I went with a group of people the other day to a restaurant. This restaurant wasn’t typical though. This dining room has private booths with curtains that cover everything that happens inside. The price of food is about 6 times what it should be because the amount of food you order also includes the amount of “service” you receive. Men will go into these booths and order a lot of food and alcohol. The amount on the bill would determined the amount of sexual service he would receive. With 7 other women we walked into this situation with one intention – give them hope.
Although known for sexual services this type of business is a “legitimate” restaurant during the day. The dancing doesn’t start until nightfall so the girls were normally dressed waitresses when we went. The team knew this and leveraged our tourism card, going in as if we didn’t know anything about the other side of this establishment.
At first I was really hesitant to go. Not only was I a guy going to meet these women, but I was the ONLY guy. What would these women think of me? Would they expect me to do anything? Would they think I’m expecting them to do anything?
After about 45 minutes of talking and just getting to know these girls, the conversation opened up for an opportunity to share the Gospel with one particular waitress. She was resistant at first and explained that in her religion, Hinduism, everything is already destined for her and that she could not change. I explained to her and said, “we have traveled very far to come here, we have crossed land and sea and have come thousands of kilometers to your shop today. How do you know that this conversation is not part of your destiny”? She immediately got up from the conversation and left. A few moments later she pulled up a chair, sat down, and said,
“Tell me more”
I was given the opportunity to share the Gospel with this woman. Surrounded by my sisters in Christ, that were praying for me as I talked, I had the distinct privilege to be one of the only men that she encountered that didn’t expect anything in return for her company. She listened the entire time to the story of God’s love and heard about a Father unlike any other.
I believe this seed that was planted in her will change her life as it continues to grow.
As we left she pointed at me specifically and said that when we come back make sure you bring him with you. She wanted ME??? There were 7 other women that loved here and were investing in her and she wanted me. It was then that I realized that she was attracted to this love that I carried. It was a love she had never seen before.
I realized that if there is anything about me AT ALL that is attractive in the least bit, it is only because I am a dim and darkened reflection of who Christ is. There is nothing attractive about Josh Stoneman. There is only the image of God that I cary and have been imprinted with that is attractive through me. So much so that even a woman who is abused day in and day out by men would look at me and realize that there is something different about me. She knew there was something in this man that she had never seen before.
At the end of the day it’s not about me and it’s not about you, It’s about how people see Christ through you. You may be the only Jesus people get to know, make it count. A light is best utilized in the darkest places.
