Selena Gomez blaring, strobe lights flashing, a barely-dressed and barely-14 year old girl dancing on the front and center stage, overpriced Coke being served, and many, many pimps wandering, dancing, talking, provoking, touching. Couldn’t expect anything less from the dance club on the main street of Thamel marketplace after dark.
As a group of 12 World Race women, we split up, 1 translator per group, as we entered the underground club. It was traumatic to say the least.
Our task was simple in concept. Order a soda, wait for a club girl to come sit with us, become friends with her, get her phone number for our ministry to meet up with them in the future. Offer them a chance to leave their life of selling their bodies as the only means to get by. Offer them a new job. Offer them Jesus. It definitely was not that simple.
Of course, Satan chose that night to begin seeping lies into my head. Distracting me. Whispering awful things to me while I was supposed to be building a relationship with the girl sitting at our booth. The hour I needed to be on my game and in tune with Jesus is when he chose to attack. How could I expect anything less?
We sat chatting with the girl who came to sit with us. She spoke English, which was a huge blessing. We asked her about her hobbies, passions, family, aspirations, and life in general. We, in turn, answered her questions. But not me. All I could focus on was the atmosphere around me and how nauseous it was making me feel and the phrases the Enemy was prodding into my head.
Look at what I’ve done.
Look at how twisted I’ve made this place.
Look.
I was disgusted with it all. I was horrified for the girls. I was overwhelmed with the loud environment, loud and in-your-face in every way. I was overwhelmed by the reality of the situation, what an endless cycle the whole thing was. I could barely focus on the beautiful girl in front of me. I could barely focus on the chance I had to build a relationship with this girl and possibly get her our of this awful place.
The girl sitting with us was very talkative. She was lovely, inside and out. So genuine. She wanted to get to know us and hear about America. We joked and laughed and talked about her job. Jesus knew that night that I would not mentally be able to give my all to that girl though, that I was going to be so overwhelmed I could barely be present, but He gave me so much peace in knowing I could fall back on my team mates there. When I fail, they are always there to back me up and cover for me when needed. That is community, and that is true friendship. Thank you, Lily, for being an incredible leader and taking charge when I could not contribute. Thank you, Molly, for stepping out and making conversation with the girl sitting with us when I couldn’t.
After about an hour, we headed out. The girl we spoke to had given us her phone number within the first few minutes of meeting her. “I don’t really like this job, and I would like to work somewhere else if I found another job,” she told us. We’re going to get you out of here, I thought. We will.
The whole night was traumatizing. Horrific. So deeply saddening. To exist in such a raw and broken place as that dance club was disturbing. In such a good way though. It opened all of our eyes and we got to truly see some tangible effects of our work. Seeing so many of the girls we talked to want to leave the life they were in for something better was incredible. They know there is more out there for them. They know deep in their hearts that they are worth more than the dirt they are treated like. They know.
Even though we left the city the next day and could not meet with the girls again, the women at the ministry we were working with will. They will take care of these girls, and if they want to leave, they WILL get them out. There was no greater peace that night than knowing that, and knowing that Jesus sees them. He sees them, He sees their pain, He sees their hopelessness, He sees their heart and He understands. I pray that soon, those girls will see Him, see His pain, see His hope, see His heart and know that He understands them more than anyone else ever will.
