Some basics for those of you just now dropping in: My sister and I are about to embark an 11-month Christian mission trip to 11 different countries across 4 continents. We’re headed to: Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Cambodia, and Thailand. The work will range from country to country in partnership with established ministries in each area. We’ll work in orphanages, build churches, minister to trafficked women, and more. Between the two of us, we need to raise a total of $36,000 by October 2017.
I don’t know how old the average man is when he first visits a brothel. Maybe I should say “the average boy.” I really don’t know. Does his dad take him to become a man when he turns 18? Is it something he does with his friends, a big joke, at 16? Does he do it alone, finally old enough to be scared, at 34?
I was 17. The brothel was called “Paradise Stress Management.” It’s still there, though the red open sign hasn’t been lit in a while. 5830 Star Lane in Houston TX, only a few miles away from where my little cousin goes to soccer practice.
Paradise has pink walls. They’re hideous. It feels like being inside a bottle of pepto bismol if pepto bismol smelled like sex and incense. Still, it’s not the worse brothel aesthetic I’ve seen. The mamasan at Lily Spa painted its insides lime green.
This has become a normal part of my life. I’ve been involved in anti-human trafficking efforts since my sophomore year of college. I go into the office, where I do mostly administrative work (noble justice warrior that I am). I process donation receipts and schedule tours and make copies. Down the hall our investigator yells things like “At least we know she’s alive!” and, “No, no, I found the pimp. He goes to Denny’s on Hillcroft twice a week.”
Right now, this job is one of three I’m working to raise money for the World Race. Life is very busy right now, but this work is important training for our mission trip. When I drive around my city, I see prostitution everywhere. Still I know there are parts of the world where sex slavery is worse. Next year, in Cambodia and Romania, in Thailand and Bolivia, all throughout the World Race, we’ll be faced with human and sex trafficking. Every day I spend in Houston is preparing me. The Lord doesn’t send his soldiers out ill equipped.
Follow our instagram @gosisgo for updates on our mission trip and my work in Houston. Twice a week, in the instagram story, I post a “fighting sex trafficking looks like” post like the ones below.
