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26 Dec 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, 0 Comments

Christmas Journal Entry


Scarlet Hope Christmas Report
Scarlet Hope – Journal Entry #67 – December 23rd 2009

Mathew 1:21 “She shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is He who shall save his people from their sins”

This was our 2nd Christmas in the clubs and God just keeps bringing forth his Love and Power!   The broken and ones deemed unlovely cry out for what God sent to seek and save the lost!   For he did not send his son for the righteous but for the broken!   We are only a mere small portion of the body that God used to bring celebration of the birth of Jesus to these women and men in the clubs.   We can’t thank you each enough for your prayers, donations and support that made it possible to bring gifts of Love and a meal to our friends in the clubs this Christmas Season.

Thank you and Many Blessings, Loving Him,  Rachelle Starr

Club 1 Hannah D. Reporting
Team: Amy, Brittani, and Kamille
Thank you Lord for giving us Jesus so we can be in a relationship with you. What an incredible Evening! It was a celebration of Christmas and our love for the girls on Wednesday night. We went to the club with cars FULL to the brim with food and presents for our precious ladies. We dinned on Honey glazed ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrot sulfate, Corn pudding, coffee and dessert! The love and prayers that go into the food that is prepared for these women blows me away. All the girls presents were packed with a bible, a blanket, a Psalms 23 bracelet, and some yummy baked goods! Every girl got a present and every staff member got a stalking. The women who had children got presents for their kids too.
On this night we stayed at the club for over 2 hours! Which is awesome because we don’t always get to spend that much time with the girls. We just had so many awesome conversations one after another with new and old friends that we’ve met over the past year. A lot of the staff kept speaking of how “they could not believe that we’ve been coming faithfully every week for the past year to the club!” They spoke about last Christmas when we came and brought presents too.” They are all so shocked by what we (God) does every week!
Kamille and I had had a very interesting conversation with a patron in the hallway. He refused to tell us his name. These are always interesting convos. We had offered to make a plate of food for a dancer that was sitting next to this patron on the bar side of the club. Well, when Kamille and I went back to make her a plate, the guy fallowed us! He stopped us in the hallway and the first two things out of his mouth were “You guys Church ladies?” You do know that what you are doing here for these women is very strange right??!” Kamille spoke to him for a bit about why we do what we do and explained a little about our church. This guy was sadly very lost and empty. He first said he came to the club because, as he said,” it’s healthy to have fantasies.” Then he went on to tell us he was engaged, Then he went on to explain to us that he knew God and he use to go to a church, but the church turned their back on him and hes fiance because he is black and she is white. He was obviously very hurt by the church. He told us that he does not know of one church that would ever do what we were doing! Please pray for the seed that was planted with this guys. That God would just intervene in his life. I am so tired of Satan’s control over these women and these men and how he just want to kill their souls and joy! He is in the world But GOD, has over come the world!!!
One new dancer came up to me with her bracelet ALREADYon and said” Thank you ladies so much for what you do! She went on to say how she was so excited when she saw the Bible in there because she had lost hers awhile ago and really wanted to start reading the word again! Praise God!
I met another new dancer named M who is unfortunately another sad story that I hear all to often. M is 21 and has a 14 month old baby boy at home. She’s a single mom. She dropped out of high school and ran away from home when she was 16. Then she got pregnant and her boyfriend left her right after that. I got to talk for quite some time about what she wants to be doing with her life and she explained how she wants to go to school. I gave M a present and a present for her son and she just started tearing up and hugged me for what felt like 10 minutes! It breaks my heart to see the lives that these women have been through. They are so valuable to God and to us and I am just so humbled for every opportunity we get to serve them! Thank you to everyone who donated their time and love into serving these women! God is tearing down walls and bringing them back to Him!
Brittani C, Report
Wednesday night was incredible. That’s really the only way to describe it. First the girls were so psyched about all the food we brought, it was a feast!!! One girl even ordered pizza and put it in the back for later and came and got two plates! It was not only crazy delicious, but it was such a wide variety. The girls loved it. You could tell they had no idea we had anything else for them and they weren’t expecting anything. When I was asking some of the girls if they had any kids and if they were a boy or girl.. you could see their curiousity peek and them begin to get excited. They were saying “why?! What are you girls doing?!?” When we got the gifts out and gave them to the girls, and to them for their kids, their faces and reactions were priceless. One girl almost cried, and just about all of them thanked us several times. I can honestly say I’m not sure my heart has ever been so filled before on Christmas than it was that night. I truly saw God and the heart that he sees in these girls through His eyes. It was incredible. I actually didn’t even sleep that night because I couldn’t stop thinking about how excited they were and some of the conversations I had!

SK- I met SK last night in the club. I hadn’t seen her before but that’s not saying much because I’ve only been going for a while. When we started talking though, this was only her second night there. She’d come from another club in Louisville where she didn’t get along with the girls so she transfered. She is 18. After talking for a while I discovered she has been in foster care since she was 15. Hearing her say that I thought about how hard being 15 was… let alone having to go into foster care. It killed me. She said she resubmitted herself after she was 18 so they’d pay for her schooling. She goes to school for Social Work. She has a little boy and he is currently in foster care because her son’s father isn’t supposed to be around the baby and she let him watch him one night while she worked, the the state took him. SK was really upset about this, but was excited because she got to see him on Christmas. When we gave her his gift she was excited to bring it to him. I talked to her on Christmas Eve and wished her a merry Christmas, and she kept saying “thanks again for the gifts”. She’s a sweetheart.

IV- I had never met IV before either, but she actually isn’t new. She just doesn’t work very often so I’d never encountered her. Plus it was a Wed night we went to the club opposed to a Thurs so we had a diff crew. She was very chatty! She was actually talking with Amy when I walked up, and ended up telling us we should all hang out because she doesn’t have any good firends that are good influences on her. She actually said “when I come in here this is this… but when I leave… I’m a totally different person and I don’t like to hang out with these girls” I didn’t really know what to say to that but Amy and I assured her we would all hang out soon!! I talked to her too on Christmas Eve and she was excited to hear from me, and we said we’d talk again soon to make plans to hang out.

