After today, your life will never be the same...

A Note from our new Executive Director, Jennifer Cecil

Someone should have said those words to me last Sunday...
Not that I didn't foresee the change, not that my heart wasn't prepared...but sometimes the reality of certain life changes is simply foreign until you are actually walking in it.

I have mixed emotions in writing this, joy and excitement at what God is doing and His faithfulness, yet sadness at the surrounding circumstances. Laurie and Daryl have stepped down as leaders of After Hours Ministry and have entrusted the ministry to myself and the remaining board members. While the resignation of Laurie and Daryl is a great loss for us, they are acting in obedience to Jesus as they seek to put their marriage first and work on areas that have been a hindrance for them.  First and foremost we would ask you to pray for Laurie and Daryl who have been our friends, our leaders and an inspiration in many ways. Pray that God would work ALL things to good and bring complete healing and restoration in their lives.  Praise God that He had prepared my heart to step into this calling long before I knew it would come. Praise God for the amazing team of people God has brought together to serve Him in this ministry.

Some of you are not surprised at all by this news (why not?! I am!), some of you are a little surprised but not like "flip my world upside down suprised" and some of you are thinking "what in the world? how? who? what?" I know... well, again for as prepared as I was, my world has indeed flipped upside down. Although, not in a real tangible way as yet (other than the dozen boxes of After Hours Ministry supplies filling up my already full room) but in a way that is dropping me straight to me knees at the realization that God has brought me to this place and only He can lead me through.

If you know me, you know that I love to serve, I love to follow as another leads and do it faithfully. I love to be given specific tasks and to go for it. But now... the roles are reversed, while I have great counsel around me the task of leadership has been given to me. I can see God's hand in every step and know that He will use this to draw me even closer to Him. He has taken me once again out of a place that is comfortable and put me in a place where I will rely more fully on the Holy Spirit than my own abilities.

Some of you are reading this and you're still saying, "wait, wait...a ministry to pimps and prostitutes? how? why?" Great questions. When I was in college and 21 years old, during a time of prayer and personal study God broke my heart for women in prostitution, it was a piercing so deep I wept for hours and knew that I needed to pray for these women and pray about how God would use me to share with them the freedom that can only be received through Christ's shed blood on the cross. I prayed for 7 years...that is a very long time. I had no idea how God would ever bring this to pass in my life, I didn't know any prostitutes, hadn't been one, didn't know where to find one...but I continued to pray as the Lord brought it back time and again and my heart continued to be burdened.

I had been serving at a Bible College in Germany for 3 years and shortly after moving back to California I knew that it was time, I still had NO IDEA how, but it was time. Reality had just planted a church in LA and I thought to myself, "if i planted a church in LA I would reach out to prostitutes" (obviously a very normal thought...not!) and I looked up the church website....there it was, "After Hours ministry, a ministry to pimps and prostitutes"... wow! This was not a coincidence, God had led me here and I guess you could say that from that day forward my life has never been the same (although I suppose we have many of those days in a lifetime). I went to a training class a few weeks later and the rest is history.

Can I just say God is faithful, can I tell you that He gives us the desires of our hearts(that He actually puts them in there!), can I confirm for you that He truly works ALL things to good? I hope to, I hope that through my story you will see the detail of His hand in yours.

I have no idea what this means in the long-term, I have hopes and dreams for this ministry but for the moment I believe God has shown me to take it one step at a time and trust Him. I have total peace and I know He will lead, He will provide...this is His ministry.

Would you take a moment now to pray for one of the folllowing things?

• That God would be glorified not only through this ministry but even in this time of transition
• For vision and direction
• For unity in our team
• For protection over every aspect
• For Laurie and Daryl
• For humility and grace in every moment

Thank you!

"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and he shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:3-5 

the track

pessimism.
optimism.

so many ambitions.
so many lost dreams and opportunities.

turns that lead to dead ends.
promises that were never kept.

i never meant it to end up this way.
i thought i'd just try something new for a while.

hope long gone.
a fear to hope again.

innocence.
fear.
regret.
resignation.
apathy.
anger.
nothingness.

darkness and light
reality and denial

...one day
...one day
...one day
...one day i'll stop saying one day. 

Outreach

Last night’s outreach was amazing. We were able to have so many great conversations with some of the women out on the track. One was a little...different.

We ran into (I will call her “sky” for this story). She was really really drunk. When we first approached her she had a hard time making sentences. She wasn’t quite sure that she even really wanted to talk to us. Once we figure out what her name (maybe) was we introduced ourselves and began to talk to her about why she was out on the street. She began telling us that she knew who God was and all about the Bible (I think she just assumed that we were going to try and evangelize her). I eventually asked her what the problem was. Because she clearly knew all about God but was still drunk off her ass and as she was talking to us had began to form tears in her eyes.

Once I asked her that question she immediately became angry. She felt that I was judging her and trying to tell her things that it was not my place to tell her. I’ll admit that most of what she was saying to me I did not really understand because she was so drunk she was slurring her words and did not do a great job of completing her sentences. At one point when I was trying to apologize for whatever I had said that offended her so deeply she said “don’t you judge me JUDAS!” Judas? Um….my name is Julia. I am not sure how she confused those two. But she was definitely taking out her aggression about the betrayal of our Lord Jesus Christ on me.  We tried to wrap up the conversation pretty quickly after that, but it was pretty interesting/entertaining.

The next woman we ran into (I will call her “sea” for the sake of this blog) was just a wreck. You could tell she was at the end of her rope. Two of our other team members were the ones that actually started the conversation with her that lead to her decided that she wanted to get out of the game. She asked us to call a rehabilitation center and see if they would take her in. This is one of the most thrilling things I have been apart of. She was broken. She was at the end of what she knew she could handle – and we had run into her at the right time.

We got a rehab center on the line and asked if they would be able to take her since she was eager to get help and get off the street. After talking to her for a while and doing a bit of an intake, they decided that they could take her.

But here is the deal. She couldn’t go right away. She had a daughter that was in prison and she had promised that she would visit her the next day. I can understand that conflict and the desire not to disappoint your child. So she asked if the facility that we had arranged for her would take her on Saturday. We agreed, the rehab center agreed, and we all made plans to talk again on Saturday at 4:00p once she was done with her visitation hours.

It is now 7:00p and I have been calling her every half hours since 4:00p. Her phone goes straight to voicemail. I am praying that I am able to get through to her soon. I am praying that she remembers the decision she made last night. And I am praying she has the strength and courage to get out of the game.

Pray with me.

Outreach Ended Early

Last nights outreach to prostitutes was….strange. In a way I have never experienced in my three and a half years of doing this work. When we got out to the track it was scarce – hardly any people anywhere. After driving down the track for a while girls started coming out of nowhere. There were tons of them. We were excited to be able to interact with so many of the girls – most of them new. However, unlike most other nights, none of the girls were really interested in receiving the gift bags or talking with us. They were all very insistent in avoiding eye contact or concerned with getting away from us as soon as possible. One group of three women that I ran into began laughing about how they believed we were the police as they walked away from us. (as a side note: it has become very clear to me these last three years or so through this work I do that I would make TERRIBLE vice. Seriously, most people I run into on the street think I am a cop, I don’t know what it is about my look….probably that I’m so physically fit!).

The other thing that happened which was a first for us was a John started following us. We’ve been solicited before, but typically left alone as soon as a John figures out we’re not actually out there as a working lady. But this John was different, he for some reason would not stop his pursuit. We noticed him following our car as we drove off so we got on the freeway in an attempt to lose him. It worked for a while, but then he found us about 20 minutes later further down the track. Our team leader ended up making the wise decision that we needed to call it a night and leave since he seemed rather unpredictable showing up wherever we were and pulling over every time we were out of the car honking and trying to get our attention.

