One Life

I recall visiting the Netherlands in 2001 for the first time, I was part of a group on a European tour. It was there that I encountered formal prostituion, as a tourist attraction, in the famous red light district of Amsterdam. The girls standing or sitting, on display for all to see, on sale for anyone who had the money. When I could finally bring my eyes to look at some of their faces, I saw such incredible beauty, it took my breath away. Even then, in my B.C. days, as I call them, I felt such an awkwardness about these beauties standing in the red glow of lust. Some of them were so friendly, they smiled and even said hi. They weren't objects, they were human. Deep down in my soul, even though I left it unexpressed, I knew that these women did not belong there. 

Years later, my encounters with prostituion have zero awkwardness. Why? Because now in my A.D. days, I have Jesus Christ living in me. When He occupied the territory of my heart just over ten years ago, He drove out the spirit of lust that had controlled me for years, in my mentality, in my choice of relationships etc. I have tasted, through His sacrifice, a freedom I never thought possible, I didn't know existed until I met Jesus. His Holy Spirit taught me how to honour my body and also how to honour others. Now His love compels me to love and to love in such a way that people start to realise God is alive, He cares for me, He knows all about me, He's ready to help me. 

Our Father speaks in so many different ways, for me one of the ways He often speaks is through movies. So when I watched the movie Human Trafficking, it wasn't because I planned it, or even knew it existed. It was one night years ago, I sat on the living room floor of my cosy, comfortable cottage, on the border of England and Wales, and switched on the telly that something profound happened. I remember it so clearly. I was rocked out of my socks by the stunning reality that human trafficking was taking place in my day. Until that movie, I had no idea what it looked like to be a victim of trafficking. It was like the hand of God had reached into my hand and switched on the telly at that moment and the horror, in full colour, poured into my living room. It left me weeping aloud on the floor for hours. What can I do, what can I do God?, I cried through my snot and tears. In that moment, I would have instantly quit my job and run, run, run to the first opportunity in an effort to help any one I could, so overcome was I with a burning compassion to stop this ugliness. But it was not the time for me to go. When God spoke to answer my question, He spoke clearly and told me to sow financially into anti-trafficking work, He was specific to say into whom and how much. I love this about God, He is specific! 

The hunger to be on frontlines fighting alongside other Jesus-lovers against trafficking never left me. So fast-forward four or more years and I am with a team from Shores of Grace (www.shoresofgrace.com) on the northeastern coast of Brazil. This is a team of people from around the world that have fallen in love with God, then heard and obeyed His call to Brazil and particularly to end human trafficking. They're going to the root level, where poor families in drug-stricken favelas are fighting for their lives. As they go out in faith, God shows up, He builds friendships, He heals and He restores. This is the radical love of the Father on display, in our day. 

I joined the team for the red light outreaches too. It was happening, here I was fulfilling the desire that God birthed in my heart that night in the living room floor. The first girl I encountered was standing in the light of a corner shop, her eyes were those of someone trapped. We asked if we could pray for her and then God started to speak to me about what was happening in her heart. He showed me the pressure she was under and how she saw no way out. As I started to speak what I was hearing, the presence of God came and she started to tremble and cry. I held her then, in a long hug. I cried with her and told her that I loved her, my heart was consumed with love for her. It was intense yet at the same time I felt such a joy that she really encountered her true Father, maybe for the first time. The team has a relationship with her now and every time they see her, it gets deeper and I believe one day, she will believe and leave the streets for the life God destined for her.

On another night, I prayed for one girl who was soon getting off the streets and starting a day job! This was an incredible moment to affirm and really celebrate with this beautiful daughter of God, a whole new life awaited her. She said to us that she really didn't want to be there on the street that night, she wanted to be in her pyjamas on the couch, watching telly, safe in her home. Ah! We said, go home, you're free to go. Sometimes it's just hearing something, from someone else, that you already feel that lights the fuse of action.

Then straight afterwards her friend who was drunk said, 'Next time I'd like you to pray for me'. So I said, 'Let's pray now!'. As soon as I touched her hand, Holy Spirit gave me a word of knowledge, something about her I didn't know but God was revealing to me. As I spoke this out, revealing who God really created her to be, also prophesying that she was destined to work in social justice, a hope began to arise in her and she wasn't drunk anymore. At the end, she cried and said, 'That's exactly what I want for my life, I just talking to your teammate about it before you prayed for me'. My teammate laughed and nodded, he knew that God was doing what only God could do. She laughed as she said, 'I knew that you had something for me, that's why I asked you to pray'. The hunger for something of God was stirred in her heart when she witnessed the beauty of God's love expressed to her friend. I know she also felt Father's love as I held her and kissed her cheeks. That encounter was already prepared before the world began, it was just waiting for me to step into it. 

I have many other stories to tell of encounters on the streets, in the wee hours of the morning, when we get to pray, prophesy and hug the women selling themselves. God speaks specifically to each one, He reaches them as only He can but He chooses to do it through us. Imagine someone who has no hope of life ever changing that getting into a car in the dead of night with a stranger who will do who-knows-what-to-them, maybe even kill them, is the only option...experiencing God's love. Imagine what it feels like when you give this person a rose and tell them they're beautiful. Imagine when you start to speak about dreams they had as a little girl that only God knows but He's choosing to reveal that through you to them. That first hot fear that slides down a painted cheek speaks volumes. I believe that the fight against human trafficking, in whatever form it takes, starts with one life. One life believing it can bring the hope of salvation to another life. 

Jesus said of Himself, 'For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.' Luke 19:10. 

Hundreds of years earlier, the prophet Ezekiel prophesied, 'thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness'. Ezekiel 34:11-12.