Club 2:

Reporting Jessica L.,
Team: Rachelle, Sarah, Valerie

This week we visited the clubs on Wednesday night, Christmas Eve Eve.
We had some wonderful ladies provide a HOMEMADE DELICIOUS Christmas dinner!
Thank you ladies for all your help and support in this ministry! We also packed up our cars with Christmas presents galore for the men and ladies at the clubs plus for their kids This year we were able to provide blankets, baked goods, a bracelet, and a Bible for the ladies.
For the men, we had socks, after shave, Axe deodorant, sunflower seeds, baked goods, and a Bible. For the kids we were blessed for several different items from books, coloring books, crayons, stuffed animals, and so forth. This was a fun and exciting night to be Santa’s
elves to these men and ladies. Thanks again to all who helped provide Christmas for this group, it is very much appreciated. After we arrived and got the food organized, Sarah and I walked over to one of the clubs to invite the girls to come over for some food and the bartender was on the phone. We walked back over later to talk to the bartender for a little while. We told her we had all the fixin’s and asked if she wanted a plate. She had already ordered dinner but we asked if she wanted a to go box to take home, she decided that she
would rather eat with us and save her order to take home. So we gathered her some food and delivered the presents to the girls. They were all so appreciative of the gifts. After we were done visiting with those girls we went back to help Rachelle and Valerie with the
handing out more presents to all the other girls. As we handed the gifts out to the girls, one of them B looked at us and said can I open it now? She was so excited. Later, B walked up to us and asked if we would help her put on her bracelet. We were able to provide the girls
with a Psalm 23 bracelet which has a insert explaining the colors and how they apply to the verse. It was so cool to see she was excited to put on the bracelet. I pray the bracelet will bring up more convo with these girls in the future. Again thank you all for your support in
this ministry and providing Christmas to these people, they all were so appreciative and it was wonderful to see so many happy faces. As we walked out, one of the girls I’d never seen before walked up to all of us and gave us all hugs. It’s great to see the response that we did
tonight.

Serving Him,

The Scarlet Hope Team~
www.scarlethope.org

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19 Dec 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, 0 Comments

Journal Entry #66


Scarlet Hope – Journal Entry #66 – December 17th 2009

“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven” Luke 1:76-78

Club 1:

Reporting: Valerie S.

Team: Jessica L., Amy B.

So last night I went with the group who went to Club One.  It was incredibly slow!  I think there were maybe two patrons in the club the entire time we were there.  Even with no one really inside the girls still had to go up and dance, even tho they weren’t dancing for anyone… :(

Last night we had yummy fried chicken, corn and green beens, Rolls, and red velvet cake!!  everyone who ate loved it!  With the club being so slow non of the girls stayed out and ate with us.  It almost seemed like they came, got their plates, and then ran back into the dressing room, trying to stay away from us.  I’m not sure what the Lord is doing in these girl’s hearts that Satan feels he needs to hid them from us…but BRING IN ON SATAN!!!!  I KNOW who will win this battle, and IT’S NOT GUNNA BE YOU!!!!

So, needless to say we didn’t really get to have any conversations with any of the girls.  There was one  girl who while she was getting her plate said how sweet we all were to continually be bringing them food every week.  She said how she couldn’t believe there were people who would do that.  I responded and said that we just want them to know there is a God who loves them, and how much they deserve to be and feel loved. So we come to show our love for them!  She had the biggest smile on her face after that and said that we should come by some time to just hang out with them on a night we don’t bring food.  (i think that’s a really good idea by the way! I think it will just be another way to brake down the barriers, so maybe they become comfortable enough to hang out with us outside of the club). Anyway, after that very short convo we had while i was making her plate up, she went straight to the back with the other girls.

Please continue to be in prayer for these girls during this Holiday season!  Also please pray for the men working in the club, and the men who are going to the clubs!  They all feel the need to go for a reason, just pray that God will be able to fill their void this Christmas!!!

Thanks! God Bless
-V :)


Club 2

Reporting: Rachelle S.

Team: Sarah F., Mandy L.

A week and a day before Christmas and the Club was busy. It was a beautiful thing to watch all the girls come up get in line and eat with us. There were a lot of girls and they LOVED the meal. Homemade corn and green beans, fried chicken, rolls and delicious cake.

One of the girls that I’ve never met before SQ said “I just want to let you know that I appreciate you all every week you come in here…..” she said “every week I’m never hungry, but when I remember you all are coming in I get the biggest appetite. She said I become so hungry…” It was sweet words to hear because we know that hunger is not just an appetite for food, but something so much more….the Love of Jesus.

I have noticed lately especially around this time how much we fill this constant void in our lives with things. All of the girls have been working tons of overtime to be able to buy their kids different gifts.

One of the dancers said she bought her little girl a mini moped for kids. She is soooo excited to be able to give that to her daughter. She told me she’s been saving for a long time to be able to get that.

S was working and I was able to talk with her for awhile. She told me how her mom took her daughter away from her because she stole some money. Her sister just recently had a baby that came out addicted to heroin and through the last few months they have been detoxing the baby and he just now was able to go home from the hospital. Please pray for this baby that God loves. It’s developing extremely slow and is having a hard time.

The girls are excited for our Christmas in the Club next week and so are we! We are so greatful for everyone’s donations to make this possible to be able to give gifts to each women and child and we are planning on having an amazing meal as well!

This Christmas season remember that God sent his Son into this world to redeem those broken, those deemed unlovely and those who don’t know Him. He loves them so much and we get to share that with these beautiful children of God this Christmas! Praise our Father!

