. She tearfully explained that if she left, the older man would simply take her younger sister, Yeng, instead. Naree turned around and made the same offer of a safe home for Yeng, and by God’s grace, we were able to rescue both girls from a horrible future of exploitation.

Our Compassionate Hope family still trembles before God thinking, “What if we had not responded?” These young girls grew to be beautiful, treasured jewels and leaders in that Home of Hope, who love God and the people who fought for them. Their lives changed because many people were fighting for a new life for them.

Article adapted from Al & Susan Henson’s book, Breaking Invisible Chains.