It was frustrating, because even as we were driving down the track to leave we saw around another 10 girls that we didn’t get a chance to talk to. Nights like that are a bit frustrating – and you feel like there is so much more you could have done. And most of all I don’t know why WE were the target of this man’s interest when there were at least another 20 girls out on the track that night, but it is what it is and I know we made the right decision in leaving. I pray for the girls we did not get a chance to talk to, that we would get an opportunity to interact with them in later weeks. And for those that think I’m vice, that I’ll eventually get to break down those walls and build some trust. And perhaps I am most thankful that I was given a glimpse into what these women have to face each evening – when they are stalked and perused by creepy men, except they don’t have the option of hopping on the freeway and heading home. 

Updates

I really just want to give thanks to the Lord for all that He has done and is doing...we have so clearly seen His hand in the last several weeks. I had written before about feeling like we were hitting a wall of sorts in our ministry, well that wall is a crumblin! I really believe it started in prayer several weeks ago. As a team we took time just to seek the Lord and His vision, He began to reveal to us our next steps but He also began to reveal to us things that were hindering. I was strongly convicted of pride, thinking I could do things on my own rather than seeking the Lord. As I and others repented of the sin God had shown us in our hearts and sought Him in prayer, we began to see a breakthrough. We were able to hear Him more clearly and truly many of the walls had come down.

2 Fridays ago we hit the streets again, this time it was just Daryl and I and two new friends from Kansas City, who are being led to start their own outreach. We were so blessed to have them out with us and the Lord (as always) did great things!

2 women in particular really stood out to us: A**** and E**** sadly, what I noticed about both was a sense of hopelessness as if every ounce of hope they might have had was stripped away by the pain they daily endured. Each girl looked as though she was merely a shadow of who she once was or who she was intended to be. I can hardly think of anything more devastating than the loss of hope.

A was very willing to talk and shared some about herself, she had been on the streets for a long time. I gave her all of our information and told her we could help her if she wanted to get off the streets. I then prayed for her and said goodbye. I have said a lot of hard goodbyes in my lifetime but the ones I experience on the street week after week are by far some of the most difficult. Everything in me wants to take the girl with me that instant, so that she will never experience the terror of what has become her life again.

When we approached E I saw the same look that I did in A...hopelessness. We asked her a few questions and then asked if we could pray for her and she said, "pray that I get off these streets".  You may think that we commonly hear that but in truth, it is seldom spoken. So, we did pray and told her there was a place we could take her anytime and gave her our number and then without a word she slowly, dejectedly walked away. It was as if she was so hopeless our offer of hope overwhelmed her and not believing it to be possible she became more hopeless even in that instant. My heart broke, as did the rest of team's. We spoke for a few minutes about what the Lord was showing us in that moment and realized we may not have made it perfectly clear that we could help get her off the streets that night. So we piled in the car and drove down to where she was. Daryl rolled down the window and asked her if she wanted to get off the street tonight and she replied by saying "my mom is coming to get me right now". Well, who knows, maybe she did call her mom (although I highly doubt it) but literally just seconds later the police pulled up and stopped her.

We all looked at each other and realized that God had answered us, maybe not in the way we had hoped, but she was going to get off the streets that night.

It is quite common for girls to go to jail and a few days later be back out on the street, my prayer is that in E's case she will not even consider it and will find herself somewhere safe where she can begin a new life. It's not too much to ask, it's not impossible, in fact it is absolutely possible with the Lord and it is His will that she be free. It is God's will that these young women have great hope in Him and that is our heart's desire as well.

Please continue to pray that we would hear from the Lord not just in long term vision but for every single decision, conversation, prayer....everything. We can do nothing apart from Him.

Praise God for all the doors He is opening:
A partnership with the Walter Hoving Home in Pasadena
Our next training class and outreach with Reformation House of Prayer in Los Angeles (December 4th) 

Unrealized Dreams

I was 19, attending a major University in California, living in my very first apartment. I had everything I could need or want, the opportunity to gain an incredible education, a strong Christian community, friends, family...truly more than I could ever ask for. This is what it was like when I was 19...

But for the girls I met tonight that life is not even a dream, it is the reality of another person that they would probably never dare to hope for. The girls I met tonight are scared, lost, confused, angry, alone, used, abondoned, hungry, tired, abused, fearful, hopeless

As I looked into the eyes of some, shook hands with others.... I couldn't help but shudder with sadness at the reality which they find themselves in (and some obviously much younger than 19). Yet I can say this, I believe by the grace and mercy of God that He offered some just a glimmer of hope tonight, a vestige of evidence that He is there and He does love them. As we shook their hand or handed them a gift or prayed over their lives there was a moment of joy that can only come from a work of the Holy Spirit in such a place of constant tragedy.

Praise God for reaching to the depths for us, praise Him that there is no length He would not go or has not already gone to set us free from sin and bring us into eternal life with Him. 

Chaos Everywhere

"From the end of the earth I will cry to you, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead to the rock that is higher than I" Psalm 61:2

I hardly know what to write after last night, it was intense. The city was filled with people and it seemed like there was chaos everywhere. Even before we hit the track we talked about how it seemed we had hit a wall in our ministry... we needed to take things to the next level, but what did that mean really? Not to say that we answered that last night, but I certainly felt it. There are just a few people I want to share about...

C****** and C****, a man and a woman walking together...at first they walked by us but then Julia offered the woman a gift bag and Daryl asked if we could pray for them. He was very excited to receive prayer and began telling us all the ways we could pray for them, mostly for her. After we prayed she said, "I know what you guys are thinking but I'm just dressed like this because it's hot"...we told her we just wanted to talk to her about Jesus and pray for her. The interesting part was that the guy with her said to her, "no, they are talking about your heart"... now, I can pretty much guarantee that she was working and he most likely had something to do with that, but there was a genuineness in him that seemed to really want to let God work.

C*** is a little older and recognized us from our times there before. She kept saying things like, "oh great, I'll be sure to tell the other girls about that" as though she was very content with her life and didn't need rescuing herself...I don't know if she really does think she is fine or if it is a cover and she will eventually let her guard down, but either way that's our prayer: that the walls would come down so Christ could come in and set her free.

V******* couldn't have been more than 14 years old, it took everything in me not to take her off the streets with me right there and then. She said she was coming from a party and didn't have the money for the train to get home, obviously she would need to "work" for the money. She said her father was in prison and apparently her brother was just down the street, waiting to meet her. I don't really know what to say, its devastating to see a young girl put in that position, most likely believing that it is her only option, and yet not even seeing as Daryl put it, "the train wreck her life is headed for". Please pray that we will be able to contact her again and that she will be open with us and be willing to get off the streets.

There is one other woman I wanted to mention, actually one of the first we saw, when she saw us she said, "not tonight, not tonight...I know God is with me, i know God" She said she would take a gift bag but didn't want to talk tonight. Isn't that how we can be? She was obviously convicted by our presence and if she wanted to continue in her sin she had to get out of there. How often do we say that to the Holy Spirit ourselves? "I know You, but not tonight...I'm going to do things my way."

We are so devastated in our flesh, so desparately unaware of our need for our Savior, so broken and hardened, so deceived...I left the night feeling so overwhelmed, like the burden was too much bear. I cried the whole way home and asked the Lord to take these burdens which I know are not mine to bear. He is so faithful, pursuing after us relentlessly, I know my heartbreak is but a glimpse of His for the lost. Would you please continue to pray for the men and women in the game, that they will come to know Jesus and He will set them free. Will you pray for After Hours Ministry, for our next steps to be made clear to us by the Holy Spirit and for the faith and the means to carry them out. Will you pray that we will see what God is doing rather than what we expect and that He will bring us in step with His plans for His glory.

Blessings to you! 