Sarah got to talk with M in the club. She was done working at the club, but was waiting on her husband to pick her up. While she was waiting she came over and got all of the girls on the other side plates to eat. Sarah told her that it was really sweet of her to serve the other girls. M told her that she bought all of the girls gifts for Christmas and Sarah told her that really thoughtful. M told her that she loves buying and doing things for people and doesn’t expect anything in return. Not a lot of people have that mentality and it was humbling to hear it from a dancer who works so hard for so little trying to provide for her family.

Merry Christmas,

Rachelle & The Scarlet Hope Team
www.scarlethope.org

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18 Dec 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, Uncategorized, 0 Comments

Fundraiser – December 22nd 2009


FIVE GUYS

BURGERS & FRIES

Scarlet_Hope_Five_Guys Coupon!

Fundraiser Tuesday December 22 2009

4320 Charlestown RD New Albany IN 47150

10% of  sales donated to

SCARLET HOPE

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13 Dec 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, 0 Comments

Valerie Writes for our Journal Entry 65


So last night I was with the group who went to club one.  It’s been a very long time since I was there, and didn’t really know what to expect.  I wasn’t sure if i would see any of the girls that I already knew, or if it would just be all new girls.
I didn’t see anyone I knew….Again it ended up that I was having a conversation will ‘B’ all night.  It seems like every time I go to club 1 he’s the one who seems to need some love.  When I went to sit down there weren’t that many girls anywhere, so I thought I’d sit with ‘B’ and maybe some girls would join us later.  But The club was VERY slow last night, and most of the girls stayed in the back room away from us…. ’B’ and I talked about several things like Christmas, and what it’s really about, how he wants to start going back to church, and traveling.  I still feel like God is working for the good in this man’s heart.  We’ll just have to be faithful, and patient to see what God’s plan is. ;)
After we had been there for a while, there was a group of about 5 boys that came in.  They didn’t look old enough to drink, even tho they kept going next door to get alcoholic drinks…. The girls seemed to love having these young boys there, and were a lot more aggressive with them….It’s so sad to me that such young boys feel the need to go and let free in such a Satan filled invironment….
Please continue to pray for all the girls, and the peole who frequent these clubs.  They just all need to feel loved… :)
God Bless!
-V :)
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13 Dec 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, 0 Comments

Journal Entry #65


Scarlet Hope – Journal Entry #65 – December 10th 2009

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”  That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us.

Romans 15 1-6 (The Message)

Club 1

Reporting: Rachelle S.

Team: Valerie S and Brittani C.

Guys filled Club 1 Thursday night. There weren’t a ton of girls working, but even though their were men in the club, the girls mostly complained that they weren’t making any money because the guys weren’t spending any money.

We had delicious, warming home feeling potato soup with rolls, cookies and brownies for dessert. When there are new girls in the club we always get that vibe of “who in the world are you..” but once the regular girls start to eat they quickly file in line and are very excited that we have come.

I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a first time dancer and in such a dark atmosphere at the end of your rope and then a bunch of ladies come in to “serve dinner”. I hope and pray that it gives them a glimpse of Light that shows them they are worth more than what this world tells them they are.

As I sat down at one of the tables in the club to have a bowl of soup with one of the dancers, FA a new dancer I had never met came and sat right by us. She is 23 and has a little girl that is 5. I began to ask FA questions. Did she have any kids, how long had she been doing this, on and on….her answers were all very short and to the point, but then something just went off and she started sharing a lot of different aspects of her life. I listened and she talked and talked, when she got done talking she sighed a huge sigh and said “wow, that felt so good to get off my chest”.

FA has been in the industry for about 6 months and got into a car accident not to long ago and totaled her car. She is trying to save up money while taking car of her daughter to get another car. She talked of how she has contemplated prostituting herself out for more money because when she goes home at night and looks in her cupboards to eat she has only oatmeal and a cans of tomato sauce. She said that’s what her and her daughter have been eating. She told me that the club penalizes you when you leave early and she said several times she has to go take care of her daughter and they have fined her over $150.00. This week she has worked every day and only made $50.00 total. This is the life these women become sucked into. They tell you you can pay off your fines if you stay there and work extra etc. etc. We talked about this idea of her prostituting herself out and she said with her own lips, I can not, do not want to do that. And I made sure she knew that there would be no way she would ever have to get to that point and how it is not worth anything in this life to do that… God will provide a way out.

Towards the end of our conversation she told me that her daughter talks about how much she is excited for Christmas because all of the kids she knows gets presents, so she is so sad that she can’t provide a Christmas for her daughter. She said she went down to sign up for the Angel tree the other day and they told her she was too late. After listening, and praying while listening to her, the Holy Spirit prompted me to tell her we will find a way to help her for the holidays. Praise the Lord, we have a family that is willing to sponsor a family for the holidays and God is going to provide for that need.

Before she had to go back up on stage to dance she asked me the question…..I get so excited about “why do you all do this?” I got to share Jesus with her. I told her because we loved her and wanted her to know that there is a God that created her and that loves her more than she will ever know. Jesus! She looked me straight in the eye for the first time at that point and said “I don’t know what to say….that is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard…”

I wish I could say she turned around and walked out of that club that second, but God planted a seed that night and he will water and grow that seed, I know.

It’s so awesome to see how God works in these women’s lives and in the life of this ministry! We are never without, because he provides the way.

Club 2:

Reporting Kamille B.
Team:  Hannah D., Natalie G., Mandy L.

Club 2 had an eerie feeling about it Thursday night.  We kept trying to bring the dancers cookies and food, but they all were very busy and seemed to want their privacy.   We would give them plates of food smile and go to the other side.

They ate their plates fast with some sincere thankfulness.   The bartender V looked terrible.   She talked to Hannah briefly and told her about some troubles with her kids.    There weren’t a lot of girls working this night and the abundance of customers kept the girls very busy and unable to talk.

