Sometimes my mind has a hard time processing the bits and pieces of information I receive on a given day as I interact with those who are caught in a life of prostitution. A life that is light-years away from the world I was raised in. I never knew a world like this existed. I grew up in Small Town, Texas…a good little conservative, Baptist girl who never lacked love and acceptance, and who thought that getting drunk or taking drugs was the worst a person do. Prostitution & sex slavery was only a subject in movies…movies I never saw but knew existed.
Today one of the prostitutes that I am friends with (for her safety, I’ll call her “Fran”) told me the whole story of something that happened just one month ago. Through an interesting series of events, she became friends with three women from her home country of Romania. They had been beaten, starved and forced to prostitute themselves, sometimes locked in rooms for days at a time. In Romania they were told they had been given jobs in Belgium picking crops and working in fields. When they arrived here, they discovered that those jobs never existed. When Fran first saw them, one girl especially was skin and bones. You could see every bone in her body.
Fran realized what was happening to them and, to make a long story short, brought them up to the ministry center so we could help them get out of the country and escape their pimp. They had been trying to save money to buy airline tickets by holding back 5 or 10 Euros from every “client” and hiding it from their pimp. They hid the money in condoms in a particular body cavity until they could get by themselves to hide it in a better location. When I heard her say that today, I almost burst into tears, but held it back because I didn’t want her to stop talking. Those three young women wanted to be free of their pimp so badly that they were willing to do anything….whatever it took. (more…)
If you are like me, you sometimes say, “What can I do to even make a dent in abolishing the crime of the sex slave trade?” “Little ole’ me?” “The problem is so huge. There’s nothing I can do.”
Exodus Cry is a great organization that is very active in exposing the evils of the sex slave trade. I recently came across this list on their website of 10 things everyone can do to stop this horrible cancer that is spreading across the globe.
I sit here in Jerusalem, 2000 miles from Brussels and Antwerp, unable to go into the red light districts and show the women (and men) the love of Abba God. Yet I can pray. It is in the place of intercession where the battles are won on the ground in those dark places. Without prayer we have no hope of lives being affected and the atmosphere changing.
I am stirred. I love those women.
When we moved to Belgium two months ago, it was full-fledged winter here. Below freezing temperatures, snow, sleet, wind, rain, cloudy ALL the time. Now two months later I feel like it is a different world. It’s still very cool in the early mornings, but the beauty of springtime in Belgium has totally surprised me. There are flowers everywhere. Even in our backyard where we’ve done absolutely no planting or yard work (other than mowing once), we have signs of spring everywhere.
I love all the flowers in our yard, but I want to show you my pleasant surprise for the day. (more…)
I have been in Belgium for two weeks and I’m slowly getting used to the cold weather. That is a huge statement coming from someone who was born and raised in Texas. I LOVE hot weather. I look forward to the 100 degree days during the Texas summers. I really love the heat. I even like to sweat. That’s why I find it so humorous that God would send me to Belgium where most of the year is spent under rain clouds and 40 degrees. Two days ago it snowed all morning. This morning we had to scrape ice off the windshield before driving to church. It’s not too fun, but you really do get accustomed to being cold. After a winter in Jerusalem and now being in Belgium, I am totally used to the European heating system, which consists of radiators in every room emitting heat instead of wall vents blowing heat like in the States. At night while everyone is in bed, the heat is turned off. I am totally used to this way of heating, and I even think it’s superior to the system in the U.S.. Why waste perfectly good heat while you’re sleeping? That’s brings up another difference. The bedding is SO soft and comfy. Duvet covers enveloping down comforters is definitely the way to sleep. They trap your body heat, and you seriously get too warm at times, even with the heaters off in your room. I haven’t tried it yet, but my best friend, Lynn, in Cyprus, tells me that her hot water bottle is a must during Cypriot winters. One of my friends in Jerusalem always sleeps with a hot water bottle at her feet. (more…)
