During PVT my mom and I went to Angeles City with an organization called Wipe Every Tear (WET). They get women out of bars who are being prostituted and they provide for them a house, 3 meals a day, free education, an allowance and if they have children or siblings they allow them to come with the women. It’s incredible.
When I was at PVT we went into the bars for 2 nights and told these women about WET. This past week I was given the opportunity to go back to Angeles City for a week and do ministry again! We left on Monday and got back Friday morning. We would start at 7:00pm with worship and then we would go to the bars between 9:00-10:00pm and get back to the hotel between 1:00-5:00am. There are typically 4-6 World Racers in a group with 1-3 Filipina women. They help us translate if the women in the bars don’t know English well. Let me tell ya a little about these amazing Filipina women. Most of them live at the WET houses and were freed from the bars. They used to be prostituted. I want you to put yourself in their shoes and think to yourself how brave they are for going back into these bars. Some of the Filipinas used to work in the same bars that we go into. They see some of their friends or even their old mamasans. It’s so incredibly brave of them to go into these bars with us. While I was at PVT, one of the WET girls I was with (we will call her Shelly because I’m not going to say her real name) waited outside one of the bars with me at 3:00am. I was waiting for a girl from the bar to get off work so I could go to McDonald’s with her and buy her breakfast. While we were standing on the side of the street, a man was staring at Shelly. He had a bar girl with him but he was still looking at Shelly up and down. I noticed it so I stood between the man and Shelly so she would feel more safe. After the man left she told me that she was scared but she still waited with me to see if my girl would come out of the bar. Shelly wanted to see the girl get freedom so bad that she put herself in an uncomfortable situation just so she could help her sister in Christ. Selfless love right there.
This past week we saw so many women physically get set free. One of the girls working in the bar took all of her belonging out of the bar and walked out with some of my teammates. The next morning the WET staff took her to her parents house so she could see them again and get some clothes for the week event called Girls Get Away. WET has provided these girls with a FREE vacation to a beach this next week. All expenses are paid, the girls just have to show up and relax. That’s what we’ve been talking about to the bar girls this past week. During PVT my friend Kelly and her mom were at a bar and they talked to a girl named (we will call her Hannah). They told her about WET but Hannah was skeptical about it so she didn’t go to the houses to check them out. On Wednesday I went into that same bar that Kelly and her mom went into and I unknowingly called down the same girl that they called down, Hannah. I talked to her about her life and we just chatted for a bit before I told her about the Girls Get Away. Kelly was in my group that night so we both had a chance to talk to Hannah about the Girls Get Away and Hannah told us that SHES GOING! And even better news… SHES GETTING OUT OF THE BARS!! She told us that she’s done there and after the vacation she wants to live at the WET houses. Isn’t that amazing?! God did huge things this past week you guys. There are many more stories that I can tell but I’d rather save them till I get home 🙂
Let’s all thank God for what He’s done this last week and celebrate these women’s FREEDOM! If we could also be praying for the safety of these girls as they travel to and from the beach this coming week. And also big big prayers for the women who are still trapped in the bars. Thanks everyone, you guys rock.
See ya in 2.5 weeks!
