WE MADE IT TO OUR ISLAND! Pictures to come soon, I promise. God has been too kind.
Yesterday we went to the beach for the afternoon. Did I mention I’m living in paradise? This is one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been to. There’s white sand everywhere and the water is a gorgeous clear teal-y blue color.
I’m not a beach girl. I’d choose mountains over the beach any day. But man, God is doing some work to change that. Like giving us a beautiful, world-class, nearly empty beachfront. And then handing down some snorkeling equipment from our missionary friends Julie & Jim so we could see the beautiful fish straight out of Finding Nemo that were swimming 10 feet below us.
So we spent the afternoon building a BOMB Coliseum sand castle, complete with a self-sustaining moat. I mean, I don’t want to brag, but it was awesome.
As we spent time on the beach, various couples walked past us. One was this insanely tan old couple. Like really really tan. Like the gross kind of tan. Leathery. Are you getting the picture?
Mostly, though, we saw older white men with young Filipino women.
Most were men who had bought these girls to do whatever they wanted, whether that was a walk on the beach or favors to cure urges and loneliness in the night. Puerto Galera, Mindoro is a popular destination for this type of activity.
Amidst perfecting our moat, another of these couples walked by and Michael made a comment I’ve been chewing on all day.
“I wonder how lonely that guy has to be to travel here and buy that girl.”
I have always been a huge advocate that when it comes to prostitution and sex trafficking, the men need to be focused on more. I think the root of it all is the hold Satan has on men, on the ones God called to lead.
But for some reason, I had spent the last 3 days feeling disgusted by each man that walked past me with a girl a third of his age. Which is a pretty natural inclination, but just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s right.
We walked up to the pool to swim and two of these couples were there, one in the pool, and one had just arrived.
The couple that had just arrived stood in the middle a bit, then the man gave all his stuff to the girl and got in himself. She stayed out.
Just close enough so we could say hi
Her name is Glessa and she’s 19. She’s from the Island of Mindanao where her entire family lives. She has 4 brothers and 2 sisters and her family is really close (like most Filipino families). She is beautiful, like you stare at her for a little bit because she’s that pretty. She’s dyed her hair a lighter color- kind of a chestnut, as opposed to the dark, dark black/brown most Filipino women have.
Kent, the Canadian she was with, bought her in Mindanao and has taken her with him on his vacation across the island. This is their last stop, Puerto Galera for 5 days.
Granted the way she said it was, “I am here on his vacation.”
Kent ended up joining the conversation from the hot tub. He’s a 50-something Canadian from a small town outside of Vancouver, less than 20,000 people. He lives by himself in a secluded house that over looks the beach on one side and the forest on the other. He travels a lot. He kept saying “we” go here and there, but never revealed whom the other part of “we” was.
And as this man spoke, I wanted to talk to him. I found myself wanting to love him, not spit on him. I wanted Kent to know True Love, the love only my Father can give, rather than the fleeting lust he indulges in in every country around the world.
As we went to leave, I so badly wanted to save them both from the trappings they’d caught themselves in.
Glessa, her beauty, youth, and poverty making her think this was the only option.
Kent, his age, loneliness, and money making him think this was the best option.
In that moment, God revealed a little more of His heart to me, sharing the deep value He sees in ALL the people He created.
My heart doesn’t just hurt for the prostitute.
My heart breaks for the man who thinks he needs one.
