THE BROTHELS: an overview

I was asked last week by the leader of our brothel team to write a brief overview of what we are experiencing in the brothels.  This is for a publication of some sort.  This is what I wrote--it's not great as this week has been busy and I didn't have a lot of time to work on it--but it's something. 

Our brothel team consists of six women. We go into four different brothels of the Reeperbahn (the red light district) once a week. Two women go into one brothel at a time, and we are usually in each brothel for 1-2 hours. We engage with an average of 150 women each week. We go into the brothels with baskets of chocolate and candy, flasks of hot cocoa (which the women love) and Christian literature in various languages.

Here is what our team is experiencing:

Favor: We are currently having great favor with a majority of the women in the brothels. They welcome our visits each week and look forward to visiting with us. One woman told us “You are like the sunshine that comes into our darkness.” Some women politely say hello, take a chocolate, and say thank you--so it is superficial but friendly. But many women we know by name and we just hang out and chat--about life, our families, food, the weather--whatever.  We also pray with the women if they want prayer and sometimes we meet outside of their work for coffee or a bite to eat.

Friendship: We have been establishing some deep relationships with some of the women, and for us this is what it‘s all about. The women invite us into their rooms, close the door, and share their hearts and lives with us. One women told us, “You are my best friends. The women in the brothel here are not my real friends--but you, you are my very best friends.”
Salvation: Thanks be to God that our team is witnessing salvations in the brothels! One Thai women who has been Buddhist her whole life gave her life to Jesus. It has been beautiful to watch her grow in her relationship with the Lord. She knows Him as her Father, and she prays to Him all the time. She asked us for a cross necklace, so we gave her one that she truly treasures and never takes off. Not only has she found the Savior but she has shared the Good News with her colleagues in the brothel as well. We gave her a Jesus Film DVD and she made all of the women watch it with her! Another woman from Bulgaria recently gave her life to Jesus. During one of our visits we gave her a New Testament--the following week we returned and she had read the entire thing and she asked for a complete Bible.  She began to share her new life with the other women in the brothel as well, as she said she couldn't contain it.  She has grown so much in her faith that she chose to leave the brothel to try and pursue a life that would please God. It has been a struggle for her, but she is in close contact with our team and we are doing all we can to help her. This is very exciting for us all.

Healing: We did have the pleasure of witnessing the Lord heal one of the women one night. When we entered the brothel, she was sick with an terrible headache and a throat so sore it hurt to swallow. We prayed for her and a few minutes later all pain was gone. She was so shocked and astounded at this that she broke out in tears, saying “Unbelievable! Unbelievable!” It was pretty amazing.

In the darkness of the Reeperbahn, a The Light is shining. It is our honor to be able to be part of God’s work here, and we would appreciate your continued prayers for our team and for the women we serve.