every single day is full of opportunities. sometimes you just have to be present to see that opportunity pass in front of you. my opportunities the past 2 months working and ministering in the red light district have been endlessly easy. too easy. is it so hard to tell someone that is in a broken state that Jesus loves them? Perhaps the hardest part of telling them this, is that i find my own brokenness in the process. Every single day i am in need of my Savior. I am in need of revelation of who He is to me. I am needy! there. i said it. I am so needy and yet satisfied and content in His love. I am beginning to realize that He loves the fact that we need and want to spend time in His presence just because.. well.. it truly is the best place to be.
with saying that, I would like to follow it with saying that I LOVE MY TEAM!! when you work with teams and people from different cultures and upbringings.. you know.. stuff comes out. However, the maturity that comes from my team in walking in an unoffendable heart moves us to a deeper level of wanting to see the one found worthy and pointing all the work we are able to do back on Him. It's all from Him.. it's all for Him.. and we are all in love with Him. Basically the best team ever.
ok now saying all that, let me share a couple stories just from this week. Last Friday, we went out to the windows and myself and one of the girls that is no longer working in the windows (we shall call her Sarah and she got radically saved from prostitution last year) visited some of the prostitutes (we don't like to "label" them as prostitutes but just for clarity's sake).. after talking and visiting with 3 of the girls we came to one lady that knew Sarah well (because they had worked together in the windows years prior). We told her you are beautiful, but your heart is also very beautiful. One thing to understand about our ministry, is sometimes it takes time to build relationship with them and sometimes it is right away. But we don't want to ruin relationship by telling them some fire and brimstone gospel every time we talk to them, so sometimes it looks messy.. in fact, most of the time it looks messy.. we just ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us in the words we say and that it will speak to their heart so we can continue to visit them every Friday night. After we told her her worth and beauty, we prayed with her.. held hands and prayed. There is nothing like bringing the presence of the Lord in a room, that is masked with darkness.. we bring in the light softly and it shines in us brightly! because we are in love with our Saviour and we hope they would see just a glimpse of that love.
That same night, one of the other teams came back from visiting some other windows and they shared with us that one of the prostitutes had made the decision to leave prostitution this week. We had only talked to her a few times! Such great news, it must be true.
We have come into a new wave of prostitutes in the windows, mostly because most of the girls we previously knew in the windows have moved on! Whether they have gone home or have started a new life away from prostitution, it is good news.
this was all just from Friday!
Yesterday we had our weekly Bible study with some of the girls that are still working and some that have left prostitution. They come to us because we provide jobs for them to make jewelry instead of selling their bodies. These girls need to know their value and that they have God given gifts and talents.. something that is a focus for us to remind them of who they are. My favorite part of this day, though, is when we all open the Bible together and read a chapter of the gospels. One of the girls that is still working in prostitutioneyes beam when we talk about Jesus.. and she is clearly wanting to know more about who this God is that we talk about. Please keep her in your prayers as i know God wants to bring her full revelation of what Jesus did for her on the cross and to receive Him as her Saviour. Her name is Paula (not her real name).
so that's just a few stories from this week. Tonight we will be visiting Virginia (not real name). We visit her every Wednesday night. She knows Jesus.. but needs prayer.. maybe strategy for my team and I as we all pile in to the room and listen as she shares stories of her week, not always positive ones and we sit there and listen because she doesn't have anyone else to share her heart with that she trusts. I know God wants to take her from this dark place, it's just a matter of her understanding that she can do something else with her life. Please pray for my team tonight. Blessings!
my team (me, Marleen and Clara)
#ministry #redlightdistrict #Jesus
with saying that, I would like to follow it with saying that I LOVE MY TEAM!! when you work with teams and people from different cultures and upbringings.. you know.. stuff comes out. However, the maturity that comes from my team in walking in an unoffendable heart moves us to a deeper level of wanting to see the one found worthy and pointing all the work we are able to do back on Him. It's all from Him.. it's all for Him.. and we are all in love with Him. Basically the best team ever.
ok now saying all that, let me share a couple stories just from this week. Last Friday, we went out to the windows and myself and one of the girls that is no longer working in the windows (we shall call her Sarah and she got radically saved from prostitution last year) visited some of the prostitutes (we don't like to "label" them as prostitutes but just for clarity's sake).. after talking and visiting with 3 of the girls we came to one lady that knew Sarah well (because they had worked together in the windows years prior). We told her you are beautiful, but your heart is also very beautiful. One thing to understand about our ministry, is sometimes it takes time to build relationship with them and sometimes it is right away. But we don't want to ruin relationship by telling them some fire and brimstone gospel every time we talk to them, so sometimes it looks messy.. in fact, most of the time it looks messy.. we just ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us in the words we say and that it will speak to their heart so we can continue to visit them every Friday night. After we told her her worth and beauty, we prayed with her.. held hands and prayed. There is nothing like bringing the presence of the Lord in a room, that is masked with darkness.. we bring in the light softly and it shines in us brightly! because we are in love with our Saviour and we hope they would see just a glimpse of that love.
That same night, one of the other teams came back from visiting some other windows and they shared with us that one of the prostitutes had made the decision to leave prostitution this week. We had only talked to her a few times! Such great news, it must be true.
We have come into a new wave of prostitutes in the windows, mostly because most of the girls we previously knew in the windows have moved on! Whether they have gone home or have started a new life away from prostitution, it is good news.
this was all just from Friday!
Yesterday we had our weekly Bible study with some of the girls that are still working and some that have left prostitution. They come to us because we provide jobs for them to make jewelry instead of selling their bodies. These girls need to know their value and that they have God given gifts and talents.. something that is a focus for us to remind them of who they are. My favorite part of this day, though, is when we all open the Bible together and read a chapter of the gospels. One of the girls that is still working in prostitutioneyes beam when we talk about Jesus.. and she is clearly wanting to know more about who this God is that we talk about. Please keep her in your prayers as i know God wants to bring her full revelation of what Jesus did for her on the cross and to receive Him as her Saviour. Her name is Paula (not her real name).
so that's just a few stories from this week. Tonight we will be visiting Virginia (not real name). We visit her every Wednesday night. She knows Jesus.. but needs prayer.. maybe strategy for my team and I as we all pile in to the room and listen as she shares stories of her week, not always positive ones and we sit there and listen because she doesn't have anyone else to share her heart with that she trusts. I know God wants to take her from this dark place, it's just a matter of her understanding that she can do something else with her life. Please pray for my team tonight. Blessings!
#ministry #redlightdistrict #Jesus
