You know those times you’re creeping on Facebook or Insta(gram) or whatever you’re on and you find yourself on somebody’s page. This somebody is your friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s cousin who you have spent the last thirty minutes going through their pictures from 2008. How did I get here?
This, dear friends, is how I stumbled upon the mission that changed my life. (You can’t make this junk up)
I started by following this girl on Insta, who I have zero connection to (friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s cousin, remember?) and was mesmerized. This girl was living, breathing, speaking Jesus! Why can’t we be friends in real life?! (Well, probably because she lived a zillion miles away and had no idea who I was! Again, friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s cousin) Over the course of a few months, I see that she is involved in a non-profit who helps rescue girl’s from the sex trade in South East Asia. I followed them too- that’s a sweet gig. Two years later, I find myself on a missions trip with that same organization, Wipe Every Tear. By some random (but not actually so random, because Jesus) flittering on the inter-webs, I found myself in a place that would irrevocably change my life.
For three nights in the Philippines, we went into the heart of the red light district to buy girls. You read that right. We bought girls drinks and talked with them for hour. We danced and laughed and talked about their dreams. Did they have dreams? Did they want to go to school? Did they want to be a doctor or a teacher or a police officer? Many of them didn’t see much of a future for themselves outside the brothels.
Let me be very frank here and say that I hated every second of the Red Light Ministry. I hated it. I dreaded it. I cried in my hotel shower when we got back from the bars and scrubbed my skin raw trying to get the stench of the bars off. I cried before we left the hotel because I was sad and heartbroken and angry and a whole mess of other feelings. And still, I felt like I was supposed to go. So I did.
Then, day three came.
Much like the third day after Jesus’ death, the stone that had been blocking the light from me had been rolled away. God heard the cries of my heart and sent me a very sweet messenger.
“I prayed to get out of this job. I prayed and prayed for rescue. You were the answer to my prayer.”– a sweet Filipina sister of mine walked away that morning and joined freedom.
The Lord taught me a very vulnerable lesson in the Philippines that day. A lesson that even today, I still find myself chanting to myself when I find myself in the valley, as I am finding myself today. Sometimes, saying yes is hard. Sometimes, saying yes, and being bold, hurts. But saying yes is always worth it.
One of my Filipina sisters asked Kenny Sacht, founder of Wipe Every Tear, “What if you never said yes? None of this would be happening. I would still be working in the bars”.
Maybe you can’t see past the discomfort or the fear. Maybe there is a financial burden that keeps you from putting that first foot forward. But let me tell you- your yes could change the world.
In saying Yes to the World Race, AGAIN, I find myself at a cornerstone of uncomfortable. Prayerfully asking for donations, again. Having hard conversations, some more, still really awkward. But the Lord has shown me time and time again, your yes can change the world. It’s all worth it.
So here we go! Here’s to being uncomfortable! Here’s to being brave! Here’s to doing the thing you never thought you could! Here’s to being bold! Here’s to being humble and hungry for Jesus!
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”-Romans 8:18