A Glimmer of Hope to a Hopeless Place

“Lord, give us your eyes to see as You see, Your heart to love”

You know how often when you pray for patience, God doesn’t simply make you a more patient person but instead gives you a circumstance that will challenge you in the area of patience? Well what if you pray to have His heart for His people? To see with His eyes? These prayers are in accordance with God’s will and He will answer, though it may be difficult to bear the results. As any other Friday night the team met up at Laurie and Daryl’s apartment to prepare gift bags and pray. Before heading out we watched a film called “Branded” that was made to show some of the realities of prostitution in America today. As we watched my heart was so heavy, none of what I heard was really new information, but it was connected to real lives and they were genuinely sharing from their hearts. This was a great way to prepare our hearts to pray for the night. The heartbreak we saw displayed in the film would greet us face to face as we hit the streets that very night.

We spent some time in prayer, seeking Jesus’ face, bringing our own weaknesses before the Lord and putting on the armor of God and then headed out.

When we arrived to the track we made what has become a routine stop at the local roach coach and of course the bathroom! Here we met Jackie. During our first interaction he was taking a can out a trash can and he said hello to us, I sensed something special about him at that moment, I guess because a lot of people don’t volunteer greetings to us. As we headed for the bathroom, we found him again, this time he asked me if I had 38 cents. Having no cash on me, I told him I did not but then asked him what he needed it for. He honestly answered, “beer”. From there I introduced myself and asked what he really needed and he began to pour out his heart, he needed God to fix things, were his words. He began to share how he was in disobedience to the Lord and he knew he needed to get right. He had left his wife just a few days before and after being sober for several years had given into drinking again. He was an addict. We encouraged Jackie that it wasn’t too late, that even though he had made mistakes he could go back, he could turn the other direction, he would never be too far from God’s grace. We prayed with Jackie and then went our separate ways.

L---- was also an addict, she was in her 40s and was addicted to crack. We were amazed at how honest everyone was with us. We talked to her about getting help, she said she had been in and out of rehab and that she knew she just had to get sick of it in order to really make it happen. It’s a hard thing to understand about the human spirit, but we almost always need to come to the end of ourselves before we turn for help…taking the more difficult path. We did pray with her and give her a gift bag and she was very thankful and kind.

R--, told us she wasn’t a prostitute…. I don’t know that that’s true but there was a greater issue at hand for our time with her. She told us that she had been close to hurting somebody that day, someone had disrespected her and if she could get rid of them then it would eliminate further problems with others. She asked us to pray for her, that she wouldn’t do it. She was weighing the consequences for her with the results of her intended actions and for the moment she had chosen not to act on her anger. We did pray for her and again we saw God’s heart as he reached out to this young girl so bound up in pride… God can overcome anything.

The next woman I’ll tell you about we like to call ‘the lady who yelled at Laurie”… we never quite got her name. She was standing with a younger girl who we had met before who was happy to see us and took a gift bag. The yelling woman, was overly kind and excited when we first approached her, giving us all big bear hugs and saying how we were giving up our time to be there, then suddenly …she switched and we were the enemy. She was asking us what we were sacrificing… God had sacrificed His Son, she was “sacrificing” her body, what were we sacrificing? She got really close in Laurie’s face and was shaking her finger at her, and asking questions about the Bible and saying things about the Bible that were way out of wack like “God’s Son and Daughter”. Laurie held her composure (as we all prayed silently asking the Lord for wisdom) and eventually we just walked away. It’s hard to say exactly what happened, it’s possible that she had multiple personalities, it seemed more likely than demonic especially because demons know their scriptures (though they use them out of context)either way… it was a unique experience!

E---- had a son who was 13 and was on trial for molesting his little sister, I cannot imagine the heartache. Yet, this is often part of the cycle these women go through, they themselves may have once been abused, the same for the pimps and it has completely distorted their view of sex and love.
L--- recognized us and asked us to pray for D----, who was pregnant. D---- didn’t want to talk with us or to pray, but L--- received us wholeheartedly on behalf of all three of them (baby too).

N----had a day job at doctor’s office and had been prostituting herself for 17 years. She did not want to stop, she liked the money. Her heart was so hard no doubt from years of giving away the precious gift of herself that God had created for such different purposes. She said she went to church and didn’t need prayer, she was fine. Isn’t that what the enemy of our souls tells us, “you are fine, this is the best you could have, it’s all up to you” and so on…

At one point we tried to talk with a girl who was standing in front of a house, there was a pimp getting in her face and so she ran inside the house. We saw a man on the porch and there was another woman standing outside. We offered her a gift bag and she abruptly said she had no need for one. Something was going on in this home and we wanted to see if we could eventually talk to someone so we waited for a few minutes, after no one came out we left. Later…. We came back down the track and saw the same girl we had first seen so we tried again, again she went into the house. There was a young man (we think either a pimp or he worked for him) outside this time and we asked him what he was doing there, he said it was his parents house (not likely), after offering prayer and gifts for him and his kids, the other man came out and we were able to talk with both of them for a few minutes and give them gifts. They didn’t open up entirely but at least the door cracked a bit…

There were more women that night, some we were able to talk with, some not, but as this is getting entirely too long I will come to a close. We are so thankful for the opportunities God gives us to see as He does, to know His heart more intimately, though sometimes it feels a heavy burden to bear, we take it right back to Jesus. He met us that night and He ordered our steps that we might in His name bring a glimmer of hope to a hopeless place and in that we take great joy and delight.

We covet your prayers for us as a team and for the men and women that we met, may we all keep Jesus as the center and find freedom in the one who alone can loose our chains.
Blessings!

“The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy.” Psalm 145:8 

Love Will Always Find an Open Door

"Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" John 4:29

Jesus tells us exactly who we are and we rejoice because of who He is...He is the one who is able to cover all our sins and we do not need to fear who we are when He comes to us, instead we rejoice and worship Him.

Tonight we went on outreach and there was a slight difference to what we were saying to the women and men we met..."we are here to reach out to men and women who are in the game" ...that one phrase let them know that we knew who they were, we didn't just happen to see them on street or think they were there for some other reason and we were going to offer them something real.

We met a lot of girls tonight, many didn't give us their names, some were very straightforward about wanting nothing to do with us, but many received our gifts, talked with us and prayed with us and there was a marked difference in their countenance when they realized why we were there. I'll tell you about just a few of them...

K***** we drove around and around to finally catch up to this girl, we would see her, turn around and she would all of a sudden be on the other side of the street, once she disappeared completely with a trick and then she was there again. At first she seemed like she was just going to walk quickly by us but when I offered her a gift she stopped cold and her face changed completely, I could see the heartbreak in her face, she immediately asked me my name which may not seem like a big deal but it was a wall coming down...not just us trying to connect with her but her connecting with us. She wanted us to pray for her but not there, so we prayed as she left.

Next we saw S**** and she was sweet but probably new to the game and was quickly joined by her friend who was not happy that she was talking to us, however; when her friend approached us and found out who we were she became very attentive and as a third girl approached she said, "so we can call you if we want to get out of this life?" yes!!! We gave them all gifts and our phone number.

S***** and C***** were together and were obviously being watched by a guy who stood nearby, so Daryl went to talk to the guy and give him a pimp track while Jen and I approached the girls. The one girl thought we were cops and pretended to be looking for the bus but when she saw us engage the other girl she came back and they both opened up to us, they wanted out and C***** especially was brokenhearted because her son had just been taken away by CPS, she began to cry and both were eager to receive prayer right then and there.

G***, when we told her we were there for men and women in the game she said, "that's me"...I really don't know if I've seen so many honest reactions in one night but it really seemed that our honesty and willingness to seek them out gave them the freedom to be honest with us.

I am so thankful that Jesus loves us based on who He is, not who we are and I am privileged to share that love with others. Praise Him for an awesome night! 