I did get to talk with, R.   She said the food was delicious and the warm soup hit the spot on this cold night.  She lives with her brother and his family, but feels she needs to support herself.   She has worked there for years on and off…this was the first time I had met R.

J the DJ has become increasingly more talkative when we are around.   J has been coming to service at NCC off and on and he has been helping serve by cooking every now and then.  The first two songs J played once we got there were dedicated to us.   One was “son of a preacher man…” he came over and told us he did that for us.   We weren’t to sure what to say, but thank you.

I watched for H the dancer, but she has moved to be one of the daytime bartenders and we won’t be seeing her very much anymore.   She needs some special prayer regarding her family, relationship stress.   She is a single mother who is financially struggling and her car was impounded.   Please pray for H.

The girls have come to trust us little by little and they know we are true to our word by just showing up every week and fulfilling our commitment of showing them love every week.

Trusting and Loving Him,
Rachelle & The Scarlet Hope Team
www.scarlethope.org

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05 Dec 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, 0 Comments

Journal Entry #64


Scarlet Hope – Journal Entry #64 – December 3rd 2009

“Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”- John 10:7, 9-10

Club 1:
Reporting: Hannah D.
Team: Allyson H., Kamille B., Mandy L.

It was a very cold Thursday night and what is better than Hot chili and corn bread to warm up their bodies. Sometimes I never know what is going to happen each time we go. But all we care about is that we show up and love these women at any possible opportunity. It is such a humbling privilege just to serve! There are no words to describe the joy that we feel when we get hugged and kissed every week by Gods “beautifully broken” daughters.

There is not a whole lot to report about the evening accept that there were probably 20 girls working total which was really good to see all of them. One really sweet thing happened where a new dancer from the bar side, came over to get food from us. She had never seen us before. There was a dancer in front of her in line who turned around and said,”The food is always good and these are the sweetest ladies you will ever meet in your whole life!” The new dancer shyly said hello to us then tried to give us $2 to pay for her food. We told her that we couldnt accept it and that we love them and will be there every week! Little things like that make me want to cry sometimes.
;’They all went crazy for the dinner but then hurried and ate their dinners and returned to work. It seemed like it was “business night at the club” because there were a lot of men there in business attire. I haven’t ever seen that many men of that status there before. Club 1 is changing a lot and attracting all kinds of new clients. Our hearts just break for these women. Please continue to pray that we can build deeper friendships with these women outside of the club.
Lastly, an update on the dancer T, I have shared with you folks about in the past. She works at club 2. She has recently just gone through some terrible terrible incidents and she desperately needs prayer. T is 21 and is the one who is 6 months pregnant who wants to get out of the club and has at one time been homeless. T called me today barely able to talk and crying. She told me that Sunday night, she was leaving her apartment to go to Kroger, when a man came out of nowhere and punched her in the face and broke her jaw while knocking her unconscious. It turns out the man thought “she was someone else”. She went to the hospital for 4 day and had surgery on her face. Now she cannot work, she’s 6 months pregnant and about to see her apartment. She sold her food stamps last week just to pay part of her rent. She says she doesn’t even have money to by food now. She is at a very low point in her life and is scared of being a single mom, Please lift this young lady up in your prayers and let me know if you feel lead and want to help her with any baby items or other needs that may come up this Christmas. 760-333-0856. All these ladies are desperate for love. Just like all of us are. We all need love.
Love Hannah

Club 2

Reporting:  Rachelle S.
Team:  Jessica L., Amy B., Natalie G.

Tonight was Chili and oddly enough ice cream sundae night!   It was a perfect night for the chili as it started to get really chilly outside.   It brought a good dose of warmth to the ladies hearts.

It was abnormally loud once again in the club, but I have noticed several things that drive that.   The more patrons that are in the club, the more girls they put on the schedule.  The more girls and patrons they have the louder the music goes and the more drinks the men buy.  There was one man in the club who was completely drunk dancing around.   I saw him buying drinks for girls left and right.   That sadly is how most of them make their money at this particular club.  Selling drinks.   One of the dancers told me that a lot of times when the man has gotten drunk and he’s buying the girls drinks the bartender will start putting water in the girls shot glasses instead of alcohol.   To keep them from getting drunk.

I am learning a lot about the world of addiction and seduction.   This is the world they live in.   One that the enemies hands and feet are all over!    God’s relentless love can save them from this pit of hell…it takes God’s people choosing to

We talked to one of the DJ’s JO for awhile last night. He is very very concerned about one of the girls in the club, because she has thrown her life down the drain he say’s going to a methadone program.  He said she needs some spiritual intervention.    The only problem is she doesn’t have a home, car or phone so it makes it very difficult to get together with her because she sleeps at different friends houses.   She ONLY works at the club to support this program.

Since it was very busy in the club we didn’t get a lot of time to talk to the girls.  But we met several new dancers and served them plates.
When we were getting ready to leave one of the girls pulled me to the side and said “i am so embarrassed about last week…?”  I said for what?  she answered “when you all came in last week I was so drunk, I didn’t even know what I was doing….” she said “she is so embarrassed and never wants us to see her like that again.. I told her  “girl, we don’t remember the bad parts about you, we remember how much we want to Love you and care for you….”  She gave me a kiss on my cheek and hugged me really tight.    It was a precious moment.

Quick update on a few of the girls from this club.

D – Arianna has been taken back by her birth mother.  It was a horribly sad situation that came up about a week and half ago.   The birth mother took her back the night before D was to get full custody of her in court.    We do not have any idea where Arianna is.   The mother did not have a home or car when she took her back and she hasn’t been seen since.   Please please please pray for Arianna.
D also lost her job at the club after 13 years. So D is looking for a job.   If you know of any jobs please contact me right away.

RX -  Got fired from the club as well.  She has been on the run for 9 months and is wanting to turn herself in.  She has a 2 year old little boy in Indianapolis that she wanted to go and see before she turned herself in because she knows she is going to be in jail for awhile.   So she was supposed to be seeing him this week and then she asked me if I would take her to jail tomorrow morning.   Please pray for this situation.  It’s something that breaks every piece of my heart listening to the whole story and knowing that she just desperately needs Love and help.

