Those of you that have been following my blog lately…you’re NEVER going to guess what this blog is about…
I met a new friend today! (that’s right! another friend blog!)
We had so much in common! We first realized that we were the
youngest in our families! I 
was able to get her to laugh because I joked that I
was always the spoiled baby. 
We had both been to Africa. We both are living in the south
of Spain. She has a family that she misses, and speaks highly of. Though I
wasn’t able to say the same was true of me, I thought it.
We both desire a good man to love us and cherish us. Someone
to share this life with. A
good man that will treat us with respect and honor.
A man that will encourage us. A man that we can love, cherish, respect, honor,
and encourage.
We both want to have children and a family. To grow old in
this life. To be happy and fully alive.
I realize that she is a fighter, just like me. We both have
a lot of hope. Hope that good
things are coming. Hope that injustice would be
right. We both pray to God and have faith. We both understand that there is
something better for us as individuals and the world at large.
We are both women.
We are both strong.
We are both beautiful.
We are both worthy.
My new friend, Viviane, is a prostitute. She is from Nigeria
and has been in the Costa Del Sol for several years now. Her smile, once you
break through the first minutes of suspicion, will light up your world. And
once she realized we were only there to listen to her, to just hang out, and to
love her (truly love her), she talked to us like an old friend.
Viviane has dreams…something I found refreshing for my
first encounter with a prostitute. She is still holding onto hope that this
isn’t all there is for her. She’s just waiting for money and a little ‘good
luck’. I don’t know specifically her situation, whether she was trafficked or
straight up lied to about a potentially ‘great’ life that somehow led to selling
her body. But that’s not what I see in her. And before I even met her, God told
me what to see in the people I would meet today–His precious daughters. And
because we’re all daughters of the most High King, I needed to find the common
ground. It’s like I’ve heard it sung, “we’re just two Indians in the same canoe�…we’re
all in this together.
I see greatness in Viviane.
I see a woman who wants more.
I see a woman that is fighting the best way she knows how.
And despite her outside appearance of lingerie and high
heels, I see a woman that captivates God with her heart of gold.
I’m excited to go back to Guadalhorce and hang out with my
new friend. I told her there were people fighting for her and others like her.
To provide a way out. A better life. That she wasn’t alone and that she was
being prayed for.
Please pray for Viviane. Pray for a way out. For hope to continue to burn in her soul. That she would realize she’s worth so much more
than a 10 Euro job. And for that matter, pray for all the people involved in
this industry…because we’re all in this together. They are our brothers and
sisters. They need hope. They need our help.