His love is real

You could say tonight began like any other night...we all met up at Laurie and Daryl's and went from there to 7-11 to pray. There were 5 girls tonight and true to form we began the night with being goofy and giggling a lot... even though we faced some hard realities tonight, our sense of joy never left and we simply enjoyed our fellowship as we were out. Some of us even got new nicknames which I could never explain in an adequate way on this blog so I won't even try. :)

When we first hit the track we saw a few girls here and there and at least 3 saw us and disappeared (sometimes...ok, almost all the time, they think we're cops and they run :/ ). Then we saw a group of three girls and Julia, Katie and Lindsey went to talk with them and give them gifts. They recognized them and were friendly but said they didn't need prayer. Katie remembered one of their names (cause she's awesome!) and the girl was blown away, praise God!

The next girl we talked to was approached by Katie, Lindsey and Julia as well and they walked with her for awhile and she began to open up, she had also seen us out there before. She said she wanted to get off the streets right then, but as they continued talking (and she found out they were serious!) she began to back out and told a story about moving back to Georgia where her parents are... it was hard to discern which parts of the story were true. The girls prayed for her and she continued on her way.

The last girl we met absolutely broke my heart, she was 14. At first she looked sort of weirded out by us (Jen and I were talking with her) then I thought she might cry. As she talked about her family and her life I could tell she didn't have a lot of hope and didn't believe much for her future. I asked her if she had a relationship with Jesus, she said yes. I asked her if she knew he loved her and she hesitated a little. I asked her if it was sometimes hard to believe that He loved her because of all she experienced, she said yes. I told her that His love was real so much that He sent us to tell her about it and to offer her hope. She definitely started opening up to us as we continued talking and then I asked her how she got there and soon discovered she wanted to go home but needed a ride, so we took her home. I do believe she was working out there but it was a little bit of a strange situation. Either way, praise God for the conversation we had and that we were able to take her safely home! Once we got her home, I prayed with her and said goodbye.

By this time it was getting late and we were way off our normal track so we decided to head home...but not without a few more laughs on the way ;) Praise God for the joy He gives!

Please continue to pray for these women and for After Hours Ministry, thank you! 

The Darkness

Last night was difficult.

I’ve spent the last two years learning about “the game” and spending time getting to know the women who are trapped in it. But sometimes when I’m on the streets and in conversation with these women it is easy to forget just how manipulated they are, how trapped they are, and how hungry they are for a new and different life. These women are good at playing the game – they talk the talk, walk the walk, and display every assurance of confidence.

But every so often you are reminded of the reality of this dark world.

Last night we saw some pimps “sweating” some girls. This is when a pimp other than the prostitute’s corners her, harasses and sweet-talks her to come work for him. They were hard at work trying to catch girls “out of pocket.” Out of pocket is when a girl talks to or gestures to another pimp without her pimp’s permission. A prostitute is not allowed to speak, look at or make any gestures to any other pimp. If she does he can say she “chose” him and try to take all her money…among other things. These girls did well and eventually got away from the harassment of this other pimp, but it was a really hard things to watch – and even harder to hear some of the things that are being said to these women.

There is a woman A* that we met a few weeks ago and had hopes of meeting up with once we got to the track. After a few texts and phone calls unanswered we figured her phone had been deactivated or something. Today Laurie got a text from her saying she had been in a car accident and broken her wrist – that’s why she was not out on the track. Incidentally this gave her time to read the brochure we gave her that had Laurie’s testimony on it (if you’ve never read about Laurie’s story…go here or watch this). She has been chatting with Laurie all day about her testimony, her family and her involvement in the game. We keep praying that the Lord will gently speak to her through our presence, Laurie’s testimony and other individuals He brings into her life.

We didn’t get to talk to very many girls last night because the cops came out and they all went into hiding. We did get to meet a sweet man M.A. that lived on the streets and then we saw L* - she actually didn’t recognize us because she was so drunk. I can only imagine the coping mechanisms one goes through living on the streets or turning tricks. But it doesn’t break my heart any less to see them turning to drugs and alcohol when I feel like there is very little I can physically offer them to ease their pain.

The most interesting thing to me throughout the night was our conversation with M.A. When we were done praying for him he wanted to pray for us. He prayed that in all things God would get the glory because he deserves it all. I love that no matter where life takes us, no matter how far we fall – the Word of the Lord never comes back null and void. Those things that we learned at a young age remain with us and come back in times we need to be reminded of the truth. 

Slow Changes

We saw about 30 girls this last weekend.

One girl, P*, could not have been older than 17 - just BEAUTIFUL, got picked up by a john right after chatting with us.

My heart breaks every time I see a girl get into a car and drive away.

Sometimes the change is so slow it hurts.

...until the last lock breaks 

Outreach 9/18/09

Because last night's outreach was so amazing - I (Laurie) just had to write!!!!

Jen C wrote a blog about the outreach and it was great - I can totally relate as far as going out later goes and about migraines... When we used to go out at 3-6am - I used to get migraines all the time - almost every week! There were more than a few times where I'd be so sick, throwing up - right up until an hour before walking out the door. That just made me mad and more determined to hit the streets because as soon as I did, I'd feel better.

There's just a little (ok, a LOT) I want to add to last night's outreach from my perspective...

I've been doing this for a little over 5 years now and have seen a lot out there. We go to different tracks and see different girls every week, different pimps - but one thing that never changes - is the brokenness we see in each girl.

The girls seem to fall in one out of these three categories:

1) A girl who is new, fresh who is being broken. She has just been turning tricks for anywhere from a week, month to 3 months... she is inexperienced and afraid. She may have a pimp who was first a "boyfriend." She "loves" him and is just turning tricks for him "temporarily." Or, a girl who was basically kidnapped and is brainwashed into turning tricks for the pimp. The pimp may drug them or let them use drugs to be able to follow through with the sex act. These girls are still operating out of fear for being beat/disciplined if they don't do what they are told. They are still learning the game, the rules of the game and are being watched at all times, controlled, manipulated and intimidated. Getting arrested, having a bad trick or experience may be enough to scare them to get out - but talking to them is difficult. They are being tried and tested, they have yet to prove their loyalty to the pimp and the game. They are afraid and the consequences of talking to us during the testing time could be fatal.

2) Then there are the girls who have been 'broken' - they know the rules, are desensitized and are "proud" to be in the game. They are "in love" with their pimp and are totally loyal to them. He is their everything - daddy, savior, best friend... they will do just about anything for him, including die for him. They are proud to be a ho and have an attitude to show it. These girls are difficult to reach, even if they are respectful towards us. It's as if there is an invisible "wall" around them which is almost impossible to penetrate. Only Jesus can speak/break through it. These girls are still beat/disciplined and hurt but they have accepted being beaten as part of the life and one of the ways their pimp shows his "love." These girls are allowed to smoke pot and drink but are not allowed to do harder drugs which may threaten to become a bigger priority over the game or the pimp. (Unless her doing harder drugs will benefit the pimp in some way i.e. if she needs to stay up all night she can do speed or if she doesn't want to turn a trick with some gross fat old man her pimp may shoot her up with heroin - but even this is totally controlled and dispensed at the pimps discretion.)

3) This third category of girls/women are those who have been turning tricks for some time (usually 4+ years) and are sick and tired. She has been stripped of all hope, many times is older and cannot compete with the younger girls. She has little or no education or skills besides turning tricks and is now addicted to drugs. At one time, this girl/woman did drugs to be able to turn tricks - now she turn tricks in order to support her drug habit. She believes that the only thing she can do, the only thing she was created for - is to have sex for money and to be used by men. She is broken and is in total bondage. She longs to be free but has no idea how to be free. She is not only addicted to drugs but is also addicted to quick money and a lifestyle that she loves and hates at the same time. If he hasn't dumped her, she may also be "addicted" to her pimp and the dysfunctional relationship they have. She has tried to leave her pimp and the lifestyle numerous times, but over and over, has continued to return to either one or the other, or both. She is open to talk with and pray with, but unless she is totally determined and has a strong support system - she is most likely to return to what she knows best.