God is allowing us to stay in contact with a lot of girls that ‘USED’ to work in this industry.   Some still do they just move to different clubs, but several of them are looking for new jobs or have gotten a new job.    Please continue to pray for them.

Loving Him,
Rachelle & The Scarlet Hope Team
www.scarlethope.org

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29 Nov 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, Uncategorized, 0 Comments

Shane Claiborne writes in Esquire.


Article was written in this weeks Esquire Magazine.

What If Jesus Meant All That Stuff?

This radical Christian’s ministry for the poor, The Simple Way, has gotten him in some trouble with his fellow Evangelicals. We asked him to address those who don’t believe.

By Shane Claiborne

The Simple Way
To all my nonbelieving, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity.

Forgive us. Forgive us for the embarrassing things we have done in the name of God.

The other night I headed into downtown Philly for a stroll with some friends from out of town. We walked down to Penn’s Landing along the river, where there are street performers, artists, musicians. We passed a great magician who did some pretty sweet tricks like pour change out of his iPhone, and then there was a preacher. He wasn’t quite as captivating as the magician. He stood on a box, yelling into a microphone, and beside him was a coffin with a fake dead body inside. He talked about how we are all going to die and go to hell if we don’t know Jesus.

Some folks snickered. Some told him to shut the hell up. A couple of teenagers tried to steal the dead body in the coffin. All I could do was think to myself, I want to jump up on a box beside him and yell at the top of my lungs, “God is not a monster.” Maybe next time I will.

The more I have read the Bible and studied the life of Jesus, the more I have become convinced that Christianity spreads best not through force but through fascination. But over the past few decades our Christianity, at least here in the United States, has become less and less fascinating. We have given the atheists less and less to disbelieve. And the sort of Christianity many of us have seen on TV and heard on the radio looks less and less like Jesus.

At one point Gandhi was asked if he was a Christian, and he said, essentially, “I sure love Jesus, but the Christians seem so unlike their Christ.” A recent study showed that the top three perceptions of Christians in the U. S. among young non-Christians are that Christians are 1) antigay, 2) judgmental, and 3) hypocritical. So what we have here is a bit of an image crisis, and much of that reputation is well deserved. That’s the ugly stuff. And that’s why I begin by saying that I’m sorry.

Now for the good news.

I want to invite you to consider that maybe the televangelists and street preachers are wrong — and that God really is love. Maybe the fruits of the Spirit really are beautiful things like peace, patience, kindness, joy, love, goodness, and not the ugly things that have come to characterize religion, or politics, for that matter. (If there is anything I have learned from liberals and conservatives, it’s that you can have great answers and still be mean… and that just as important as being right is being nice.)

The Bible that I read says that God did not send Jesus to condemn the world but to save it… it was because “God so loved the world.” That is the God I know, and I long for others to know. I did not choose to devote my life to Jesus because I was scared to death of hell or because I wanted crowns in heaven… but because he is good. For those of you who are on a sincere spiritual journey, I hope that you do not reject Christ because of Christians. We have always been a messed-up bunch, and somehow God has survived the embarrassing things we do in His name. At the core of our “Gospel” is the message that Jesus came “not [for] the healthy… but the sick.” And if you choose Jesus, may it not be simply because of a fear of hell or hope for mansions in heaven.

Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in the afterlife, but too often all the church has done is promise the world that there is life after death and use it as a ticket to ignore the hells around us. I am convinced that the Christian Gospel has as much to do with this life as the next, and that the message of that Gospel is not just about going up when we die but about bringing God’s Kingdom down. It was Jesus who taught us to pray that God’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” On earth.

One of Jesus’ most scandalous stories is the story of the Good Samaritan. As sentimental as we may have made it, the original story was about a man who gets beat up and left on the side of the road. A priest passes by. A Levite, the quintessential religious guy, also passes by on the other side (perhaps late for a meeting at church). And then comes the Samaritan… you can almost imagine a snicker in the Jewish crowd. Jews did not talk to Samaritans, or even walk through Samaria. But the Samaritan stops and takes care of the guy in the ditch and is lifted up as the hero of the story. I’m sure some of the listeners were ticked. According to the religious elite, Samaritans did not keep the right rules, and they did not have sound doctrine… but Jesus shows that true faith has to work itself out in a way that is Good News to the most bruised and broken person lying in the ditch.

It is so simple, but the pious forget this lesson constantly. God may indeed be evident in a priest, but God is just as likely to be at work through a Samaritan or a prostitute. In fact the Scripture is brimful of God using folks like a lying prostitute named Rahab, an adulterous king named David… at one point God even speaks to a guy named Balaam through his donkey. Some say God spoke to Balaam through his ass and has been speaking through asses ever since. So if God should choose to use us, then we should be grateful but not think too highly of ourselves. And if upon meeting someone we think God could never use, we should think again.

After all, Jesus says to the religious elite who looked down on everybody else: “The tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom ahead of you.” And we wonder what got him killed?

I have a friend in the UK who talks about “dirty theology” — that we have a God who is always using dirt to bring life and healing and redemption, a God who shows up in the most unlikely and scandalous ways. After all, the whole story begins with God reaching down from heaven, picking up some dirt, and breathing life into it. At one point, Jesus takes some mud, spits in it, and wipes it on a blind man’s eyes to heal him. (The priests and producers of anointing oil were not happy that day.)

In fact, the entire story of Jesus is about a God who did not just want to stay “out there” but who moves into the neighborhood, a neighborhood where folks said, “Nothing good could come.” It is this Jesus who was accused of being a glutton and drunkard and rabble-rouser for hanging out with all of society’s rejects, and who died on the imperial cross of Rome reserved for bandits and failed messiahs. This is why the triumph over the cross was a triumph over everything ugly we do to ourselves and to others. It is the final promise that love wins.

