On Wednesday nights, we meet with Christian locals and other missionaries to take the love of Jesus to the streets of Penang. We pray as we walk, asking the Lord to align our hearts with His, as we may bring the message of Jesus and His love to the people we meet along the way.
For the past three weeks, I have spent this night walking up and down the street we live on here in Penang. It is one of the main strips in Georgetown, lined with food carts and hostels, surrounded by “Little India” on one side and a huge mall on the other. But once the clock hits 8:00 pm, part of our street takes on a whole new vibe as sex workers emerge from the shadows, offering their services throughout the night.
When I first saw this, I couldn’t believe it. For so long, I have felt called to work with men and women in the sex industry overseas; and here on the streets of Penang, that’s where I now find myself. Lady-boy’s call at men from across the street, flashing hand signals that communicate the services they offer. Indian, Chinese, and Malay women sit and stand on the steps of daytime businesses, waiting for motorcyclists to pull over and make a deal. Part of the street is “pimp-controlled” so many of the “pimps” or “moms” of the prostitutes sit within eyeshot, making sure everything runs smoothly.
It was only my second week on the street, but I already felt so comfortable! I love meeting new people, hearing their stories, and speaking love into their life; that’s what this whole night is about! Thirty minutes into the night, we were making our way down the street, mainly talking with people we had seen the week before. One of these women I had named “the cat lady”. She is an older Chinese woman, probably in her 70’s, and she stays in an apartment close by. Unlike most of the women on the street, “the cat lady” is not working as a prostitute, but spends almost all of her time taking care of street cats and nursing newborn kittens. Everyday she brings bags of cat food, baby bottles filled with milk to feed the cats. We talk to her every week and often pray for her legs, which are in bad condition, but it is usually the cute kittens that attract most people’s attention.
But that night my focus was on someone else: the girl in the tight blue dress facing the road waiting to be picked up by her next customer.
She was sitting only several feet away from “the cat lady” which made it easy to strike up a conversation. The smile on her face caught my attention, and I knew God had her sitting there for a purpose. He had been pursuing her for years, knew every detail of her heart and life, and in this moment my Father was inviting me to join Him in pursuit of His lost daughter and my lost sister.
She introduced herself as Natalie**, a 25 year-old from Indonesia. She travels to Penang several months out of the year to make enough money to support her family back home. She has 8 sisters, 4 of whom are already married, and 2 brothers. Natalie had such a sweet, innocent spirit about her that was so different from the other girls I talked with. She shared her life with me and was so eager to hear what I had to say, even though we only met moments before. What surprised me the most during our conversation, was when she ignored and waved away THREE different potential customers. Natalie had come here to work, but as we talked something greater was stirring in her soul that she couldn’t ignore.
As we were talking, I told Natalie how much her Father valued her and how she was so important that He had sent us all the way from America to tell her this. I explained to her that God took the form of a man and walked on this Earth and His name was Jesus. I told her that Jesus loved her very much and had created her for great purposes, desiring to give her peace, joy, and hope. We had talked through different truths, and I could tell she wanted more; so after talking with her for 30 minutes or so, I asked if I could tell her the story of God and she said “yes”. Not only did she verbally agree, but she even repositioned her chair, no longer facing the road, but instead looking my direction, ready to hear what I had to say.
Through the help of my friend P.Q. who translated for me, I was able to walk Natalie through the good news of Jesus, starting with perfect creation, explaining the brokenness we find internally and externally, and ending with redemption and restoration. I was even able to share part of my own story with her to give testimony to the power and love of Jesus. I shared times of when I pursued sexual pleasure in hope of what it would bring, but how it always left me feeling even more empty, lonely, dirty, and ashamed than before. While sharing my story and these emotions, Natalie started nodding really fast and agreeing verbally that she felt that same way.
As I was sharing the story of Jesus with her, it was obvious that some seeds had been planted in her past. Sometimes before I could finish a sentence or the translation was complete, Natalie would already be nodding and explaining the concept back to the translator. It was so encouraging to see the faithfulness of God and the fruit of seeds being planted in Natalie’s life even before our conversation.
Eventually, PQ and I had to leave to meet back with the group, but we were able to talk with Natalie for almost an hour! Before we left, we prayed together and I spoke the life, joy, hope, and healing of Jesus into Natalie’s life. We thanked God that He had been pursuing Natalie her entire life and would continue to pursue her after we left. What an amazing truth to rest in!
As I was walking away, something in my Spirit told me that my role in Natalie’s life was not yet completed. So I quickly turned around and invited her to come to the coffee shop I was working at the next day. But before PQ could even finish translating, Natalie interrupted and said she wanted to hang out the next day at 9am. Haha. “Okay Natalie. I will meet you here tomorrow morning at 9 am.”
I walked away not too sure what just happened and how those plans came to be, but I had a breakfast date with a prostitute my new friend Natalie the next morning and I was PUMPED!
To be continued…
**My friend's name has been changed for her privacy.