Even when a girl has some kind of relationship with Jesus - she needs a support group, accountability and she NEEDS to be taught WHO SHE IS IN CHRIST. Her identity has to be in Jesus, her self worth must come from Him. Otherwise, she may stop turning tricks or stop doing drugs... but she will most likely continue to fall into dysfunctional relationships, not have good communication skills and/or know how to have or make boundaries... there is SO MUCH MORE to a woman coming out of prostitution than just getting out. Getting out is only the beginning.

Jen shared about C*****, who let us pray for her - who cried and told us that she knew she needed and wanted to get out of the game. She is category 3 - she is broken, sick and tired - but doesn't know how she can get out and STAY out. She shared that she has parents who have sent her money to fly back home and who want her to come home - but she always ends up going back to turning tricks, even if she stops for a while.

After we left C*****, Everette asked me what we could have done for her, what if we had taken her and put her in a women's home to get away from her pimp... I explained to him that unless that was totally C*****'s decision and we tried to talk her into going into a place/program without her first "counting the cost" - she would most likely return to her pimp and the consequences for leaving in the first place will most likely not just be harmful, but deadly. 

We also want to prayerfully consider where we should place or send a girl. There are places that specifically work with women coming out of prostitution and know how to keep them safe. It is important that the girls are sheltered, given time to heal. It is so important that they are not exploited and/or put on a platform to speak on their experiences before they have been out of the life for AT LEAST (this is just my personal opinion) two years. If haven't gone through necessary healing and learned new healthy life skills and are put on a platform too soon - it adds pressure... as well as if the girl does not have a stable and firm foundation and new identity in Jesus - their identity may become one of speaking, people's approval and performance. 

Granted, every woman and every situation is different. Had C***** been a minor - her options would have been different, or if she had only been in the life for months rather than years - it would have been different. This is where we stress how important it is that we are led by the Holy Spirit and not by our emotions or even by logic. Had I sensed that C***** was desperate to leave right then - I may have just taken her home and let her stay with us till her parents sent her money to fly home. But C***** said herself that she knew what she needed to do, she knew what the right thing to do was - but that she just needed to do it... which still doesn't make the whole situation any less heartbreaking.

Last night was amazing. "Caviar" - one of the pimps we met (the one who we saw with at least two girls and who called them a few minutes after we began talking with them) - I started asking him questions when we were standing around by the "Roach Coach" where we got the carne asada tacos...

Caviar had been staring us down when he first saw us and he looked so familiar to me after we first approached him. I asked him if he'd worked on Sunset - he said yes - then I asked him if he knew "G" and a few other players I know - and he did. I asked him how long he'd been in the game and he said "since birth." He was respectful and we spoke a bit about our neutral friends in the game - a few of the older, well respected pimps.

Whenever we are out on the street and we have the opportunity to speak with a pimp or pimps - I always go out of our way to do so. I believe that it is very important that they see that we are not intimidated by them and that they see our hearts, our reason for being out there. These young men are born leaders, called by God to be pastors, evangelists and teachers. Satan is such a liar and he knows that these men have such a calling on their lives and he does whatever he can to deceive them and keep them from their true calling.

We definitely need to start going out on the streets between 2-4am again. Maybe we can alternate teams, alternate weeks. I'm really feeling my age these days. Staying out all night really kicks my butt. I think I'm gonna go back to bed after writing this...

Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers... we really need them. Especially if we will be out later - we need prayer both before and AFTER the outreach. :-)

God is good, He is so faithful and has the power to change lives. Praise His HOLY Name!!! 

...it is no longer I who live...Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

This whole week I battled whether or not to go on outreach, I haven't felt this tired in a long time and for me being tired inevitably means migraines and I certainly like to avoid them at all costs. The last few times we have been out it has been abundantly clear that we need to go out later just as we used to because there are so many more girls out at that time. Admittedly it was nice going out at 9 and getting home by midnight or 1am, certainly made things more comfortable. The Lord asked me a few things: did I believe that it was His strength that allowed me to do all things? Was I wiliing to die to myself that others might live? yes, yes, yes Lord.... and so here our story begins

The rest of the team had a night of fellowship together before I arrive I heard rumors of Denny's and Yogurtland...seems a lot of food was involved. I know that they had a blessed time of prayer at home with Melissa and Darryl before they left and met up with me. Who is this team you ask? Most of the regulars; Laurie, Jen U., Johnny and then a newcomer Everette. 

At midnight the 5 of us set out... throughout the night we met so many people I will definitely not get the order correct so I will just tell their stories as I remember them. 

We saw a group of men standing around a car with one woman on the outside whome we had met before D***** and one woman on the inside L***. We were able to give them gift bags and bags for their kids and they were really excited about those because they said they couldn't really afford to give them anything so it was a blessing. We gave the men pimp tracks but then we realized they probably weren't pimps, but it's ok because I'm sure they understand the language to some extent and Lord willing He will use it. 

J****** was smoking something other than a cigarette and though a bit evasive at first she did open up to us and we prayed for her on the oppositie corner. 

J****** was sweet but like most of the girls we met tonight, nervous and evasive, but she was open to us which is a blessing. Seemed like all the girls were really being watched tonight, more than usual from my experience. 

T****** was on her way to meet her pimp and was nervous but still let us pray with her which was such a blessing, her heart was soft and we exchanged numbers. When she left us she met her pimp who sent her back in our direction, once we spotted him we decided to go talk to him.

On the way we met S****, she was a heartbreaking sight; wearing next to nothing and definitely on something, she was incredibly thin. She said we could pray for her but not right there but then she gave us some direction as to where to find more girls, this later turned out to be very fruitful. 

Then we finally caught up with the pimp who was watching us the whole time, he was very nice, they usually are, but while he took the track from us he sort of just rushed right by. 
Next we talked to one of his other girls C*******, who was so beautiful! She seemed open to talking to us, but he called her within 30 seconds and told her to move along or something like that so we didn't get too far. 

At this point we headed to the gas station where the famous, at least as far as Laurie is concerned, carne asade is and she had a little snack and made friends with once again the pimp from before J**** and some of the guys who were working with him, one named D********.

Next we took S****'s advice and headed down a little further than usual on the track and met C*****, this for me was possibly the whole reason we were out there last night. She was broken and hurting and we talked for a long time about what her options would be if she wanted to get out. It was sweet because she was really honest about everything, I love that, no pretenses. Pray that she will hate her sin and desire freedom and that she will run towards it. Pray that we will be able to stay in contact with her or that she will find another way to get out, a permanent way. We prayed with her for awhile and tried to offer her comfort... only Jesus will do, just Jesus. 

We decided to drive the track once more before heading home and good thing, there was a John Jam on every corner at the other end. We were able to hand out several gift bags and talk to some girls, I'm especially remembering F*** who was excited that we loved Jesus and C***** who was with her. They asked us "aren't you scared to be out here?" Laurie answered, "no, we have Jesus." amen. 
We also ran into A***** who we had met several weeks before who I just called beautiful because well, she is. Laurie and the guys got to share with her, praise Jesus. Needless to say this scene at 3am confirmed to us that we do in fact need to be out later than we have been. 

The Lord blessed us richly as He always does, He sustained us and today His mercies are new. Thank you so much Jesus, we love You. 

For His glory,
Jen C

A Street of Mixed Emotions

Hello from the streets! It has been a while. I’ve been out quite a few times since March when I last wrote, but the discipline of sitting down and documenting is something I often lack. So here I am again.

Last night turned out to be an evening of mixed emotions. While a majority of it was filled with celebration, laughter and fellowship; walking the streets of L.A. we were equally confronted with hopelessness, anxiety and fear as we looked into some of the eyes of the women we met.

Before leaving to go on outreach Laurie, Daryl, Jen U, Johnny and myself went to Sizzler together to celebrate a couple birthdays. It was a great time to catch up, relax and enjoy each other’s company. When we were finished we went back to Daryl and Laurie’s apartment to build some gift bags. We made several for the women

And then a few for the girls we meet who have children.

