Are prostitutes less?
Status-less?
Worthless?
Penniless?
Loveless?
Hopeless?
Shameless?
Helpless?
Are they conflicted with?
Loneliness?
Fear?
Depression?
Sexual spirits?
Longing to be loved or simply acknowledged?
Emptiness?
Lust?
Poverty?
Vanity?
Value? limited by the eye of the beholder?
Drunkenness?
Gossip?
Does God care about them? Does the church care? Do you care?
I’ve grown up knowing all about Jesus and knowing he would hang out with the social outcasts like prostitutes and tax collectors- you know the kind every one else looked down on and thought was the scum of society. Not until going to the red light district in Thailand and personally meeting a few prostitutes and others that hang out there did it dawn on me just how radical and different Jesus was and is. He didn’t condemn them- instead he pursued them. How many times did prostitutes make moves on him when all he wanted to do was point them to the Ultimate Source of Love- His Heavenly Father?
A few of the girls on my team have bought prostitutes for the night to further build relationships with them in an environment where they could be real and honest and just have fun. Wondering if Jesus ever bought a prostitute for the same reason…to show her she has value beyond her sexuality.
Reaching out to prostitutes is by far the most challenging ministry I’ve ever been part of. Every night its like we walk into hell itself- walking into darkness yet believing that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Being primarily Buddhist- most Thais have never heard the name Jesus. We’re walking into Satan’s strongholds and the spiritual darkness is intense. We aren’t coming in without a fight. We have experienced sleepless nights, feelings of depression, freaky dreams, fear, doubt, confusion, etc. Sometimes its hard to see how having a conversation will impact a life. We pray, we plant seeds and have to trust that God is moving even if we can’t see it.
Please pray ! Pray for the prostitutes, pimps, bar owners, and others involved..for their hearts to be softened to God and His gospel. To know that He has come to give them an abundant life. And pray for us- my team and I. Recently I shared that I feel the intensity of the spiritual darkness surpasses our own spiritual intensity. I’m sure that we can increase in that area by corporately pursing Christ more but also that would be an incredible thing to pray for. Also pray for a clear leading of God’s Spirit. Without the moving of His Spirit-every conversation is in vain.
