God is doing something. In our hearts, and in the surroundings. And so are other elements. The devil, our sinful selves, and individual or groups who want to harm us.

I walked around Georgetown at night talking to homeless people/people on the streets with KAWAN, a Youth-With-A-Mission (YWAM) organisation that is in Penang. And we meet many people. Many types of people. And people whom we always dismiss as cheap, worthless, and the bottom rung of society - the sex workers.

You see, these people, are more than people offering a service that men (or women?) long/crave for. As we past the streets at night in Georgetown on Chulia Street, you can see young women, standing at the side of the road. They are working, waiting for business. Layman (me included) make seeing sex workers as a topic of discussion, to look out for them as we drive pass the street, just to tell my friend that I have seen a sex worker (even better if she's a transversite).

But watching a movie halfway about human trafficking (Nefarious: merchant of souls) made me realise and confirmed what I saw on the streets - that the women go out there not out of their own desire, but out of desperation. 

Two days of going down on the streets, and you see many of them - not foreigners - but locals from different states, background and race, trying to find a living.

Last week, I met what the general public would find interesting - transverstites. They were along Chulia Street - some of them pretty, some, not really. I saw one of them flash to passers-by, and was amused by their reaction. But the person who was with me (call her Amy) warned her not to do so. Amy also shared food with her, mixing her two packets of guava so that each could have an equal level of plum sauce. This shows to me that trans are, in essence, still human beings.

I also met an Indian lady, who do not put herself on the market frequently. She said she only go out there when she lacks money. She has seven children - two with her (the younger ones), and the other five, with a church across the bridge. She has a husband, who stays with her. I did not ask her, the reason for her to do it despite having her husband with her.

Tonight, we went by another district, and talked to those who knew those from KAWAN. These people - no, they do not even do it at the motels. Even shabbier places. The shed. A shed. Some are drug addicts. Some, just want to find a living. To pay off the debts of husbands. One brings her six year old child with her, but no longer. Not for nine months. Thank God. I do not know how much they are paid per time, but it may well be less than what I am paid per hour.

Praying to God puts our focus on Him, and to rely on Him, depend on Him. We prayed for 15 mins before going out, and as we walk along the streets we pray too. I know that there is a spiritual warfare happening within Georgetown.

These people go on the streets not out of their own desire. It may be the only way they know how to earn a decent living, to support their many children. Some (or many), to support children without a husband, and any other friends or relatives. It may be because they will be accepted among the transverstites community. It may be the only way they think they can pay their debts. It is difficult to get out of the vicious cycle.

These people are more than just a facade in the red light district. The next time you think of looking for a sex worker or see them, look closer, and you will see faces of sadness, of hopelessness, of desperation, of wanting of acceptance and acknowledge. More so than anyone of us. And more needing of acceptance, than anyone of us.