“You stay here. We will come back.”
A group of us shuffled into a tiny restaurant on the side of the road. “Restaurant” meaning there were 2 tables, 3 walls, and people serving food. The dust from the roads and the spice from cooking chilies nearly choked us.
Father, allow them to get into the restaurant. Let them go in and talk to the girls who work there. Let them bring in your light and just smile through the darkness. Father, I know that you love these girls and that You are heart broken by their situations. Help us to show them Your love. Guide the words of my teammates so they say exactly the right thing to break down walls. I pray against any feelings of this situation being their fault, feeling like there is nothing better out there for them, or feeling like they somehow deserve to be in this position. I know that You have such big plans for these girls. You have handcrafted them and given them gifts, passions, and abilities. Help us be Your hands to guide them out of this situation.
We prayed and interceded for over an hour for the team that went into the cabin restaurant. We weren’t even sure if they were going to be allowed inside. If they were allowed inside, they would sit down, order something, and try to talk to the waitresses. The goal is to set up a follow-up date with the girls so that we can form relationships with them and convince them that there is more out there.
The other group finally returned. They informed us that they were allowed inside and had a date to get coffee with the 3 waitresses (who happened to be roommates). They went down the street to another place to pray while my group walked with the translator to another cabin restaurant.
We walked down a staircase and into a dimly lit room. There were a few guys standing behind a large bar. There were a few disco lights and party music playing. We were led to the opposite side of the relatively small restaurant. There were cubicles set up on each side to allow privacy. 9 of us crammed into one small cubicle and started trying to chat with the waitress. She asked us what we wanted to drink, and we all ordered Mountain Dew.
While the waitress was gone, another girl appeared and sat with us. The waitress returned with our drinks and also joined us. (We had ordered Mountain Dews for them too.) We made small talk about their families and what they like to do in their free time. We didn’t ask anything too serious; they were both a little tipsy even though it was only around 3 in the afternoon. We were glad that no other customers came in while we were chatting with the girls.
One girl told a story about going bowling. We all said that sounded fun and asked if we could all go bowling together. We set a plan to go bowling a few days later. Before we left, the waitress said that she was so happy we came because we changed the atmosphere of the room when we walked in.
We said goodbye and walked out while our translator paid for the Mountain Dews. They were overpriced because orders include time with the girls. (I wanted to make sure to tell my supporters that a little bit of the money we fundraised went to buy us Mountain Dew, and that in turn lets us tell women that they are worth more than what men want with their bodies.) Our translator met us at the bus stop and was shocked. She thought that we may not even be able to get into the cabin restaurant. However, God heard our prayers. We were allowed into two cabin restaurants and set up two follow-up dates with 5 girls. How beautiful is it to be able to bring God’s light into the darkness!
** Update: I was waiting to write this blog until after we went bowling. However, due to language barriers and miscommunications, it never came to fruition. We are trusting that we were still able to plant seeds in the hearts of those two girls. Please keep them in your prayers. The other 3 girls had coffee with the other team, invited them back for a dinner, and have all decided that they want to try to find another job. Praise the Lord!