Jen C drop and we headed off to 7/11 where we saw our beloved “doorman,” a man that stands outside all evening opening the door for each customer that comes in and out. We were able to chat with him a little bit and grab a picture of him and Johnny. It is always a great start to the evening seeing his smiling face.

We got to the track around 10:30p and took a drive up and down to scope out the situation. There were a few girls that we saw pretty immediately so after one swipe through we pulled over and began walking.

There were several women we were able to give gift bags to. They were all very kind, but seemed eager to continue walking and move on down the street. We met F*, and two other women that were talking on the phone. The phone…typical.

We have only been coming to this track for a couple of months now. The track we were at before this one was the same way in the beginning. I almost feel as though there is a testing period where the girls try to feel out who exactly we are. Perhaps their pimps don’t like it if they talk to us and we know they keep a very close watch. But I can’t help but feel that our persistence will pay off. Just as in the last place – it was as if they eventually said “these people really aren’t going to go away, I should probably just hear what they have to say, be polite, say hello, and get some free stuff!” Continue praying for the softening of hearts so that we can engage in deeper conversation with these women.

I spotted M* from across the street. She was rather stunned when we approached her to talk. She seems very fearful and apprehensive that we would want to engage in conversation or give her a gift. Laurie asked her if we could pray about anything for her, she said that she was in the midst of moving and we could pray for that but not WITH her only once we left. So we prayed for her as we were walking away. I can still see her eyes. I pray God brings people into her life that can help her get the resources she needs. People she can trust so she does not have to be so fearful and anxious.

A couple beats down the street we saw K*, such sadness, desperation and hopelessness in her eyes. We gave her a bag that she was glad to receive. She said she was just sitting on the street corner because she was so TIRED. Laurie asked her if she was okay, with a nod of the head she mumbled “I’ll be fine” and as tears welled up in her eyes she shrugged her shoulders. Laurie asked if she could use prayer and she said no, but thanked us for the bag. I think of the whole evening K* is the one that still sticks with me. The look in her eyes cried out with such hopelessness, but I felt lost with how to help, console or empathize with her.

We were then able to run into M* who we have seen out on the track a few times. We were able to talk to her about how she was doing as well as another girl she is friends with that we have seen out several times. M* is so sweet with such a contagious personality and has such a call on her life. I pray God continues to work in and through her circumstances to bring her out and use her in powerful ways.

We then decided to make a stop at the shell station to hit the bathrooms, but it turned out to be where all the local cops were currently grabbing a Gatorade. Laurie grabbed several of our brochures and went over to introduce herself so they would know who we were and why we were out on their streets. Her and Officer Buckeye talked for 30-40 minutes about our ministry.

He took some extra brochures to hand out to the girls that they pull over and also gave us information about a couple other tracks that we did not know about.

All in all a great evening, great to be back out on the track, but hard to be reminded of the brokenness that at times we feel so helpless to ease.  

Outreach 6/30/09

Well, we got a late start today - Jen hit traffic on the way to my (Laurie's) place. We met D*****, at Kabuki restaurant on Vine and waited for A***, one of her partners. A*** hit traffic as well, so we didn't get on the road until 2pm. 

Because we were running so late, we prayed on the way to the track. We prayed that the Lord would give us divine appointments, for protection, favor, etc. 

We got off the freeway and drove down the track. We saw a random girl here and there - maybe two - spread out blocks apart. I wanted us to drive the entire track to get an idea of where most of the girls were before we parked and hit the street. 

After we'd covered most of the track, we spotted a girl on a corner and decided to to turn around, park and talk to the her. We circled a couple of blocks and came back around... looking for the girl. Not seeing her on the same corner anymore, we thought that she got picked up by a John... but then A*** and Jen noticed that she was on the ground, being beaten up by a guy!

D***** flipped a u-turn and went back to where the girl was. She was on the ground, the guy standing over her, punching her trying to get her purse. When we pulled over, she was screaming at the guy and he was ANGRY. He yelled some choice words at her and walked away with her purse. 

She ran up to D*****'s car yelling for someone to call 911. I got out of the car and ran toward the guy - so I could get a good look at him, but I was only able to see the back of his head and what he was wearing... he was a very angry young man. I saw him put the girls cell phone in his pocket... I didn't sense that I would be able to talk to him (he was too angry) but I didn't want to lose sight of him. Jen stayed with the girl (her name was Ta**sha), and I followed the guy... until he disappeared down an alley. I started to follow after him until A*** said, "You don't want to do that..." 

I wasn't going to try and confront him, I just didn't want to lose him... but following him down an alley wasn't wise, but A***'s advice was - especially because Jen told me later that Ta**sha said that they guy was armed. He didn't seem like the most stable guy. Lol.

Well, while all of this was going on, A*** was on the phone with a dispatcher, Dottie had driven around the block to meet us, Jen was still with Ta**sha, another guy was on his phone with the police and Ta**sha was as well. People started coming around and shortly after, the police showed up... we caught sight of the guy who had on a light brown/beige shirt with an orange, white stripes... he was down the street about three blocks and we told the cops where he was, on the right side of the street... 

But then we saw the cops stop another guy - on the left - Jen and I started running down the street, screaming "Go right!!!" then they put their car in reverse and came back and we told them again where we saw him... they took off but it was too late. Bummer.

By this time there were about 10 squad cars - no joke. I have never ever seen so many cops and cop cars in South Central (Daryl and I lived there for a while you know) even when there's a shooting!!! It was crazy, it must have been a slow day. There had to have been at LEAST 12-15 cops there, plus an ambulance. Ta**sha's face was pretty messed up, scraped and with a huge swollen bruise on her cheek. 

They took Jen and Ta**sha for a ride in the squad car (Jen's first ride in a cop car :-)) and the other cops went down the alley with guns drawn. Unfortunately, the guy was not caught. 

In the meantime, I had a great talk with an officer who was getting information from me - when I told him I was from Hollywood he was like "What are you doing here?" Which was a great opportunity to share with him. I told him that we were out there to give gift bags to the girls and "these" (handing him a pimp tract) - and he said, "Oh, a gospel tract?" and I asked him if he was a Christian and he said yes. He kept the tract. In fact most of the cops weren't interested in any of the other literature except the pimp tracts and a few, of my testimony tract. The cop that said he was a Christian asked what church we went to and I gave him one of the fliers that Melanie made for us with Reality LA's address on it.

He then proceeded to question D***** and A***, and I went to talk to the other officers. I handed out some more pimp tracts and then gave Ta**sha a gift bag. The police asked us one by one to see if we could identify a guy on the computer (I saw him way too briefly to say for sure if the guy in the photo was him) and Jen couldn't tell if it was him either. The guy in the photo looked more 'cleaned up' than the guy who attacked Ta**sha. He didn't look like a pimp or a runner - just like a guy who wanted to rob someone. He didn't look totally unkempt and dirty like he was homeless or anything, but he wasn't real sharp or crisp either.

D***** and A*** had an appointment at 4 and it was already after 3 - so we decided if the police were done with us, we'd get going. But I wanted to ask Ta**sha if we could pray for her... for some reason, the cops all left at the same time - and Jen and I asked her if she wanted prayer, and she said yes. I asked her (since the cops were gone) if she had been working when the guy attacked her and she said yes, with no hesitation.

Jen and I both prayed and Ta**sha began crying (hard) and we could tell by the way she was praying with us that she knew the Lord (or at least was raised in church). By the time we had just wrapped up praying, all the cops were walking back to where we were. I gave Ta**sha my number and we hugged her and said our goodbye's. 

Again, hopefully Ta**sha will call me... unfortunately, I still haven't heard from C******, the girl we met two weeks ago - we had been texting back and forth and now her phone is still disconnected. I pray that she's okay.

I wish there was more that we could do for these girls... but we were blessed working with D***** and A*** and will go on outreach with them again on Friday. They work with sex-trafficking victims and are very successful at what they do. 

