The exchange rate in Philippines is 40 to 1.
The prices for everything are so different…
It’s strange to walk into a store and see a shirt for 350;
An iced coffee for 100;
A guitar for 2,000.
But, the strangest thing I’ve seen for sale here is–women.
That’s right. Women walking around with ‘name your price’ tags hanging off of their mini skirts, tank tops, and heels…
I saw it for the first time around 10:00 p.m. when we went to the “bars.”
The sole purpose of men going to these bars is to find women to sleep with.
Women sitting outside of the bars in plastic chairs hoping for a man to come by so that they can get paid… There are pimps, managers, and the girls. The money is split 3 different ways, so the girls only get a small percentage even though they are the ones being used.
I remember meeting Karen at the second bar we went to. We found out from the manager that it was her first week on the job. She was so shy and barely spoke. She sat in her plastic chair with her hands in-between her legs and looked down at the ground… She couldn’t be any older than 16 years old.
Before we went, we found out that most of them don’t give us their real names or ages, but we decided to ask Karen her age anyway.
She softly responded and said “24.”
I told her that my birthday was next month and that I would be 24 too…
But she just nervously looked away…
As we walked away, this situation replayed in my mind and slowly broke my heart.
I didn’t have a job when I was 16, but I can’t imagine my first job being in a bar. Waiting for men. Old, dirty, filthy, men to come use me for their personal pleasure just so I could get a little bit of money…
It makes me sick.
The second night we went out, we went to the streets. The difference in street ministry and bar ministry is that these girls stand in the road and cars come by and pick them up, and then will drop them back off…
We walked up as 2 girls were being dropped off by a “client.”
There were about 6 girls on the side of the road. With their pimp out in the street trying to get cars’ attention to pull over.
Our presence was being shunned. They wanted nothing to do with us.
I smiled at one girl and she laughed, said something to the girl next to her, and they both turned around, looked at me, and joined in laughter together.
I have no idea what they said, but I just wanted them to see someone with joy.
I doubt they see people with joy very often.
We walked away and I continued to pray for these girls even though we didn’t get to speak to them…
We got about 100 feet away, stopped, turned around, and watched as cars lined up one after the other for business. And I had to watch 6 girls get into car after car.
I wanted to do something. I wanted to fight. It was absurd. I just had to sit and watch these girls in the early stage of being used for someone’s pleasure.
Then I decided to ask questions to become more knowledgeable:
It still hurts me to know some of the answers I got.
Like—
- It’s a busy season because men are getting their Christmas bonus checks.
- The client can change his mind and drop the girl back off a block down the road if she isn’t good enough for him (which we witnessed)
- The younger the girl, the more expensive the price.
That is so sick.
Manila, Philippines is a hot spot for girls who have been trafficked for sex.
They are tricked and deceived. And then stuck.
They are told that if they leave, their families will be killed.
The saddest part is that more times than not, they are sold into it by their families.
So, next time you go to the store to buy a new shirt or cup of coffee, I hope that you remember that in the Philippines, there are 1000’s of girls also being bought…
Please be in prayer for my team as we continue ministering to those who have been trafficked and that we share the love and joy of the Lord with them.
