Febrero 28, 2009

I have no words to tell you how incredibly blessed we were last night. I don't even know how to put it into words. We had prayed before going that the Lord would really confirm to us through this first meeting whether He really wanted us in this... he really did confirm! We had such sweet opportunities to talk to those ladies... God had already paved the way. They were SO open, so willing to share about themselves and for us to pray for them. It was a bitter sweet time. Bitter because it is so sad to see how young some of them are; some already have two and three kids. One of the girls is 19 and already has 3 children, her eldest being 7!! Bitter because they are abused. Bitter because several of them grew up in evangelical churches or have Christian mothers. Bitter because they have done this for years and years and years. Heartbreaking. But then so sweet... sweet because we were able to pray with them (they asked us to pray for them right there and to please tell them our message about Jesus before we gave them the gifts we took with us to give to them). Sweet because they asked us to please come back, to not be afraid of hanging out with them. Sweet because we even had a good time laughing and singing (!!!) with them. I mean, seriously. Picture this: we're in a corner of a street, talking to these girls and one of them asks if we would please sing a song to them... and she starts singing a christian song and all of them joined in, clapping away.... so here we are praising God with these women... It was totally unexpected. V. and I couldn't help it but to cry so much right there and then; such mixed feelings filled our hearts. Deep thankfulness, joy and love... and yet so much grief for these ladies who are obviously hurting. It was an amazing confirmation to sense God's pleasure as we prayed with them, told them we loved them, and hugged them . There was NOWHERE else we would have rather be than there.

 

It is a dangerous situation; it exposes us to different dangers. It is risky and yet, who said serving Jesus is safe? It reminds me of that quote from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when Lucy asks Mrs. Beaver if Jesus is safe. Nope.. he is not, but he is GOOD and He is King. :)

 

We very much desire to build relationships of trust with these ladies. They mentioned how other people have come to them, but they never stick around. We don't want that. Mrs. R. said something that really resonated with us. Our call is not only to evangelize them. We're to make disciples. And we will only be able to do that as we continue to relate to them and really befriend them. Please, if you remember, do continue to pray for these ladies. There are about 20 of them! Please pray for their salvation, for protection, for deliverance. Please pray for their families, their children. And please pray for us. We need so much love and wisdom and grace... Pray especially because my friends' parents are not believers. And they are not sure how to tell them that they are involved in this. They will not understand, may oppose to their involvement. V. is especially concerned because she lives near by and knows that a neighbor could see her and tell her parents. So she needs to talk to them but is not exactly sure as to how to do it.

 

One thing that really hit me is just how reached my country is in terms of having heard about Jesus! J, all of these girls had heard about the gospel; they had heard about Jesus, some had regularly attended evangelical churches; one or two had even been baptized. Their language clearly showed they knew the Scriptures. If they are out there is not because they haven't heard. It's so sad... 

Update: the prostitutes asked us last night if they could come to church with us tomorrow...they asked us-- can you believe it? They continue to be very open to us and the love in our hearts for these girls can only be explained as God's amazing grace poured in our hearts on their behalf. We will go pick them up so they can come worship with us tomorrow evening. Do pray that nothing would hinder them, and that we would truly have the privilege as a church to have these ladies among us tomorrow evening. 

So, my dear friend. There you have it. DO PRAY! 

Love you!!!!

--A.