I can’t believe how much I love this place! Thinking about leaving make me want to cry!!! But, this week has had a great deal of ministry! I even got to stay a night in Honduras (which was AWESOME!)
Yesterday we did prostitute ministry, again. Wow. It may have been partially because I was a bit sick, but God really broke my heart. The last time we did that ministry, my heart went out to one particular woman who was crying because of the things a man was doing to her in the bar. But, this time my heart broke for a number of women. This was the first time that I was severely distraught by what I was witnessing. There was one girl in each of the bars yesterday that my heart really broke for. The first one was Carla (who is apparently married to Oscar: you can see that prostitution is often “just another job”). I asked her if she liked where she worked and she said “a little”… Ya right! In the next bar I met Natalia. She poured herself out to me and a teammate, and just cried as she said “I hate it here. I want another job so badly!” She has 3 children, and this is the only way she knows how to support them! She felt trapped, and wanted a way out. At the same bar, I watched as a man completely defiled one of the women there. My anger grew quickly, and I wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face. At another bar, I met another woman named “Carla.” This wasn’t her real name… They rarely give out their real names because that’s the only sense of identity they have left. They essentially make up a “stage name” because their lives are all an act. She was new there. She had just arrived on Sunday, actually… Her family was in Honduras, and she knew no one from this area. Another RED FLAG to tell me she was trafficked. The women are treated like worthless trash, and I just wanted to be able to do something about it. But, I couldn’t. I can’t. I can pray… But I can’t rescue them. It was a hard realization. I know that they deserve so much better…
On the way out, we met a little boy. He was probably about 6 or 7 years old, and his name was Jonathan. He tried to sell us marijuana. That’s the second time a little child has tried to sell me drugs! They are trafficked as well. I even saw his “owner” watching him. It BREAKS MY HEART. These precious women, and precious children are forced to live in captivity. Never knowing freedom. Never having a sense of self-worth! How did I get so lucky? How did I avoid all of this insane torture and degrading lifestyle? By the grace of God. Keep praying for these women… Pray for a way out. Pray for other jobs, and for alternate lifestyle opportunities to emerge. They need our prayers, and I learned just how powerful prayer really is!
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