She linked arms with mine as we made our way out of the hotel and toward Walking Street. It was her first time out since she’d left the bars 10 months earlier. She was nervous. She kept close and kept her arm interlocked with mine, and though she was nervous she was excited to share how the Lord had delivered her. How God took her from a life of slavery and gave her hope, freedom, and the future that she desired.
The second night in bars was a little different, but in a good way. We had another Wipe Every Tear girl with us and we hit a new bar. This bar was bigger, more girls, more room, more stage, and a little more overwhelming. I sat beside my new Filipino sister and observed our surroundings. In front of us, a mamasan sat with a customer, and called up women to flirt with him as he decided who to keep at his side. Men entered the bar one after another. Then the center stage… as I observed the girls on stage, I looked into their eyes. I saw eyes filled with fear, eyes filled with embarrassment, and then eyes that were dark and empty.
When I looked down from the stage, I noticed my Dad. He was talking to a mamasan and a waitress. As he laughed and talked with them I could see the love of the Father. His conversation and laughter wasn’t to gain from these women, it was to give to them. He was demonstrating pure love from Father God. As I watched him talk to the women, it was as if he were talking to me or my sister, or his friends and family. There was no agenda, no judgement, just love.
I looked to my right, and saw my Momma and Alli talking to one of the dancers they had call down. They asked her about her family, her hopes, and her dreams for the future. Momma smiled, encouraged, and held her as if the young woman she had just met were her own daughter. Then I turned to my new Filipino sister, and in that moment I saw how vast the family of God is. Growing up in church I knew that the family of God extended beyond my parents and sister, but in that moment He gave me his eyes to see the dancers, waitresses, mamasans, bouncers, the buyers, everyone in the bar and on walking street as His children, because they are, whether they know it yet or not. I also got the opportunity to know my Filipino sisters.
To sum it up, my experience with the Parent Vision Trip was incredible! I got to see my parents in a different light through ministry together, through learning about/seeing their growth, and being able to share my growth with them. Oh, and my Filipino sister who clung to my arm… She got to share, with several women, how the Lord has blessed her through Wipe Every Tear since leaving the bars.
