This was probably one of the most heartbreaking but most impactful weeks of the race. Angels City, in the Philippines. My parents flew to the Phil for a week and got to do ministry with me. We worked with the ministry “Wipe Every Tear” and walked the streets of 100+ bars in the Red Light District. Wipe Every Tear offers a free education, a safe house, free food, and just a way out to girls who are stuck in the sex trade.
We stayed in a hotel that was on the same street as the bars. That alone, was hard. It wasn’t the cleanest (my mom found a cockroach in her bed), and knowing that we were sleeping in beds where some clients and girls would stay was really disturbing. At night, we would make our way to the streets and let the spirit lead us into the bars.
You hear about the sex trade and see movies that have girls half clothed dancing on poles and shaking for money, well I got to see that first hand and it was heartbreaking. I saw old white men purchasing girls. I saw young boys standing on the street selling Viagra to old men, I saw some girls standing on a stage trying so desperately to cover up there body’s with their arms. I saw men throwing up money and girls diving on the floor to get it because that could be their only income for the night. But most of all I saw broken hearts. They didn’t want to be there.
We would buy drinks for the girls so we could talk to them, and the more I talked to the girls, the more I fell in love with them. They are just like me. They have dreams, a love for their family, they want to go to school, and they want to travel. Talking to them and loving them came so easy. I didn’t see them as a “girl in the bar” or a “stripper” I saw them as a girl just like me. She just happened to be born in the Philippines.
In between talking to girls, some customers would approach me. Most asking “What are you, a young white girl, doing in a place like this?” After telling them who I was and what I was doing, lots of discouragement came my way. “You aren’t making a difference”, “That won’t work”, “You think you’re superwoman”, etc. I listened and sat there and took everything. It was a total slap in the face. They just don’t get it. They don’t get that it DOES make a difference to that one girl who might get away from it all. To that one girl who gets a second chance at life, working, making money for her kids. So no, I may not be able to save every single girl in the bar, but even if it’s just one, it’s worth it.
At the end of the week, we had 6 girls come and tour the safe houses. We got to see the “full circle” of this ministry. We visited the houses, met the girls, and walked the streets.
Never take for granted what you have and where you came from. I love those girls so much and will never forget this city. So grateful that I got to share this experience with my two loving parents.