It is this Jesus who was born in a stank manger in the middle of a genocide. That is the God that we are just as likely to find in the streets as in the sanctuary, who can redeem revolutionaries and tax collectors, the oppressed and the oppressors… a God who is saving some of us from the ghettos of poverty, and some of us from the ghettos of wealth.

In closing, to those who have closed the door on religion — I was recently asked by a non-Christian friend if I thought he was going to hell. I said, “I hope not. It will be hard to enjoy heaven without you.” If those of us who believe in God do not believe God’s grace is big enough to save the whole world… well, we should at least pray that it is.

Your brother,

Shane

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29 Nov 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, Uncategorized, 0 Comments

Journal Entry #63


Scarlet Hope – Journal Entry #63 – November 27th 2009

“I am convinced that the Christian Gospel has as much to do with this life as the next, and that the message of that Gospel is not just about going up when we die but about bringing God’s Kingdom down. It was Jesus who taught us to pray that God’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” On earth.” – Shane Clairborne

Club 1
Sarah Flannery reporting
Team: Natalie G. & Jessica L.

We want to give a HUGE thanks to Jill Warner and her family who prepared a feast for our friends in the clubs. Turkey, dressing, gravy, sweet potatoes, carrot souffle, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, and beautiful made-from-scratch desserts. Many of the girls commented on how this meal was “way better” than their own Thanksgiving meal the day before. Many to-go boxes were filled to the brim!

S – bouncer/bookstore staff – told Jessica that he wanted us to know how much he appreciated all that we do for them. He said many will not say it, but he wanted to be sure to tell us he was thankful for us!
Uncle B – The big guy was in great spirits and loved talking to Natalie about many different aspects of teaching – since she is in school to be a teacher.

St – We have worked with this dancer in the past. She has been on and off “track” many times and we have been sad to see her very high or drunk the last several times we have been to the club. She also seemed to avoid eye contact and conversation. Friday was a little different – she didn’t seem to be under the influence of any drug and was very talkative. Please continue to pray for her that we can begin to rebuild this relationship.

De – She is now bartending instead of dancing because she is pregnant. I call her the “cookie monster” because she always wants to know what we have for dessert. Looks like we have another Scarlet Hope baby on the way! Please pray that as the time draws closer, we are able to shower her with blessings and prayerfully ask God to deliver both she and her baby from this dark environment.

Ma – Bartender – She gave the team a thank you card for helping her last week with the last bit of money she needed for an outrageous water bill. She talked to me for a while about how thankful she is!
There seemed to be a new manager in the club last night, although we are not sure. He walked around with a clipboard and went into both clubs, behind the bar, into the DJ booth etc. He seemed to be talking a lot to J – the only manger we know of at this point. They all completely avoided us……not even making eye contact. Please pray for these men. We do not wish for them to see us as a threat to their business, so please pray that we come across as friends.
Thanks so much for reading, praying, encouraging, and supporting this ministry.
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Club 2:
Reporting: Rachelle S
Team Valerie S. Allyson H. Ruthie R.

Lord, you are so good to us. We are blessed to be your servants. That’s all I could think about as we prepared ourselves to go into the clubs. How we are broken people just like the women we go to Love. How God didn’t come to this earth to condemn us but to save us. This thanksgiving holiday made me especially thankful for that Love. God’s Love.
So this week we celebrated with a feast! Not just any ordinary feast, every single home cooked food for a thanksgiving meal you could possibly think of was made. We had several men and women in club 2 say they didn’t even get a thanksgiving meal. So this was a feast for them!

As we have mentioned before Friday’s are a very busy and loud night in the club. Music is always way up and the customers are many. So we serve, smile, and talk with the dancers as we can.

I met a new girl, ST. I asked ST if she would like a plate of food and with tears in her eyes said “no, my boyfriend just died” Not really knowing what to say, I hugged her and let her know I was here if she needed someone to talk to. She went on to tell me that he commited suicide by drug overdose and died while he was laying next to her. She hadn’t eaten in a week and showed me a picture of him in his coffin. My stomach sank to the floor and I did everything in me to just Love and Listen. She ended up eating her first meal in a week that night and she was sooo thankful for it.

Valerie had several conversations in the club and I thought I’d share a bit of her report.

“I went to club two again. It went well. i’m starting to feel more comfortable in that club. I feel like i was really partial to club one and the people there, but i’ve been going to club two now for several weeks and starting to like it there. :)
I saw the two girls i was hoping to catch up with. One, “A” i met last week when we went. I met her right before we left last week and didn’t get to have that much of a conversation. We talked about school, and her wanting to get her GED. So this week i was hoping to see her and get to know her more. See if there was anything i could do to help with her studies.
But the club was SOOO busy! I first saw her when we brought food into one side of the club, and told her i would come back in a couple minutes so we could talk. When i went back she was dancing with a patron. When she finished she came over and said hey. I asked if she’d had any food yet, and she said no, that she was about to go get some. She went to go get some food, and then disappeared….

When i went back to the other side of the club i saw “C”. I met her a few weeks ago. We had exchanged numbers, and have been texting since. we’ve been trying to get together for lunch but haven’t been able to.
It was nice to finally see her again and be able to catch up. She just got a second job. She’s a hostess at TGI Fridays. She’s not planing on leaving the club right now. Likes the money and people there. she says she has fun working there, she just needs a second job for extra money.

It was certainly a VERY busy night at the club on fri. And we weren’t able to stay that long because of all the business. But we had SOOOO much food, and did get a chance to see and catch up with the girls!” – Valerie S.
We hope you had a beautiful thanksgiving, and we are looking forward to Christmas.