God is so good - it was NO COINCIDENCE that we were at the right place at the right time - I really don't think that Ta**sha would have gotten so much help if we hadn't stopped and if so many people didn't call 911. A*** was very professional on the phone as well, which makes a big difference - compared to someone screaming, emotional and in a panic.

Please pray that Ta**sha realizes that Jesus was looking out for her today and that He LOVES her! :-)

Outreach 6/26/09

I'll (Laurie) try to make this sweet and short (my notes/blogs are sweet maybe, but never short lol).

Jen came over early and helped make up some gift bags. Julia got to our place a bit before 10pm; we loaded the car up and headed for 7-Eleven to get some coffee. :-) Then we prayed... we prayed for divine appointments, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, protection, spiritual gifts, etc. Geared up with the whole armor of God, we jumped on the freeway. 

When we got on the track, it wasn't too long before we saw an older prostitute on the east side of the street. Across the street was another, younger girl. Julia parked and she and Daryl headed south, while Jen and I headed north. I made an attempt to talk to the younger prostitute - and she was obviously scared... there was a runner (or pimp in training) who whistled at her, watching from across the street. Daryl and Julia went to go and talk to the runner, while Jen and I went to talk to the older prostitute.

Her name was M******. She must have been in her late 30's or 40's (it's hard to tell sometimes, black people age very well, just like us Asians lol). It was obvious that she had been through some stuff and was a drug addict... it is so sad because I heard this saying and it is so true... "First a girls does drugs to be able to prostitute, later a girl prostitutes so she will be able to do drugs..." This was the case for this woman. When we approached her, I asked her if she was cold (I was, but then I always am) and she said "no" (she had on a spaghetti strap dress/top). She did let us pray for her and although she was pretty distracted, she grabbed her jacket afterward and said that she was going to wear it, thanked us and walked away.

Jen and I met up with Julia and Daryl who was praying for Maurice - a nice looking 23 year old young man. Daryl had a word of knowledge and said that he saw Maurice doing some electrical work - and asked him if he had any interest in that... and Maurice shared laughed and said that he'd actually been to school for it and had even done some work on a building across the street. Daryl encouraged him to keep on striving for that, he felt the Lord really had something for him in that trade. Maurice thanked Daryl and called him "sir" and us women "maam."

We got into the car and drove some more. We saw another girl, who called herself "Lovely" - it was so sad, she said that she was 22, but she looked so young... and she looked so unhealthy... she looked sad too. She said that she was hustling and she also asked if we had any money - I told her that we didn't have any money to give her but that we wanted to give her a gift bag. She was surprised and said that she couldn't pay for it - and we told her that we were just giving it to her. She thanked us... I asked her if she had a pimp and she said no, just a "boyfriend" (that would be her pimp). She looked SO SAD!!! She said that she wanted to get out of the life but that she needed money... I asked if we could pray for her and she said to pray for her later (when she was gone)... she just looked so sad...

We drove around some more and saw a girl and John pulled over by the police. We watched as the cops let the John go and then talked to the girl for a pretty long time. We waited for a while and then decided to drive some more and come back - it's great when we can talk to a girl right after the cops just cut her loose, especially if she's shaken up a bit.

By the time we came back to see if they were still there, the cops and the girl were gone. But then we saw two more girls. Jen and I got out of the car and talked to another girl named K*****, 23 years old. She said that she didn't have a pimp, that she worked alone. When I asked her if we could pray for her, she said that she didn't want to get emotional. I told her that my number was on the matchbook in the bag we gave her and asked for her number, for her to call me if she ever wanted prayer.

Ran into another older woman with a glass eye, named A**** - she admitted that she was working and she thanked us for the gift bag.

Drove around some more, saw another girl who we discovered on closer examination was a young man (he looked pretty good though) and we were able to talk to him a bit and by the time Julia dropped us off at home, he called to find out more about what we do. He had said that his cousin had been murdered by the "Grim Sleeper" (serial killer) a few years back...

The last girl we talked to was talking to a John - who ended up driving away. When she saw Jen and I she was obviously scared - I was able to give her a gift bag and that was about it - a car slowed down and two guys were in it. They said something and then kept driving - then a black car flashed it's headlights at us a couple of times... I think it may have been the girls pimp and he was trying to let her know that he didn't want her to talk to us, so we left. No sooner had we walked away then the cops swooped - not on us (although I wished they had - we could've given them our tracts and told them about the ministry) but they seemed to stop to get the girl (and hopefully, her pimp). She was scared. Her eyes showed fear.

Anyway, we left after that. I could have gone all night if I didn't have to pee and if we weren't all pretty sleepy. All in all, it was a pretty fruitful night! Praise Jesus! :-) It's crazy cause I had never met any of these girls before - there must be SO MANY prostitutes working out there - it is SO RARE that I have met the same girl more than twice - over a five year period. SAD!!!

Please pray for these women, our hearts are broken for them and Jesus' so much more! 

Outreach 6/12/09

I (Laurie) want to write this all out before I forget - not feeling well all day yesterday then remembered outreach at night. (Never feel good the day of outreach) Didn't get to sleep before the outreach except for maybe 1/2 hour - got a text from a woman who had said that she wanted to go on outreach days previous and when I text to tell her when and what time to show up she text me like an hour 1/2 before outreach and said she wasn't coming. In my half asleep/dazed state I thought that the text was from Jen, my ride - so I text her "Kind of glad you canceled, don't feel well" then changed, washed my face and was getting back into the bed when I realized the text was not from Jen. I got back up, changed and got ready to leave just in time. I text the other woman and told her of my mistake and said that with all the crazy stuff happening all day the enemy must not want us to go out so now I was going and excited about it.

Jen picked me up and we went to 7-Eleven to get coffee and something to eat (when I don't sleep I seem to get HUNGRY to compensate) and when I paid for my food the guy at the register gave me $5.00 change back from my debit card... I had noticed that 2 cups of coffee and some sushi (yes, sushi) was over $11.00 and I was wondering why it was so expensive but he said I must have accidentally asked for $5.00? When we walked back to the car and this homeless guy named Gerry was asking for money and I asked Jesus if He had me get that extra five bucks out to give the homeless guy and I felt like He said yes and that we were supposed to go and talk to Gerry. We got out of the car and started talking to Gerry, long story short, ended up giving him the money and praying with him...

As we were praying/talking with Gerry an unmarked car of three police officers pulled up and went into 7-Eleven. We waited for them to come out so we could ask them if they knew where the hookers were since they were scaring them all away... they asked us if we wanted to see a tourist attraction lol and we said no and explained why we were out there. Well it was cool cause they did tell us a couple of new areas and asked for our contact info and told us to be careful. Awesome.

We went back in the car and started to pray that Jesus would show us where to go, where the girls were etc. and saw a pimp SUV, black Escalade with bling bling rims pull into the 7-Eleven parking lot. We had seen a girl earlier walking around and she didn't look "typical" of the girls out there but when the pimps pulled out of the parking lot, we followed them. They were following the girl! We saw them stop and one of them got out of the car - the Escalade drove away... Jen and I parked and got out of the car to follow the girl... the pimp (runner - young guy) was walking toward us and I introduced myself and gave him a pimp tract... he said his name was "Michael"...

Jen and I almost ran to catch up to the girl and when we finally did, we introduced ourselves and just asked straight out how long she'd been out there and she was pretty shaken up - earlier a trick had robbed her with a sawed off shot gun and took all her money - her pimp got in a car accident and couldn't pick her up, then those guys in the SUV were harassing her, trying to break her... long story short we asked her if there was anything we could do to help her or if she needed a ride and she said she did... she was not too far away so we took her to where she wanted to go (we thought we were taking her home but she actually took us to another track, yay!) and we were able to talk to her the entire time... she was pretty receptive because even though she was shaken up she still wasn't willing to give up the lifestyle... but it was great her name is H**** and she was a Jehovah's witness (did not have a relationship with Jesus)... we were able to pray for her and tell her that she could have a personal relationship with Him...

