Every prostitute i walk by at night looks like she's trying to sell herself, even to me. And in her eyes i can see how she hasn't a clue as to who she is or why she lives. Sex means money and money means sex, and when you have two blessings that are so incredibly skewed and twisted in juxtaposition to each other, neither can possibly mean happiness.
The last couple of weeks, all the women on my squad have been in this ministry… the ministry of going to Bangla Road (the red light district near Phuket, Thailand), with hopes of sharing the Love and Hope of Jesus with prostitutes.
If you don't believe in Jesus, this is where my blog is going to get real foolish… If you do believe in Jesus, i hope your spirit will rejoice in God's wisdom. 🙂
What we do on Bangla Road seems really casual. i mean, i go to a bar with a couple of other girls from our team, and just look to blend in for the most part; not drawing the attention of the bar owners, or of other men. We order some juice or soda, and invite one of the girls who works at the bar to play Jenga with us, and then we work to talk over the loud music with her. We try to listen, and let her speak what she really thinks. We're not looking to be entertained, and we don't want what most of her customers want from her.
But it's not casual. Not at all. No more than a 19 year old girl being a prostitutes is casual. Sometimes we spend hours a day praying for these women to be set free. And not just from prostitution, but free in their hearts, from the bondage of demonic forces. We pray for satan to have no authority in their lives. We pray for them to leave the bars, and for them to come to the ministry we're working with here, and to come to know Jesus as their Savior. We pray for the men they encounter, and for their salvation too. Not to mention, as each group is out, the other half of our team is praying in the very same moments we are talking with these women –they pray for miracles to happen and for God to be glorified. There's nothing casual about it.
In the last two weeks dear friends, i have asked God a lot about what He has for me here in this ministry. We go to the bars night after night and talk to these women who are wading, neck-deep, in struggles with idolatry, lust, self esteem and self image issues, self worth, fear, abandonment, anger. It's a life full of vanities, because none of those painful things have found a place in their lives where they may heal. Instead, they are only being made deeper and being buried further down, as they try to cover their pain and entertain their customers. i've asked Jesus questions like, "Where do i even start? …How do i share Your story with these women? …What would You have me say?"
Because this is hard (the hardest ministry i've been a part of this past 5 months in fact…). And i've heard of women from the bars being warm and friendly and open and desirous to leave prostitution one night, and then completely reject and refuse to talk to the christian women she shared her heart with, the next night. i've heard of one team of ladies being swindled into buying shots they didn't drink; being used and then ignored by the women in these bars. i've heard of some workers in a bar physically turning their backs on a team to show them they were not "welcome" there anymore. i've heard of women in one bar being excited to see familiar Christians coming back to see her, but then withdraw completely after they brought up Jesus. i've more recently heard many stories similar to that last one…
These women don't know we're praying for them… that we ask God to love them through us… that we're desperate to see His mercy poured out on them. Some are so offended at the Name of Jesus, but it's by Jesus' Name that we are healed! And so i asked God why it hurt them so much to hear His Name…
Today, the Lord spoke this Scripture to my heart:
"He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;
he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.
'Blessed is the one whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
For He wounds, but He also binds up;
He injures, but His hands also heal…"
The bottom line is, these women are not sleeping with strangers week after week because it's what they want to do. None of them dreamed of being prostitutes as little girls. And i've seen many of them go from smiling at their male client coming into the bar, giving him extra attention as he finds a seat, to then cringing upon turning away from him. They are broken, and hurting, and depressed, and would rather be in a different "profession". Ultimately, they need Jesus. And they need to know that He is Who they're missing and feel needy for. Even if the sword in their own mouth tells them otherwise. Even when the "the powerful", the "ruler of the kingdom of the air… the spirit who is now working in the sons of disobedience," has his "clutches" on them.
Their wounds are real. And fresh. And open. And salt always hurts when it's rubbed in any open wound… even when it is the salt of the earth.
