Bulgarian Cakes

It’s amazing what an impact a box of Bulgarian chocolate cakes can make.  Yesterday I went back to the red light district. We split up into teams of two, so that we don’t draw too much attention to ourselves. Honestly it’s very unusual to see women walking in the district, much less a group of six normal, every-day looking women walking together.  That’s why we go in teams.  There is much less notice given to us that way.  Anyway, my team had a box of small chocolate cakes imported from Bulgaria that one of our team members had found in a Bulgarian shop in Brussels. They reminded me of Little Debbie cakes in the States, except they aren’t individually wrapped.

As we walked by the windows, we offered the cakes to the women.  Most of them declined taking them because they didn’t want the calories, but a few of them said yes. I will never forget the look on one woman’s face when she saw the box. Her eyes lit up as if we were giving her a thousand Euros.  She opened the door and started nodding her head emphatically. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on a cake.  I asked her where she was from, and she said Romania. She recognized the box and couldn’t believe we had them! Romania and Bulgaria are right next to each other, and it was obvious that she had seen them before.  She kept asking if we were selling them. We said, “No! We are handing them out for no charge. We are happy to give them to you.” She got the biggest smile on her face and said, “Thank you very much!” She was almost laughing as she bit into it!  It truly made her day to have a taste of home. Hopefully I can find her and talk to her again next week. That’s how relationships start in the district.

Another good thing that happened yesterday was that the lady who was so mean to us last week had evidently realized that she had no right to order us not to talk to the women in the windows. Last week she yelled at us and told us we couldn’t talk to them any more. We did some research on who she was and found out that she works for the government. She is there to make sure their rights aren’t being violated and that they get good health care. Yes, I know. Their RIGHTS aren’t being violated? Give me a break. What about their bodies? Anyway, this lady almost cracked a smile yesterday when I offered her a cake. She didn’t take it, but she thought it was humorous that I would offer her one.

All in all it was a good day. It seemed like there were a lot of new faces, which disturbs me, because I don’t know where the other ones are. Sometimes they are only there for a few weeks and their pimps or handlers move them on. It’s heartbreaking.  One of the other teams had a good breakthrough with a woman they had made a great connection with in the past. They hadn’t seen her in a few weeks and thought she was gone. She was happy to see them, and they talked in her window yesterday for quite a while with no disruption, which is a miracle!

I feel so inadequate for this task. Lord, give me ideas inspired by You to reach the hearts of these precious women that You love.