L O V E

it's usually after midnight when i am on the bus ride home from the brothels.  sometimes as i process through the night i am haunted or broken hearted.  other times i am pensive.  often i am just plain tired! last night i was smiling.

a while back i had a friend ask me about our work in the brothels.  he asked me a certain question that has stuck with me.  he said something like, "so when you go into the brothels do you tell the women that they are in sin and that they need to repent for what they're doing or they will go to hell?"  yes, he really said this. i almost fell over--not just because of the question but also because he was completely sincere in his asking.

i responded something like, "no, we don't tell them that. they don't need to be told that what they're doing is wrong and that God thinks so too. they already know that. what we do instead is LOVE them.  we LOVE them in any way we can. and we trust that the LOVE of God will draw these women unto Himself." 

the bible tells us

"Above all,
 L O V E each other deeply,
 because love covers over a multitude of sins." 
 1 Peter 4:8

it's true. no matter what any of us have done, no matter how dark in nature, His LOVE is greater still, and it can transform even the hardest of hearts. 

it is our honor to LOVE these dear women with the deep, tangible LOVE of God. and it is because of the power of this great LOVE that i came home smiling on the bus last night. 

because of His L O V E,

* K.'s eyes lit up to see us after we hadn't seen her for months.  we laughed and talked like old friends do.

* M. gave me her phone number so we can meet for coffee. we met about a month ago and just clicked. for these women to agree to met outside of work is huge.

* G. and N.'s faces were beaming with gladness when we walked through the doors. G. said, "where were you last week?!" (we both had taken the night off, which we rarely do) i said, "i was on a little vacation, but we missed you! it is so good to see you! (and it was). and G. said back, "we missed you, too."  (these are also the girls, along with their co-workers, who, on two different occasions, have applauded at our arrival. clapped. can you believe it?)  faces beaming, because they have been receiving His LOVE.

* it was R.'s birthday and she welcomed us into her room, as she does each week. to celebrate, i baked her a heart shaped brownie-cake. as we were singing her happy birthday, the glow from the candles was upon her sweet face, and at that moment, her sweet smile was the most beautiful thing in the entire world.

this is what we gave R. for her birthday.
i told her, this is how i see you:
pure & lovely

* although A. is usually happy and upbeat, last night she was not. she welcomed us into her room and said, "girls, i need your help. i need you to pray for me. i don't know what's going on, but my life is going every which way, and i feel very low. please pray." so we did. and as we did a song came to my mind and i told her i wanted to sing it for her. i warned she and my friend, R., about my voice--and thankfully neither of them have good singing voices either :). so i snuggled up right next to A. on the edge of her bed. as i crossed my legs, she put her hand in between my two knees. i thought nothing of it. so i sang the song over her, and as i did, she cried. when i finished, she said, "see where my hand is? i always do that with my mom." then she said, "you know what, for the past few days i've been thinking. what ever made me start to do this work? never did i think i would end up doing this. but you know what i realized? if i never did this, i wouldn't have come here, and i would have never met you and R. and it's because of you both that i now know that God is real." i said, "just so you know, God would never have you do this work and send you here so you could know His LOVE. but no matter what choices we make--good or bad--He uses all things for good, and He is always there, loving us, trying to get our attention."

* O. was sitting in her room, reading her bible that we gave her as she was waiting for customers.

i said, "are you liking it?"

"oh yes."

"what do you like to read most? the old testament? the new?"

"oh, i like it all. i flip back and forth.  our neighbor when i was growing up, you know, was a christian. she would share with me. so i've read the bible before." (you see, LOVE has been pursuing her her whole life)

i have to share with you what she told me--this story really makes me smile ear to ear.  a few weeks ago O. was, again, reading her bible as she was waiting for customers. a man and his friends came in, and he was shocked.

he said something like, "what are you reading there?"

"the bible."

"the BIBLE?"

"yes."

"how can you be reading the bible in here?"

"why not?"

"well, it's a brothel! and you're a prostitute!"

"so?"

"well, i read the bible!"

"oh. well then why are you in here, in a place like this?"

--silence--

"are you okay? is someone forcing you to do this or something?"

"i am totally okay. no, no one is forcing me to do this."

"something must be really wrong if you are sitting here in a brothel reading a bible. do you need help?"

"no."

"really, i can call the cops if someone's hurting you."

"no, really, i'm fine. thank you."

and he just couldn't get over it. he walked away with his friends, going upstairs to the other girls, yelling about how he couldn't believe she was sitting there reading her bible. he approached the next girl, A., and told her that some girl downstairs was reading a bible.  little did he know that A. loves to read her bible, too, and had it right there to show him (sounds like he needed to go home and read his!) again, only the LOVE of God is doing this work in these women's hearts.

Oh love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Love wash over a multitude of things
Make us whole
There is a love that never fails
There is a healing that always prevails
There is a hope that whispers a vow
A promise to stay while we're working it out
So come with Your love and wash over us
    --from Sara Grove's song When It Was Over

Smiling because of His LOVE,
Krista