Addie and I had the opportunity to participate in Samaritana’s weekly outreach to the prostitutes working at the bars last night, and the experience was extremely life-changing and eye-opening for both of us. We traveled by Jeepney (their local transportation which is a limo/bus with graffiti all over it) for an hour and a half to the Samaritana center where we had dinner, worship and prayer. I wasn’t sure how “bar ministry” worked, especially in the Philippines, but the way the women of Samaritana do it is powerful, effective and safe.
We had the director, Becky, stay back from outreach to be our prayer warrior/intercessor during our time out at the bars while we journeyed to some of the low-income areas of the city. We had the outreach coordinator, Kris, with us, who has built solid, good relationships with a lot of the bar owners in the past years and because of her and the rest of the women, we are welcome to minister in those locations. The most effective tool Samaritana uses to their advantage is having four women who were former prostitutes in the area but now follow Christ, come as “servant leaders” during outreach. The prostitutes trust and love the “servant leaders” because they used to work with them in the bars and they were all friends.
It’s a much easier “in” for us as missionaries to have two Samaritana staff come with us who not only know the prostitutes, but know exactly what the prostitutes are going through. Plus, the servant leaders get to share their testimony of how Jesus Christ has transformed their lives with their friends and we get to partake in that…so special, and such a joy to see!
Addie and I got to the bars and I realized they are not bars at all (well, at least by American standards). These alleged bars are actually shacks of tin on the side of the highway that are stores in the day time and then when the sun goes down, the owners put Christmas lights outside the shacks and set up karaoke on the TV and voila…they are suddenly “bars”. We made it to about six different bars total, making sure to stay clear of the bars who don’t like Samaritana and what their mission is. I was extremely surprised to see how much the prostitutes and “managers” (which means their pimps) LOVE Samaritana and their ministry. Everywhere we went that we knew was safe, we were welcomed with smiling faces and open arms. All the women were fascinated with Addie and I and kept touching our hands and faces, saying “So beautiful! Americans!! Pretty, pretty!”
all of us eating at the center before leaving to do bar ministry