Okay (back track) while we were getting into the car to take H**** to where she wanted to get dropped off - "Michael" comes over and starts saying stuff about how H**** was this and that and that we were taking her away (the whole time he was talking he had this weird fake smile - honestly he looked like he had "visitors on board" if you know what I mean) and when I mentioned the name JESUS his whole smiley demeanor changed and he said, "Jesus is in all of us, even me" and that his real name was N****... he kept trying to stick his face in the car and I just said "God bless you goodbye..." (smile) 

Well we arrived (in the ghetto) and as soon as we finished praying with H****, guess who pulled up? The Escalade/SUV. N**** was hanging outside the window and he yelled, "That's the Jehovah's witnesses that took that H****!" I turned around and said, "JEHOVAH's WITNESSES??????? Where did you get that from? We aren't Jehovah's Witnesses!!! We are born again Christians!!!" Then he said that he was a Baptist... I forgot the drivers name but he called us over and started asking us questions - he even asked me if I used to be a ho and I said yes and he was totally respectful (I know that sounds contradictory but seriously, I took no offense when he asked me if I used to be a ho cause he didn't say it in a demeaning tone or anything) and then he asked for one of my tracts and said "God bless, be careful out here" and left.

By this time there were pimps and girls everywhere, girls all over the street, pimps driving in their bling bling cars up and down the track flipping u-turns... Johns everywhere... ugh. Jen an I got out of the car and started handing out gift bags and one of the girl recognized us from another track we go to. One girl on a bike asked me if we were lost because we looked so out of place - another car full of pimps said, "Look at the couple of 'squares'" (people who aren't in the game).The cops came out (but didn't stop any of the girls - pulled over cars) - girls were running around down side streets and a helicopter was flying around - two tricks tried to get me and Jen's attention and I let them know that we weren't working and that we were out there for the girls and Jesus... there were literally cars and vans pulled over on the side streets (one van parked behind us - oh man I did not need the visual - ugh) and it was just a crazy immoral frenzy of perversion out there.

On the way home we ran across a VERY drunk guy in the middle of the street with his bicycle all bent in the street - we pulled over and I asked him if he needed help... he was SO DRUNK and I helped him get his bike out from the middle of the street...

Okay I'm fading fast and need some sleep... all in all the night was amazing, H**** and I exchanged numbers and she said that she was going to call me for sure (they all say that so we'll see) but I have her number too so I'll call her too... I LOVE IT when it's crazy like that on the streets. It's a rush. God is so faithful - He totally answered our prayers for divine appointments and He led us to where there were TONS of girls!!! I wish it was like that every night we go on outreach - these kinds of nights are what I live for... I mean this is what I LOVE!!! It was an amazing, awesome night!!! Praise Jesus!!!

Outreach 5/1/09

It was a slow night - but we did have a divine appointment with a girl named M****. 

When we first got out on the track we saw M**** walking by herself. We continued driving around to see if there were any more girls out.

While driving' we saw a squad car at & Eleven, which wasn't a very good sign - that usually scares everybody away pretty quick.

But it didn't seem to scare the Johns away!!! There were tons of them and once they saw Julia and I (Laurie) walking they would slow down and the way they looked at us, we KNEW that they were looking for girls. Ugh.

We wanted to get to talk to M**** - we saw her turn down a side street while two guys (young guys, probably in their mid 20's) walking in the opposite direction, notice her and turn around. They followed her down the street, and, well... let's just say, they did business.

Julia and I circled the block, saw M**** coming back up across the street with the two guys following her not too far behind. I waved at M**** and asked her if I could give her a gift bag. She looked at me with a funny look on her face and asked, "Why?" and just stood there. When Julia and I made it across the street she asked again "Why?"

I said, "We want to give you this bag and let you to know that you're special to God." 

She immediately softened and said, "I'm sorry for talking like that." I laughed because it wasn't like she said anything but "Why?" and I said that I didn't blame her because probably we looked like we were stalkers or something. Lol.

I introduced myself to her and told her that I used to prostitute... she asked, "what church do you go to?" I told her and then I asked her if she had a pimp and why she was working and she said that she had a son. I asked her how old her son was and she said, "four DAYS." Both Julia and I were pretty taken aback.

To hear that was heartbreaking!!! I wanted so much to (immediately) help her somehow... she asked if she could have my number, I gave it to her on one of our matchbooks and she said that she would call me today. I wanted to get her number so I could call her, but she said she didn't have a phone at the time. Please pray that she calls!!!

Another John pulled up and she said that she had to go but that she would call me - and she also said, "I do want to change my life..." and then she walked away and got into the John's car.

:-( Please pray for her, and continue to pray for J****** - I tried calling her number and it was disconnected. Ugh!!! 

Outreach 4/17/09

Jesus is so good. Tonight Julia and I (Laurie) went out on the track to hand out gift bags... We saw a number of pimps driving around in their Cadillacs, Chargers, Mercedes etc. with bling bling rims, but only two girls. After praying and driving around a bit, we parked.

A young lady walked by our car - she looked like a newby - she pretty much stood out like a sore thumb. At least to us. We could tell that she hadn't been out on the track for very long.

We walked up to her and introduced ourselves and told her that we wanted to give her a gift bag. She thanked us... I pretty bluntly told her that she was very "obvious" and that she'd better be careful because she would get busted if the cops saw her. 

I can't remember everything we talked to her about but I do remember asking her how long she had been turning tricks (only a couple of months) why and what she needed the money for, if she had a pimp (no), if she wanted to do what she was doing (of course not, none of us ever do - unless we lie to ourselves)... and let her know that she still had a chance to get out now - because the longer she continued to prostitute, the harder it would be for her to stop. I shared with her that I used to prostitute and that after four years I couldn't believe that I was STILL turning tricks. I told her that if she didn't like it now, that it was only going to get worse, she'd get hardened, calloused and raped (if not worse) at one point if she didn't stop.

She started crying and we asked if we could pray for her. She said "Yes, please." After praying for her I felt led to ask her if she knew Jesus as her Lord and Savior and she said that she's "tried" - and I explained that it wasn't about trying, that Jesus WANTS a RELATIONSHIP with her. I explained a bit about the difference between religion and RELATIONSHIP. I don't remember all the details of what I shared with her but eventually asked her if she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart to be her Lord and Savior.

She said she didn't know how but she wanted to, so I led her in a prayer. She was crying and we prayed as cars were stopping and cruising by, three guys walked by us "Hey girls" and it was a bit distracting but we made it through. :-)

Let me just make the point that it is not usual for us to pray with a prostitute on the street to receive Jesus - we aren't trying to create "Christian Hookers" - leading these women to Jesus, giving them assurance that they are going to heaven while they can continue to turn tricks and the only difference in their lives is that they are 'saved' yet still living the same. We want to be able to disciple the women, pour into their lives... the only time I pray with a woman to receive Jesus is if we feel led by the Holy Spirit - sometimes an "urgency" - who knows, maybe the next car the woman gets into may be her last... otherwise we want to build relationships with them. 

Anyway, we asked the girl, J****** what her practical needs were - she pretty much 'couch hopped' and didn't really have a stable place to stay. I told her about the some good programs we know and gave her their numbers, as well as my number. I got hers as well so I can follow up with her. 

She told us some of her immediate needs and we were able to give her $30 of Target gift cards to help her out. She was very grateful and shared that she just wanted to make some money so she could save up (she starts college in June) and after talking to us she was just going to turn in for the night. She had a friend who lived down the street from where she was working the track and who was letting her stay the night.

We hugged her goodbye and after we parted ways - Julia and I spotted a cop car, spot lights and three people up against the way about a block away from where we were. Perfect timing. :-) J****** got off the street just in time. 

What a good God we serve. Please pray for J******, she is only 19 years old. I pray that she will go to a program.