Make the most of Today,
Loving Him,
Rachelle Starr & The Scarlet Hope Team
www.scarlethope.org

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22 Nov 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, Uncategorized, 0 Comments

Journal Entry #62


Scarlet Hope – Journal Entry #62 – November 19th 2009

Matthew 10:7-9
“As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

This night started a little differently.  Our team met downtown and went over to Kosair’s Hospital to go visit and pray with D and Ariana the baby.   Our entire team of 8 women met her in the ER and as soon as she saw all of us she was filled with tears that we would come and check on her.  We talked with her and then prayed for her in the lobby of the ER.  We then went up and saw the baby and met her boyfriend as well. After we had left the clubs on our way back we stopped by to bring her some dinner, she was hungry from being there all day.    We just love this girl and God is doing amazing things opening up doors to love and minister to her!

Club 1
Reporting: Rachelle S.
Team: Mandy L., Jessica L, Brittany C.

We got to the club a little bit late because we had to make a pit stop at Club 2 to give RX her court papers.   Just a real quick update.  RX is facing 1 1/12 years of jail time unless she turns herself in, there is a good chance she can get a lot less time and have some fees and classes she must take.   We are praying and talking with her everyday that she will make this decision to turn herself in.   She said that she gets to see her son on Thanksgiving Day and she knows once she turns herself in she won’t be able to see him, so she is planning on turning herself in the day after Thanksgiving.   Please pray for RX.

I really felt the Spirit moving in Club 1 tonight.   We had several good conversations and when we walked in the girls said “they’re here, they’re here”  ran up and told the DJ and the other girls.   It was great to hear their enthusiasm still and to know that they still are very accepting of us coming in.

JE from this club spoke to Brittany and Sarah F. last week about how much she can see Jesus in everyone that comes.   We spoke to her again this week and she wanted us to realize that she is very very appreciative of what we do.  She took off her bracelet and her ring and gave them to Brittany and I.   My heart really was softened to seeing how she receives and gives Love.
We talked with her for about half an hour and it was a wonderful and confirming conversation to know that the Spirit is alive and planting many seeds still in that Club.   Thank you Jesus for JE.

Mandy’s report:
“Club 1 seemed to be a slow start again last night, and only a handful of girls came to get food and then took it back to eat in the dressing room.  A few eventually wandered back out into the open area a little later (most nights we may have left sooner, but I feel like the Holy Spirit convinced us to stick around and wait a little longer last night).  I had some small conversation with dancer S, started mainly b/c she was reading the Twilight book and I thought I’d bring up the new movie coming out to ask if she was really into it.  She’s been working there for 4 months and is 21 years old, and as I asked her about what she wants to do after this, she really didn’t have a clue.  Pray that she finds some direction in her life.  I really hope more conversations will open up with her in the future.

Dancer R had come to us earlier saying “Hey, you guys are church ladies…what’s a country starting with M that is in the Bible that Paul and Peter visited?”  Jessica and I could only come up with Macedonia, and she ran back to see if that was right.  A man in the club was apparently from there, and he was asking the girls to guess the country.  It was funny that she came to ask us!  I later asked her if we were right, and it was where he was from.  We just started chatting and she asked why we come into the clubs and what churches we’re from.  I asked her about her life, how long she’d been dancing, and she’s only been there for about a week and a half.  Her sister-in-law also dances there and got her the job.  Prior to this, R not only worked in a daycare, but she RAN the daycare.  Earlier in the year her daycare had to be shut down due to economic reasons, so she needed a job that would pay her a lot of money.  Unfortunately for her financially, the club isn’t consistently paying her well because business is pretty bad these days.  She said it has been slow, and some nights the girls end up having to pay the club if no customers come in.  She hates doing it and is hopefully going to find somewhere else to make money.  She’s in school for nursing right now and has about a year left.  Pray that we’ll have more opportunities to talk with her and get to know her and help meet whatever needs she may have.

We also talked to bartender M for awhile, and she always just needs a listening ear.  She has been taking care of her sick grandmother and has a busy life trying to take care of her 8-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son and working hard to pay her bills.  None of the rest of her family seems to want to make time to take care of her grandma, so she carries around a lot of bitterness and needs to vent usually on Thursday nights when we’re there.  Pray for a softened heart for her that one of these days might turn into questions or conversations more directed toward Jesus.

As business is slow, you can tell that’s why the girls are less willing to talk and are more downhearted.  Hopefully in future weeks God will keep working in them in various ways to bring them hope through Jesus out of the world they’re in.

-Mandy

Club 2
Reporting:  Hannah D
Team: Natalie W., Kamille B., Valerie S.,
It was a very busy night. It was a blessing to have our entire team all go to the hospital to visit one of the girls from the club before we headed out to our different locations for the evening. It was incredible to see how God is working in the life of this women. We all got to pray for her and her little baby girl, who as recently had some bad breathing problems.

There is nothing more humbling then to be able to join together with all the other ladies on the delivery team, and pray and serve and go out into the community to love the broken. I love the quote ” if you want to save non believers from hell, and share Jesus with them, you have to go right to the gates of Hell to hear they’re cries for help.”

Kamille, Natalie, Valerie, and i showed up with tons of yummy food! The first thing I heard when we walked in was “Yes! There they are!!!!!!” It is so cool to now feel accepted in this club and see the girls excited to see us.
We just had a lot of great convos. I know Kamille got to spend a lot of time with this lady in the center club and got to know her well. Valerie exchanged numbers and hung out with another dancer for awhile. It was awesome to see new friendships developing.

