(Sorry for no pictures…bad internet connection!)
I am sitting here in the Philippines at Starbucks, casually drinking my usual Americano and reading my Bible, similar to what I would do on a Sunday afternoon in the States.
However, I know I’m not at home, because there’s a transaction going on behind me. A transaction between a 60+ year old American man and a 20-something year old Filipino girl.
My team and I have been doing bar ministry this month quite often. We’ll go to the Gentleman’s Clubs and just sit there drinking some Coke’s and talking to the girls, sharing with them the Love of Jesus in a way that they haven’t seen before, going to some of the darkest places there are. One time I even got to do the Cha-Cha Slide on stage with the girls! The men look at us funny, considering that isn’t the typical place to see 20-something year old American girls. My teammates have taken some of the dancers out to breakfast after their shifts, and are building great relationships with them.
It was hard for me to be in there though, and it’s been hard to for me to walk the streets seeing so many men from Western countries purchasing these young girls like they’re an item on the shelf of a supermarket. I’m not typically a violent girl, but punching these men has crossed my mind many times. Perhaps a dramatic slap like you see in the movies. I’d also love to see Liam Neeson break in these places and rescue every single girl. But unfortunately none of those things are happening.
Then God decided to slap me upside the head instead. He does that sometimes, when I’m particularly stubborn. Like now.
I was reading through Proverbs, and God brought me to 29:13, “The poor and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.” He told me as clear as day, “Kelly, I love the John’s.”
It’s so easy to sit back and look at these girls and say things like “they are only doing this because they don’t know their worth”, or “they don’t have any other choice”.
It’s also easy to sit and look at the John’s and say “they are disgusting old men”. Call me judgmental, but I know I’m not the only person who’s thought those things.
But in reality these girls and the John’s actually have 2 things in common: They are both hurting and lost, and they are both loved equally by Jesus.
The girls think they don’t have a way out; they are trapped by fear. That marrying an American is their only way to freedom, or selling themselves is the only way for them to provide for their families. The John’s think that purchasing a foreign woman is the only way they can find love or acceptance from a woman, because they can’t find it anywhere else.
What it all comes down to is that Jesus loves the John’s just as much as He loves me. Jesus wants to have a relationship with them, just as much as He wants a relationship with me. He died for them, just like He died for me.
Human Trafficking is a HUGE problem, and I’m seeing it firsthand. It’s more heartbreaking than I can even put into words. People are rising up all over the world for the girls, and it’s beautiful. But there’s nobody speaking out for the John’s. And I can promise you one thing: we can rescue as many girls as we want, but until we reach the John’s and show them that they’re loved by Someone else, they’re going to keep seeking it through this industry.
I don’t often cry, but fighting back the tears is quite the task as I sit here writing this. I’ve felt the Father’s heart for these men, and it’s one of the most humbling lessons I’ve ever learned. His heart is for the lost, that means every single human. Even the John’s.
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