Boxes and boxes of roses. Yes, over 500 roses to be handed out to the women in the red light district for Valentines Day. Due to the gracious gift from a church in Florida, we were able to bring smiles to women who are struggling to cope with life. We had a team who delivered roses to the women working the day shift, and then a team who delivered them to women working the night shift. Within just a few hours we made contact with hundreds of precious souls.
Volunteers sorting the roses
Along with the roses we also had a Valentine card to give each person that said, “Happy Valentines Day! God cares for you!” It also had contact info in case someone wants a follow-up visit or is just wanting to talk. They are all in desperate situations.
Starting on the "day shift"
As we approached each window, we held up the rose and card indicating that we wanted to give them a free gift. We had to convince several that they were free, because nothing is free, right?! Some would say, “This is free? Why would you want to give me this flower?!” I explained that I care about her and that I love her for who she is inside, not for how she looks or what she can do. (more…)
I just realized that I haven’t written anything about our Christmas outreach in the red light district. How awful of me! My kids keep telling me to start writing again, and frankly, it is just so overwhelming. I start thinking about all the heart-wrenching situations and joyful praise reports that have happened over the last few months, and I just don’t know where to start. So….I’ll start with Christmas!
NinthHour was able to help financially with the outreach by purchasing the gift bags for the women who came to the Christmas party. We also bought the Neuhaus chocolate and put them in small plastic bags….over 350 of them!
Volunteers who handed out Christmas gifts in the District. I love these women!
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Those are the words that I heard yesterday while talking to a woman in her window in the red light district of a city near me. I have heard those words several times in the past year, and every time I feel so helpless and without concrete answers. Of course I say that God will give them strength, that He will direct their steps and that He loves them very much, but I have nothing to offer them that will give them rent money or food on their tables. We teach them how to make and sell jewelry, but it’s hard to make enough jewelry to pay your rent. It is such a conflicted feeling. My heart soars with the fact that “L” wants out. She is 50+ years old and has worked in prostitution for 33 years. She knows no other life. It’s the quickest way to get cash. She doesn’t want her children and grandchildren following in her footsteps, and she feels so much shame. She keeps saying, “Next week I’m leaving.” And next week never comes.
Although I’m thrilled that she wants out, I am clueless as to how to counsel her to do it. She was quick to show me her laptop and Psychology book for a college course she is taking. The laptop was opened on her chair in the window. I loved seeing the light in her eyes as she talked about this course. The book is written in Dutch, and she was having to use Google translator for the harder words. (She is from Dominican Republic and Spanish is her main language.) It makes her feel more like a normal person to be studying this. I’m happy for her.
If only we had a safe place nearby where we could take them to be cared for until they get established in a legitimate profession. A place that would put as much emphasis on their internal life before God as their outward, practical life. I desire to see these women come alive with the revelation of God’s fiery, intense love for them. To see life in their eyes and smiles on their faces. They need someone to constantly hold their hands for at least a few months, to continually say, “You can DO this!” They need someone to say every day, “Hey, let’s pray together. God has the answer.” They need someone to help them get visas and work permits, etc.. There is SO much need! (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.
Yesterday Gary and I traveled to Antwerp to join in the celebration of the completion of the Breaking Chains Ministry Center in the Red Light District. What a day! If you have ever transformed a house from utter devastation and ruin to a beautiful, cozy home, you know some of the feelings we had last Saturday as we surveyed the transformation with approximately fifty friends of the ministry. When the apartment was rented just a few months ago, it was, in my opinion, uninhabitable. I can’t begin to tell you the filth and disrepair it contained. We found several dead mice, which explained the stench. There were holes in doors, floors and walls. The bathroom was scary. Every room was pretty disgusting. These pictures don’t do it justice.
Living room - at least 4 layers of wallpaper!
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