My alarm went off at 7:30 the next morning. I hit snooze and rolled over. “Where am I? Oh right, Malaysia” This quick reminder of location has become a morning ritual since being on the Race. As I began mentally running through the day’s plans, it wasn’t 10 seconds before I jumped out of bed remembering what this morning held:
Breakfast with Natalie.
After getting dressed, I headed upstairs to pray and review some of the Malay phrases my friend P.Q. taught me the night before. She wrote out several statements such as “Jesus loves you”, “You have value”, and “God has great plans for your life” and then taught me how to pronunciate consonants and vowels in Malay. Before falling asleep the night before, I also wrote down some other phrases thanks to Google translate, including Jeremiah 29:11.
My squad leader Alyssa and I met at 8:00 to grab some tea and pray for Natalie before we all met. At 8:30, I called Natalie’s phone and didn’t get an answer. We started praying that her heart would be softened so she could understand and receive the love of her Father. We prayed against shame and unworthiness, declaring that Natalie was a daughter of the King of kings. That morning God reminded me that He had been pursuing Natalie her entire life. He knew her heart and He knew exactly what landed her on the streets of Penang. Our meeting was a divine appointment set-up by him long ago. Not only was I getting to watch Natalie be reconciled back to her Father, I was able to be a part of it! I have met with and encouraged other non-believers before, but this time was different. Going into it, I knew that it was not my responsibility to rescue Natalie, change her heart or say the right words; my Father was in charge of all that.
We called again at 8:45. No answer. We started walking to our meeting location, praying along the way. Praying for Natalie’s safety and that God would protect her emotionally and physically. We asked our Father to prepare our hearts; that we would be able to listen to Him in the midst of being present with Natalie. We asked for sensitive spirits and that our hearts would be aligned with His. We even prayed against awkward silences.
At 9:00 we arrived at our meeting location. “The cat lady” was back at her post, so we spent some time talking with her, praying for her legs, and speaking Jesus’ name over her life. We stood on the steps where I had talked with Natalie 12 hours before, anticipating her arrival.
9:15. No answer on the telephone and no sign of Natalie. By 9:20 we were pretty confident she wasn’t coming. If she had worked throughout the night, I was sure she was sleeping. But the morning didn’t go to waste. The Lord had other plans.
For the next hour, Alyssa and I set on the steps that harbor many prostitutes throughout the night and worshipped Jesus. We sang truth and exalted His name above every other name, in a city where so many religions and gods can be found. We spoke into existence, the desires of our heart and the desires of our Father for Natalie along with the other girls and guys on the streets. We declared freedom, value, identity, and purpose, trusting God that our words will not return void, but instead accomplish great purposes. It was an amazing time to rest in the work of Jesus that we get to be a part of everyday.
Several hours later around 2:30 we got a text from Natalie apologizing and saying she had just woken up. That made perfect sense. I was just glad to hear from her and know she was safe. I tried to think of times we could hang out in the coming days, but another team was visiting us for the weekend; so we didn’t have much free time. I prayed that God would allow us to meet again, not knowing when that would be, but trusting He had greater things for Natalie.
Sunday night, we celebrated Alyssa’s birthday at this awesome restaurant where I stuffed my face with chicken and mushroom casserole, mashed potatoes, and tiramisu cake. Yeah, an awesome treat after being in Asia for four months. Around 10:00, my friend Cassidy who was visiting us, and I started walking back to the house when I thought of Natalie.
“Hey Cass, you wanna walk down the street and see the “nightlife” of Georgetown and look for Natalie?”
She agreed and we headed down the street several more blocks. As soon as we reached the 7-Eleven, you could see the prostitutes down the road. I saw one to my left and then looked to my right and found another.
“Wait! That’s Natalie!”
I grabbed her attention from across the street; she waved and quickly ran over to give me a hug. On a street that holds 25 prostitutes a night, Natalie was the 2nd I saw! Praise God!
We started talking but for some reason it was harder to communicate this time than before. I was trying to explain my busy weekend and she was trying to apologize for missing breakfast earlier in the week, but we weren’t really getting anywhere.
Suddenly an Indian man around 50 years old appeared who seemed to be interested in our conversation. He was also probably curious as to why two white girls were talking with a prostitute. Thankfully he spoke Malay and English, so he began translating for us and sorting out any confusion. But that wasn’t all he wanted.
He asked what Cass and I were doing in Penang and we gave the typical response “We are students on holiday”. After talking we found out that his guy was actually Australian and visiting Penang on business.
“Well, if you girls would like to meet some Australian men, my friends and I would love to have you over to our hotel for some drinks.”
Haha. If this guy even knew who he was talking to.
“No, we’re just here to talk with Natalie.”
Well homeboy wasn’t finished and had one trick left up his sleeve. He stepped closer to Natalie, spoke something to her in Malay, and then pointed to his car. He wanted to buy her for the night and take her back to his place. Was this really happening right in front of my eyes? But out of nowhere Jesus showed up. In a moment when darkness seemed so heavy, with a man blinded by sexual desire and a woman stripped of any self-worth stood face-to-face, light couldn’t have shown any brighter.
“Me no working, me on holiday with my friends.”
BOOM. I couldn’t believe it. Those are the words my sweet friend Natalie spoke to this man:
“Me no working, me on holiday with my friends.”
I wish you could have seen the man’s face. He was SO confused. Natalie pointed to Cassidy and I, and once again repeated that she was with us and was not working. Cassidy and I looked at each other completely stunned, feeling a little awkward, but overjoyed at what had just happened.
There was no doubt that Natalie was working when we saw her. Her outfit. Her location. The time of night. But before she encountered a customer, she encountered LOVE. She encountered two people who didn’t identify her as a prostitute, but loved her as their friend. She saw the smiles on two peoples faces that were so happy to see her without her having to perform. Natalie had encountered real love and that was more valuable than any amount of money this guy would pay her.
With the guy still in shock, Natalie and I crossed the street hand in hand. We were headed into the 7-Eleven to buy some ice cream when she pulled me back and said the sweetest words I have heard on the Race thus far:
“Amanda. Tonight me no working. Tonight me on holiday with you.”
To be continued…
