Exposition
First, I want you to imagine what a pimp looks like? Maybe your perception comes from a movie you may have watched or possibly documentaries. I admit, before I came to the Philippines and worked with Wipe Every Tear (video below), I probably had a somewhat similar view. I imagined kind of a shady character with an odd colored suit. Possibly a large man with an angry at the world look on his face that wouldn’t be afraid to womp you if you disrupted business; maybe a gun in his back pocket and smoking a cigarette. Hah stereotypes. Its funny what life filled with Hollywood movies can do.
Well, the pimps around here don’t come in such a fashion. They normally weigh in at about 100 pounds and 5 feet tall. Yes, in case you were imagining a 100-pound 5-foot tall man, they are mostly women. Yes tiny little Filipino woman that are typically a little older, and good at negotiating. In fact, nearly every pimp I came across is a woman. What? I didn’t really understand, and most of these women used to be trafficked themselves. Which was shocking to me. How does that happen after you go through the turmoil of being trafficked? Maybe it was “Stockholm Syndrome” where you are a victim and you develop a relationship with your captor. Maybe the money becomes to good to pass up. I don’t really understand but I think it would be interesting to research, but that is not what this blog is about.
Rising Action
This blog is about Mary (different name), a 52 year old pimp or “management officer” that I met in The Red Light District of Manila. When we first walked up to the bar, we were greeted in the general fashion with 5 or so woman standing outside all calling to us and Mary asking if we would like to go in for drinks. Its all part of the spiel. Our general approach is to shake hands and start conversation as long as there isn't any push back from the pimp. Micah, Carly and Shari boldly jumped in and intiated with the women. In these situations I generally take the role of protector and insure the girls are safe and insure we don't step on enough toes to get an unpleasant reaction from people at the bar.
The girls were doing great and the women received them warmly which is actually the hardest part. So I started scanning the scene. I noticed that Mary was "mean mugging" the situation as this might compromise business. So i approached her in a somewhat awkward fashion along with Lalaine at an attempt to keep her at bay and buy some time for the girls to minister. The conversation started a wee bit awkward and i ran through the relatively small list of ice breaker questions. Eventually, the conversation sort of died and i could tell her attention was back on the girls, so i pressed a little harder. Felt led to ask her if she went to church. She said she went to a Catholic church and was a regular attendee to a bible study. I saw that question going differently in my head. At first I think I judged, but then I realized that for 20 something years I attended church while walking in sin. So I asked Christ to give me his heart for this women.
Climax
Conversation changed. I now viewed this woman in a different light as a precious daughter of the King, and that Christ was pursuing her so intensely in this moment. I had no choice but to speak life over her. Christ wanted me to call her into greatness. He wanted me to call down conviction. I asked her if I could pray for her. She gave me a somewhat surprised look, and said "you would want to pray for me." I nodded with a smile. "What can i pray for?" I replied. This question took a while to process, as I don't believe she has ever been asked. After a few minutes she decided she would like me to pray for "good health and long life". I nodded and began to pray. The prayer started pretty basic, I jumbled words together and manipulated the prayer to make it sound earnest. Oh how dumb I am. I imagine Christ sitting there and saying "that was adorable Travis, let me take it from here". it was then I felt led to pray identity over her and a Holy conviction. This was sort of awkward as the last thing I wanted was for her to be offended and walk away as i was praying, but i went for it. That moment when you start praying and it feels like He says everything and you hardly remember what you said. I honestly don't remember much i remember telling her how beautiful and precious she is to The Father and asking her to feel conviction for sin. It seemed to last only a minute but an hour all at the same time. When i finished i opened up my eyes hoping she wasn't mad, but to my surprise. She was crying. A lot.
Falling Action
I imagined the whole situatuion going a lot differently in my head, but God had a different plan. She cried for a little longer and conjured up the words "I am touched" and gave me a little smile. I gave her a hug and we talked for about 15 more minutes about being more involved at church and forgiving people in her past. The ladies finished talking to the girls and invited them to our Christmas party we were hosting for all the girls we had met at the bars. We said our good byes and she said that anytime I was in town I must stop by to talk. I gave her one last hug and we continued down the street.
Resolution
It is funny how God moves and works. That He placed us there on that night so that He could say something as simple as "I love you" to this woman. How He loves is remarkable. It reminded me that Christ is and always will pursue our hearts just to pour out His love on us, despite the dark sin we may be in.
How beautiful would life be if you only let His love shine through you in every situation? How amazing this World would be. I am so blessed and thankful to serve. He is worthy of all honor and praise. I pray that Mary would not only step out of sex trafficking but would one day lead other women out of the industry, and be a beacon of hope for those who are lost.
Amen
