This is gonna be a long one. You were warned lol.
So last month in the Philippines, some fellow racers and I had the opportunity to serve alongside one or both of our parents for a week for what’s called Parent Vision Trip or PVT. For this PVT, we partnered with Wipe Every Tear, whose sole mission is to extend the love and grace of God to women being prostituted in bars and clubs. They offer free housing, food, and education to any girl who will simply come. And they’re completely relying on God to fund their ministry. And when God is running and supplying a ministry, you don’t just “get by.” They’re growing and expanding almost on a daily basis. We had a one-day briefing on what Wipe Every Tear is about and what we were gonna be doing: Go into bars in the red light district and simply love these girls. No agenda, just let the love and light of Jesus shine in the darkness and let the girls know that there is a completely free way out if they’ll simply come.
Now what that would look like is going into bars with one or two racers, their parents, and one or two translators, girls who used to work in the bars themselves. We would then just hang out with them and get to know them and let them know about Wipe Every Tear. A couple friends and I may have gotten up on stage and danced with the girls. Before we would go out each night, we would spend one to two hours in worship and prayer over each other and the girls we were gonna meet. We would then break up into our pre-determined teams and hit the streets. We entered the first bar of the night. Not gonna lie, I was nervous. “How am I as a guy supposed to love these girls in a healthy, authentic way that reflects Jesus’ love for them?” There were about 50-60 girls on the stages of this 3 floor club. We decided to call 3 girls over and started talking with them. They were soo scared at first. Even from the stage, you could see the fear and powerlessness in their faces. Not a single girl wanted to be there. Most are forced to work in the bars because they don’t have enough education to get a good job and they have to help support their families.
As we talked, with the girls, they slowly started to open up and near the end of the conversation one of them mentioned that she was scared at first but now felt a lot better! A couple bars later, my friend Elle and I got to talk with a girl whose name I won’t use for her safety, but it was the name God had given me earlier while we were praying. It was a small bar and it wasn’t long before the bar owner caught on to what we were doing there and told us to leave. But not before we told her about Wipe Every Tear. She was so grateful and excited at the possibility that she didn’t have to work in the bar anymore and could go to school. We went to a few more bars and ended up staying out til about 5 am to meet a few girls at McDonalds after they got off work. We did this for 2 nights and there were about 20 girls who came to check out the Wipe Every Tear houses and I think 2 that decided they wanted to move in. Praise the Lord!! This ministry was also a testament to God’s love, grace, and redemption in my own life. There was a time when I would have had no business being anywhere near those bars. They would have just been a temptation. But now, by His power and love, I could go into a club and talk to a girl without feeling any sort of perverted attraction or temptation and genuinely love them and have my heart break for them.
They’re looking and waiting for a Rescuer. They need Someone to bandage up and heal their broken, abused hearts. They need a Warrior who will fight for them against the darkenss that wants to suffocate them. His name is Jesus and He will stop at nothing to set these girls free!
