I was laying in bed tonight trying to process the things I have just seen.Beautiful young ladies dressed to appease a mans appetite. It takes everything within me to not grab her by the hand, to get her off the motorcycle after she was just purchased. Let those words sink in… just purchased.
WHAT?
A friend and I were at dinner tonight and the same thing was happening. A man sitting with a lady and when the man was watching she would smile and laugh like old friends but when he would turn away and look at another woman that smile was no where to be found. Instant sadness, tiredness, death was the only look.
I cant help but think back to an outreach I did a few years ago in a strip club. I remember walking in to that place with instant heaviness weighing on me. It was dark. Spiritually and physically. I remember our only objective was to love. We handed out fresh roses a local flower shop donated. We walked in and handed them out along with bags of makeup and other things. As we were walking around passing out these things and making small talk, the question we were asked the most was ” This is nice, what church are you from?” Our response was that it didn’t matter what church we were from we just wanted to do this to show how valuable, and loved they were. Many had tears, many thought there was some kind of catch, but all received love that night, and it wasn’t by the men that occupied the club. As we were walking through the parking lot there was business cards on every car window, including ours that had a church name and times… and said something along the lines of ” Hope to see you there instead of you know where”
Really?
As if these women needed that. I remember the conversations that we had… ” I do this to provide for my son”, ” I do this to pay off my school debts”, I do this because my boyfriend just left and I am a single mom with three kids, trying to give them a life” “I do this because when I get home and my boyfriend is completely drunk and abusive, and asks how much I have made, I may not get beat that night if I bring home enough” They feel enough shame and guilt, and they may not know who this God really is because no one has actually had a conversation about His love… When we talked with these ladies they were so baffled. They didn’t understand WHY we would go into such a dark place for just them.
Let me go back to tonight. My heart is pounding. My head is spinning in a million different directions. I have tears in my eyes as I watch her ride off in the night streets, not with prince charming, but a man disguised as “a real man” and my heart hurts for these women on the street… My heart literally aches for the women who think the only value that they have is through these men. That the only definition of love is giving away pieces of one of the most important things of her body. The heart.
Now that the morning has come, I cant help but think, where is she? I have heard it said many times that its there own fault for getting themselves into this. They are no good. They are worthless. They steal peoples husbands. The list goes on. We’ve quickly labeled them as outcasts, we’ve quickly judged there look and decided for ourselves, I will not be seen anywhere near that garbage. Call it what you will, let me remind you that Jesus went to the darkest places and love shined bright. Love broke through barriers, love ran full force in the streets, not missing a beat. Love came for you and me. For the prostitutes. For the Pimps. For the johns. For the addicted. For the broken. For everyone.
Why go into a dark place for them? Because they are daughters of the Most High. They are valuable. Jesus died to set the captives free. They are fearfully and wonderfully made. They are you and me. They need to hear about a love so real. They need you and me. They don’t need you and me to tell them that there wrong, they need to see that this Jesus is not like any other “god”, drink, drug, they have ever met. That He is willing to go to the dark places just for them. To meet them where they are.
