this is my joy

i love what i get to do.

as i was sitting there.. crammed in a small room in the basement of our building (the lighthouse) in the middle of the red light district.. i smiled 

i smiled because i had 4 Hungarian girls to the left of me ... and 4 Spanish girls on the right...

i smiled because they were eager to hear what i had to say and were willing to listen.. not because I was speaking.. but because of the message we came to bring.. "Jesus was the only perfect human.. He is the hero.. He is the one that takes our burdens" hmm it's as simple as that. i guess sin makes that message complicated.

Some of these girls are still in prostitution and some of them have left the job... my job isn't to make sure they leave prostitution.. my job is to love them where they are at.. pray they leave the work.. provide jobs for the ones that want to leave the job.. speak truth into their lives.. tell them about Jesus.. make disciples.

God knows exactly what these girls need..."Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her...go from now on and sin no more" -John 8:7,10

although we might not understand each other fully with words, our hearts understand each other. I am constantly reminded that it is His kindness that leads us to repentance.

i will be leading a Spanish Bible study tomorrow with some of the girls still working in the windows.. they are so ready to receive that they come even though i am not fluent! Please keep my team and I in your prayers (:

Back in the Red Light District.

It has been a few months since I have been back here and I am seeing things with fresh new eyes as well as being excited with what is going to happen in the coming weeks.

Honestly, I have been so pumped to come back with renewed energy and encouragement from people in Kansas City who are on fire for the Lord. They are burning to see His name proclaimed in the nations, to the broken, and even to the lost in their own community. I lived with the most hospitable women I have ever come in contact with (Barb Schmitz you are an angel from heaven above) and on my flight on my way here I sat next to the most inspiring guy I have ever sat next to on a plane!

All of these individuals have charged me with fresh vision and tenacity to move forward with what God has spoken over me and gifted me in in this upcoming season! 

The word that comes to mind is stewardship. As I was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, I was chatting away with the guy sitting next to me about what I do. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He said to me, "Really? That is really what you do? I bet if you asked every single person on this plane what they did, it wouldn't come close to as rad as the work you are doing.. it just wouldn't happen." I laughed at the thought and then it struck me.. oh yeah.. my job isn't that normal. And I guess when you tell someone "I work with potential victims of sex trafficking," the conversation doesn't really end there.

I didn't set New Years resolution's on a piece of paper this year--I set them on my heart. It is the awakening of my spirit to begin to recognize the gifts and talents I was born with but just failed to notice. It is loving and respecting myself because every one of us should know the best way to care for ourselves and steward what we have been given. Whether that is creative ideas to do something out of the norm, to cultivate and build relationships with your community, to love and see the best in people, to choose to not walk in an offendable heart, or all of the above--I want to steward it and steward it well!