Natalie and I got to spend sometime talking to T who is 21, 6 month pregnant with her first baby. She was homeless 1 month ago, she just found a studio apartment in Louisville and just told us how she desperately wants to get out of the club. I got to spend some time with T yesterday and she told me all about how she just loves God and wants a good life, and how scared she is. I think they’re is going to be another baby shower coming up soon for her. We also have been talking to B for the past two weeks about her back problems and how much she too wants out. She was completely drunk and stumbling all over the place Thursday night but all she kept saying was how much she wanted out. Sometimes it is so sad to hear the desperation in these ladies voices about if they only could find a job they’d be done but they cant get hired anywhere for lack of experience or education ect. I wish Scarlet hope had its own temp agency. But all we can do is help guide them and motivate them to keep pressing forward and to make short term goals. We always have to keep in mind that these women have never been taught how to get a job, or how to make right choices, or how to study , or how to be a good citizen. Almost all of them have grown up in nothing but chaos and anger and violence,rape addiction, abuse. Its impossible for us to expect them to do certain things when they have no clue to do it. All we can do is walk with them, lead by example, love and encourage them.

Keep praying for T, K, A, and B how all really want to get out and have a good life! Love you all very much!

Loving and serving,
Hannah Dunn
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22 Nov 2009, Posted by rachelle in Blog, Uncategorized, 0 Comments

Journal Entry #61


Scarlet Hope – Journal Entry #62 – November 12th 2009


“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love“  Ephesians 6:24

It was another really wonderful night with the girls last night! God quickly showed our team that when we are united as one body, one spirit, one mind in the name of Jesus we can do powerful and mighty things with his guidance.

Please lift up the lives in Club 1 at this time.   Each week that goes by it is getting worse.  The girls are more and more not interested in talking.  They stay in the dressing rooms and don’t come out.   The management has grown increasingly more unfriendly.   We just need a lot of prayer for this club.  We know since the economy the owner has allowed many more things go on in the Club that aren’t supposed to, because the girls tell us.   It just needs a lot of prayer!

Club 2:

Early in the evening last night, Natalie G got a call from a dancer in Club 1 that said she was off for the night, but really wanted to come serve dinner with us in the clubs. WOW! Can you say crazy awesome! For sure, we told her and she met us before the clubs for devotion and prayer and then headed out to Club 2 with us.

Here’s Natalie’s words from the night:

“Last night was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced; I’m always excited about Thursday nights but last one was one only God could plan. Last week, Mandy, Hannah, and I met an awesome girl, B, and exchanged phone numbers. I’d been talking to B throughout the week and was sad that it would be a few weeks till I came back to the club she works at. She called me a few hours before meeting up for our team devotion, asking if she could serve with us at the other club! I was so overwhelmed with joy I could barely contain it! I was blessed to have had another chance to serve with her in the club we went to last night. She’s an amazing girl with the sweetest spirit you’ve ever seen; she was excited and eager to come with us last night serving food to the girls. Throughout the week, I’d been hoping for an opportunity to hang out with her but was afraid that conflicting schedules would interefere; but God gave me a gift straight from His heart: He not only let me talk with her, but serve with her as well! She’s an aweosme friend. Praise the Lord.” – Natalie G.

The women at Club 2 were so excited to talk and share with us and eat awesome pizza Vicario’s catered for us! God really is doing a work in that place!

Dancer RX:

I had an incredible time talking with RX last night. I went into her side of the club and saw her sitting there with a blank stare on her face. I went over and asked her what was up and she said “just getting drunk.” I asked her why she was doing that again and she said because she can’t be in this place without being drunk. A little bit later on she told me she had a dream about me. I asked her what it was about and she said “you don’t want to know..it’ll get you caught up in my mess and I don’t want to put you through that..” I told her that she could tell me anything and I promise I will love her regardless. “she told me in her dream she was told over and over to tell me…and that I helped her get a a lawyer….” I asked her if that was somewhat of a reality and she said “I’m a felon..” she went onto tell me she is a convicted felon on counts of attempted murder, malicious conduct and battery….and she’d been running from the cops for 5 years. She told me that her husband when she was very young used to beat her and she devised a plan to kill him after he had beat her and picked up her little boy and threw him across the room breaking his arm and collar bone. As tears streamed down her face I grabbed her and hugged her and she curled into my arms like a child and cried for a long time.

We are going to try and help RX turn her life around by doing what she needs to do first and turning herself in to the police. She said she doesn’t want to run anymore and she wants her son back. RX is only 23 years old! She is broken beyond belief, scared, and wants to be loved sooo bad!

She asked me why God would allow her to be raped, molested and constantly tortured if he loved her. And in my heart I wrestle with this same question, even though I know God Loves her and NEVER wanted that for her life. But it’s often hard to explain when things seem so unbearable. I reassured her that God DID NOT do this to her and that he desperately loves her and wants her to know him, wants to rescue her from this life she is living. Constantly on the run!

Pray for RX. Pray for her heart, for her to have strength as she goes through some things that will be hard to face. Pray that she will turn towards our Father and allow him to rescue her from this bondage!

I’ll keep the website updated as things progress with RX.

DJ J

J the DJ has been hanging Chris Harper a time or two and Chris asked him to come and cook for one of the shelters for Thanksgiving! J is super super excited to do so, for he was a cook in the army. I think that’s awesome that these men and women are wanting to help serve. It will put them around the body of believers and help to show them the Love of Jesus in a much different way. We also had a blessing that was received for J this week. J has the opportunity to leave the industry, however he really needs transportation. Someone donated a car this week and J will be the receipent of that car. Last night when we told him his eyes filled with tears and he couldn’t muster anything, but “you have no idea how huge of a blessing and how much this is going to change my life…” I pray that providing an this opportunity will break down the barrier that is holding his life up from being different and knowing who God truly is! God always provides and knows what each persons need is!

Dancer V

Please pray for her. To hear her, watch her and be her friend….breaks my heart. She is very consumed by this industry and wanted so bad to get better, but has become so consumed by making money that it seems nearly impossible to get her to think otherwise! Please keep V in your prayers.

Dancer JE

JE has been able to attend weekend services with us for 2 weeks now. Praise the Lord!!

We are much to be thankful for in Scarlet Hope!   God’s doing incredible things in the lives of so many and we are so thankful for everyone’s prayers for this ministry.

Glory to Him,

Rachelle Starr & The Scarlet Hope Team

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