Was it just a coincidence? What are the chances that we would be in the right place at the right time when a streetwalker passed out?

 

Nothing was going as planned and we considered calling it an early night. Then, we saw Ying. She wasn't feeling well but said she would call a taxi and head home. We left her, but as we turned the corner, Bang felt compelled to run back and get Ying's phone number. As we stood there with her she collapsed into our arms. I weigh little more than Ying but before I realized what I was doing I had somehow picked her up in my arms and was looking for a place to lay her down out of the busy street. We called a taxi and sped through the city to get her to her hospital. She was unconscious most of the way and we kept checking to see if her cold body was still breathing. At the emergency room I could no longer lift her but the staff got her onto a stretcher. Her vital signs were checked and nearly three hours later she was dismissed with "nothing wrong." "Maybe you're under too much stress," the doctor suggested.

 

Ying still could not stand or walk and was barely staying awake. We took her back to NightLight and carried her up three flights of stairs to Courtney's bed. The next morning Robi, our nurse found her passed out on the floor. Ying was hyperventilating and barely responding to us. An ambulance was called and before long the crew was rushing her down the stairs on a stretcher while giving her oxygen.

 

At the emergency room, once again, they checked her vital signs. "Nothing wrong with her," the doctor said. Ying was scared and struggled to breathe normally. We insisted she stay in the hospital for a couple days, finding it hard to believe there was nothing wrong with her. Sure enough the next day she had a high fever. They ran some tests and found a serious infection in the pelvic area. Ying was moved to a private room because of her sensitive immune system and treated intravenously for the next couple days.

 

Ying's family lives in Bangkok. Her mother and father divorced when she was a baby but they both live in Bangkok. Her mother sent word that she was not coming to see her. The father said he was busy and her older sister came for a very short period and tried to get her discharged immediately. Pon talked with Ying about her options for care when she left the hospital. Tears trickled down Ying's cheeks expressing years of loneliness and feelings of abandonment. Most of Ying's family does not work. She has been making the money for the family and supporting them by selling her body to 2-4 men a night for the past 6 years. Now, she lay in an emergency situation, scared, lonely and the very family she had been working to support was too busy or uninterested to come and be with her.

 

Ying was released after 4 days and came to stay at NightLight. Her father had visited and she was encouraged. She said she had decided to quit streetwalking and to stay with us at NightLight. The following afternoon she went out to get her stuff and disappeared. Maybe she went back to the streets, maybe she took our money and ran, maybe she collapsed somewhere, maybe she was taken advantage of – we don't know. God knows and I believe that God, who was there when Ying collapsed, is with her now. We pray she is safe; we pray she will come back and get the help she needs to survive.  

 

It was no coincidence that we were there when Ying collapsed on the street. As I quoted from Isaiah previously, God's eyes roam the earth looking for someone to intervene. God's heart breaks for these lonely broken women. "Can a mother forget the child at her breast? Even so, I will not forget you." (Isaiah 49) God orchestrated our movements that night so that when Ying collapsed she would not be alone but would fall into arms that would embrace her, care for her and demonstrate to her the love God has for His daughters. God's demonstration of His love and concern for Ying that night is unforgettable.