While being in Costa Rica my team has had the honor to work with “Face of Justice.” This organization works to love on women/men involved in sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. They have 4 sections of their ministry.
Casa Esperanza– a safe house in the middle of the red light district of San Jose. Women come here in the morning to receive a free meal, hear a devotional and get small medical things taken care of. We’ve also done things like “spa days” or skits. The organization provides new bras the women can sell to make money instead of selling themselves. They also have sowing machines and lessons so that the women can sell the things they make.
Encounter– Late night street ministry. We drive around town, stopping at corners to offer prostitutes hot coffee and cookies. We have conversations about anything and everything. They really love having someone who will just listen! We pray with them and continue to pray throughout the week for their specific requests.
Casa Agape– A church for the street people and prostitutes. Normally they wouldn’t step foot in a church because of judgement but this is a safe place where they can come and hear the good news.
Casa Libertad– This is a safe house for underage girls who have been rescued from being trafficked. There are girls from ages 12-18. They take the girls to school and offer a lot of extracurricular activities such as music and art classes.
My team has been working with Casa Esperanza and Encounter. Making & serving the prostitutes breakfast, praying with them on their corner at 11pm, cutting their hair, greeting them with kisses on the cheek, it’s all been heart-breaking, inspiring, spiritually heavy and very eye opening.
When the women and men (there are a lot of transgenders) come into the safe house in the morning we get to greet them with open arms. We get to love and serve them just like Jesus would. He wouldn’t judge where they’ve been or what they’ve done; He’d love them just how they are.
Some of them are choosing to sell themselves because they believe it’s the only way they can make money to support their family. Others are being trafficked and controlled by a pimp. Both cases are heart-breaking.
Most of them are very open to sharing their stories or everyday experiences. Their words are hard to swallow. Hearing that their clients are violent, abusive and manipulative; hearing that they’ve been beaten up, left on the side of the road with no pay. It’s hard to grasp the seriousness of the things they are enduring each day.
I have loved creating friendships with these women/men. Getting to check up on things we prayed for weeks ago and seeing Gods faithfulness! (quick story: a transgender prostitute came to know Jesus and is now having a weekly bible study with the volunteers from Face Of Justice.) (another quick story: one of the prostitutes asked for prayer for her moms arm. Her mother is in Venezuela with an infection in her arm that has caused low mobility. The next week we brought her coffee and asked how her mom was doing, she said she called her on the phone that day and her arm was completely healed!!) Our team has also stood outside the biggest brothel in Central America handing out coffee and cookies. The aim of this night was to reach the clients. The people who buy prostitutes need to be shown God’s love. They are broken too; obviously hurting and trying to fill a void. Its been very powerful to show love to both sides of the equation.
Here are a few things I’ve learned by hanging out with the prostitutes:
- Knowing your identity and worth is so important! These men and women do not realize that they are chosen sons and daughters of God. They don’t understand that the way they’re being treated is not normal and not what the Lord desires for them. I think we all struggle with our identity at some point, getting lost in trying to earn love and approval; loosing sight of who God says we are. Knowing our identity is important so we can recognize the lies the world tells us. When you know your identity in the Lord you begin to unwrap gifts and talents that the Lord has given you. You begin to walk in the fullness of who God has created you to be! It’s so important to realize your self-worth. To realize that God died on the cross for YOU. And to Him, you’re worth it! They are worth experiencing real love. They are worth more than a couple dollars. They are prized possessions in the Lords eyes.
- We are called to love everybody! So many people wouldn’t want to be seen with these women. But why? Jesus loves each of these men and women just as much as He loves you and I. He values what’s in our heart over what sin or lifestyles we may be living in. (Matthew 21:31-32). God has walked me through a lot of self-check these past 9 months. Do I love everyone around me? Even the annoying ones, even the dirty ones, even the homeless, even the drug addict, even the difficult family member?? Here’s a hard, but really good quote from Bob Goff: “ I’ve spent my whole life avoiding people Jesus spent His whole life engaging.” Makes me wonder what it would look like if we chose to love all the difficult people in our lives. If we chose to love and respect even the people that we don’t think deserve it. You don’t have to be bestfriends with every person but you can show them the love of Jesus through how you treat them with dignity, intentionality and respect.
- There is always something to be thankful for! After hearing many testimonies and stories, it’s easy to get caught up in the pain and brokenness. But instead of complaining about the reality of their lives they are thankful for you taking time to stop and do something as simple as bring them coffee and have a conversation. One woman was in tears as I painted her nails on spa day. She couldn’t believe someone would want to touch her unclean hands and treat her with gentleness. I’ve also experienced this throughout the hard seasons of my life, even the darkest of times, I have something to be thankful for. I can always be thankful for Jesus choosing to love me no matter what.
These are just a few of the many things my new friends have taught me. I’m so thankful my team got the opportunity to serve and love on these women, they have blessed me immensely. Working with this ministry has given me an even deeper sense of compassion to anyone involved in prostitution/sex trafficking. It shocks me how many people are naive to the fact that this is going on ALL OVER THE WORLD. Its happening in nearly every country of the world. Its happening in your home state. It’s alarming how unaware people are of this modern day slavery. Please join me in continued prayer for victims of sex-trafficking, their pimps, the clients and everyone involved.
