GOLD

About 9 years ago a Christian woman that I didn’t know looked at me in a group of people and called me out, and said something like…

You are going to be used in women’s lives…to help them sort things out.

You are a deep mining person.

You will go where others will not.

This type of deep mining is sacrificial, even dangerous. Just like how the mines in South Africa are miles deep into the earth, with tunnels that could collapse at any moment...you are this type of deep mining person. You will go into the depths to find gold.

Where others say, “That’s just dirt there. Why are you digging there?!”

You will say, “No, it’s not. It’s not dirt. There’s gold here. I know it.”
I will never forget these words she spoke to me. And now, more than ever, with my work in brothels or on the street, I can really relate to what she was talking about.

GOLD

Back in January of this year I was at a coffee shop and my Bible opened to Job 28:1-11. The words seemd to jump off the page to me; I couldn't help but write the entire section of scripture into my journal. Here is a portion of what I read:

“There is a mine for silver and a place where GOLD is…
…Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft,
in places forgotten by the foot of man…
…And its dust contains nuggets of GOLD.
...He tunnels through the rock;
his eyes see all its treasures.”

At that time I felt like God was calling me to go into blackest darkness and to search the farthest recesses for GOLD—for these dear women—and to bring them into the Light. But how? When? Where? If this is what He was calling me to do, He would surely show me the way.

This past August as I was praying about whether or not to join the brothel ministry, all of the sudden I was reminded of this portion of scripture. And I thought, Oh, how like a deep, dark mine are these brothels. With dark tunnels…far from where most people would ever want to walk…forgotten by the foot of man. And in these rooms, like caves in the middle of the earth, where these women work and live, there is GOLD.

GOLD

Don’t tell me these women are dirt.
They are not.
They are GOLD.
Tell a mother who holds her baby in her arms that her baby is dirt.
These women were once babies in their mothers' arms.
They were not destined for this.
They were once little girls.
Many of them are still like little girls.
They crave love, attention, LIFE.
Whether they were sold into this darkness
Or whether they chose it themselves…
It doesn’t matter.
The truth is that they are still GOLD:
Valuable. Precious. Beautiful. And that they matter.
To me.
To God.
And to their parents who must hope that
this isn’t really what their daughters are doing.