“Joy”, she said as we introduced ourselves. Joy. What a name to have when your job is joyless. Joy. The look in her eyes said otherwise. Joy. She didn’t have joy when she was crying because she does not want to be where she is. Joy. How can she have joy when she has no hope of change? Joy. We have the joy of Christ. Joy. The joy of the Lord can be her strength too.
This month Team Shekinah is working in Baguio City (pronounced baggy-o), Philippines, with a ministry called Crossover. Crossover Ministry works with the men and women involved in the sex industry here in Baguio City. Dr. Marita, Pastor Tony, Zinah, and Daisy are the main staff members. They offer alternative education classes which we will be teaching while we are here. They do prayer walks and visit with the men and women who work in the clubs. They are friends with some of the pimps and are trying to make a difference in their lives because if the pimps change then the lives of the girls that they are in charge of will change too. By the way, the pimps are women also.
This Friday night was our first night of prayer walking with Crossover. We didn’t get far. Basically we were singing and praying as we approached the street where the “walkers” are and as soon as we got on the street we began talking to the women. Joy was the fourth girl I met.
Carmen is Joy’s pimp. She is a beautiful woman and very sweet. We prayed over her and for her children. It’s hard to know, though, that she makes her living by selling girls. As we were praying for Carmen I kept watching the young girl with her. I would catch her eye and smile and I really hoped she wouldn’t get “picked up” before we had a chance to talk to her. Thankfully she didn’t and as soon as we finished praying for Carmen I turned and asked her name. Brittany, Rebecca, Marita, and I were there, and we just asked her the normal questions you would ask anyone you are getting to know. “How old are you?” “Do you have siblings?” “Do you have a boyfriend?” “Do you have children?” Okay, so I could have sworn that Joy was about 15 or 16. She’s 22. She’s my age and she’s been walking the streets every night for 6 years just to make a few pesos. We asked and she has no one that she’s supporting: Her siblings are older than her. She has no children and has never been married. She doesn’t want to be here. God broke my heart for Sheila Joy Agustin.
Rebecca received a word for Joy and shared it with her as Marita translated and Brittany and I prayed. Rebecca then shared with Joy that Jesus loves her and cares for her. Brittany then prayed out loud over her while Rebecca and I also continued to pray, and then I noticed that there was a man creeping around our circle and Marita reminded me to keep my eyes open no matter what. As we finished praying Joy was crying and told us that she would come to the English and math classes on Tuesday. I pray that she comes. Marita later told us that Joy was crying so much because she doesn’t want to be on the streets and that she really received what we were saying to her. I don’t know how she originally ended up here, but I do know that she feels like she has no hope and Jesus wants us to share with her that there is hope and that He can restore, redeem, and heal her. He wants Joy to know that He is true JOY and that is why I am here in the Philippines right now when it never crossed my mind in the last eight months that I would even be coming here. When we were getting ready to move on after talking with Joy for a little bit longer she gave us all amazing hugs and we just held her as she cried. And you know the coolest part? Marita has been working in this ministry here in Baguio for 2 years. Joy has been working the streets for 6 and they’ve never seen each other until this night. We are here “for such a time as this”.
As we continued in prayer for the area, talked to more women and prayed for them, I kept praying for Sheila Joy and looking back up the street to make sure she was still there and hadn’t been picked up. She was not picked up the entire time we were on the street. Praise the Lord for He is Good!
The women that we met and for whom you can be praying are Diana, MaryAnn, Lani, Carmen, Sheila Joy, Pearl, Joanne, and Joy (this one’s not a streetwalker, but we talked to her while she was waiting for her boyfriend…). Pray also for the men. There’s only supply because of demand and our guys, along with Tony, did a lot of security surveillance and intervention while we were talking to the women. Hearts need to change before these women’s lives can.
