Club 4:

Sarah writes: Sometimes it seems that there is no limit to the darkness that Satan uses as his playground. Thank God that we have a hope in Him and know that in the end – Only He will reign over all. But until then, these dark corners of our cities need our prayers and our love. Our team was in the dressing room for a long time and every second provided us with another opportunity to learn more about the sex industry and what these ladies experience every day.I spent the most time talking to a 36 year old veteran dancer name TB. She self-proclaims to be hated by the other girls and my first impression is that she absolutely loves being a dancer. She was very picky about how I applied her makeup and kept insisting that she tip me because she “wasn’t like the other girls.” She asked for my number and gave me hers. She told me never to come into the club again without calling her – she wanted to know when I was coming. She is very skeptical about us and I ask that you please pray that we are able to show her that we truly are there because we love them and are not trying to make money, convert them into “nuns”, or judge them.

Rachelle Writes: Entering this club I knew we’d have some opposition we would have to work through.   Everything is a game to these ladies.   Nothing is free and why would anyone want to help them, is how they feel.   So I knew going into this night it would be different than any we’ve had.   22 women, who are someone’s daughters, someone’s wife, someone’s family were dancing for the man.   Dancing for money and surrendering their bodies to human deceitfulness and manipulation.   We literally got to see and hear what goes on in this industry like never before.   In the dressing room is where the women vent about how they are being used, how they hate what they do, how they like what they do.  You name it, it goes on in that dressing room.    But on this particular night something else was going on.   Something spiritual and great.   The Lord say’s where two or more are gathered, there He is also.   So we know the Lord was with us Friday night.

Most of the women let us do some type of hair or makeup for them.   Some hated what we did.  One particular girl, P was especially disrespectful.  Lindsey did her makeup and I did her hair.   After we got done, she immediately went into the bathroom, put her hair up in a pony tail and wiped off all her makeup.   Once I got home and thinking back on it, I felt really humbled by that disrespect.    You see, P was given makeup and hair “free of charge” she didn’t say thank you, she didn’t even tell us what she didn’t like about it.  She simply went and redid it to her liking and seemed very agitated that we didn’t’ know what she wanted.   When we look at these women we try our best to serve them as if they were Jesus themselves.  In a symbolic way P spit on our faces.   I think that’s what we do to God a lot of the time.   He freely gives us his gift and we continually spit on Him because we think we can do it better.   How selfish!    I am convicted by the Spirit when I learn from the least of these what we continually do to our Lord in our every day lives.    God forgive me when I continually spit on you.

J is a 19 year old girl who was there as well.  J has only been working in the industry for 6 days.   She is timid, shy and doesn’t have much confidence.   While doing J’s hair she started to open up about her life.  J told me she has made some really bad decisions in her life and she is just trying to make the right one’s from now on.   I thought to myself, “and dancing is the right decision?”   but to her she’s had some trouble with money so she thinks she is working, making money and is going to be able to buy herself a car, nice clothes and purses.   It broke my heart to think that she’d give up her worth and value for a purse.   But I sat and listened to J and she got my number.    At about 4a.m. I recieved a text message.   The text was from J.   It read “Thank you for making me feel beautiful tonight – J”     I immediately knew that if nothing else happened that night, God showed up and made that girl feel worthy of being beautiful.   J and I are planning on having lunch this week when she comes back into town.  Please pray for J, I feel as though she’s just confused about the right decisions and can easily be guided in the right direction.

I hope you have enjoyed reading each of our entries.   God is working like crazy and we are humbled to be His hands and feet!     Where he goes, we will go!

Club 3: First time in Club 3!

Hannah writes:  What an incredible night at this new club!! Sarah, Amy, Lindsay and I showed up right at 10pm to club. I think we were all a little nervous because we didn’t know what to expect. It was the first time we went into a club and had no food to serve to the girls. This club has a restaurant inside so God opened a whole new “angle” for us to use with in this club!

I don’t even know what to say except WOW! God is unbelievable. We showed up with suitcases, and make-up kits full of fun beautifying products. We walked in and walked straight to the Dressing room where we began to set up our stations! There were 6 women working that night. And by the end of the evening all 6 women had their hair, make up and nails done!

Lindsay and Amy set up to do make-up, I did hair, and Sarah did the girls nails. We were blown away by the women’s responses to us. Since tonight was our first night at this new club, we wanted to keep our talking down to a minimum because we wanted the owner to invite us back next week too. So we just listened to these beautiful women speak. I am just in awe of how HUGE this new angle of beautifying these women has intensified what we do. By 1215am there were still dancers wanting to get their hair done and hang with us. In all my time in this ministry, I have never gotten to talk to 6 girls in one night, and we all talked to all 6 of them. They just kind of went in line from me, to Sarah, then to get their make-up done by Amy or Lindsay. I feel like we know a good portion of every girls story just from being able to sit there and listen to them. Every single one of them literally were so grateful and excited about there new look! It was awesome to see their responses. One lady couldn’t  get over how much we changed and bettered her appearance! She told us she had never had her make up done in her whole life and she was 45 years old.

A couple ladies we met and their current situations are as follows:

- R has a 2 year old daughter and has been dancing for years.  The amazing thing about R is that she remembered Sarah and I from over a year ago. She use to dance at Club 1 and remembered that we brought them all Christmas presents back in 08. It was really nice to see her again.-

-J is the owners daughter. She was on alot of drugs Thursday night so please be praying for her. She is 20 and has a 4 year old son and a 4 month old baby. J also has an aunt that dances with here at this club. Its sad to see that it really is a family business. The owner P, owns this club and another club just like it. It breaks my heart to see the mother allow her own daughter to dance and live in this type of lifestyle.-S had just returned to dancing that night. She looked very depressed. She has been married for 8 months and is having huge marital problems.

-M is J’s Aunt. She too was on some type of drug. She was hard to really talk to although we did get to chat a little. She was all over the place but she still hugged us all 3 times and just kept saying thank you and that she loved us all.

I feel so strongly the conformation from God about what we are doing in these new clubs. The intimacy it builds by being so close to the dancers is incredible. All glory and honor and power are His! We will continue to bring the gospel to ever club that God leads us to. Scarlet Hops is His!

Sarah Writes:  The Holy Spirit filled my heart with so much joy during this whole evening. The dancers were very excited for us to be there, many had NEVER had their make-up, hair, or nails done before. At one point I felt like I was at  high school slumber party…..girls laughing, taking pictures, being silly, and of course, playing with makeup. I spent most of the night doing manicures and one dancer, St, in particular broke my heart.  This was her first night in the club in a very long time. Her husband/boyfriend’s hours got cut at his job and they need money. He is not happy with her choice to return to dancing. As she washed her hands I noticed small cuts all up and down her arm as well as on her ankles – indicating a probable self-mutilating behavior. (For those that may not know, the foundational reason why people cut themselves in this way is to release the pain they have on the inside by hurting themselves on the outside.) I heard part of her story and she has two little girls that currently live with their aunt, as St cannot care for them properly right now. Please pray for her heart to be opened and that we are able to begin a closer relationship with her!

Club 2:

Team:  Rachelle S., Debbie W., Ellen B., Valerie S.

Valerie Writes:  As for me, I went to club 2 last night.  It amazes me that my heart can break even more for these girls, but every time i see these girls working, it hurts my heart.  Satan has such a tight grip on them, and they don’t even know it.

I had a chance to have a fairly long convo with “J” last night.  She’s doing pretty good.  she still loves working at the club.  She was telling me about some of her ‘regular clients’ and how work has been going. She told me that this one ‘regular’ of hers came in the other night and spent about $400.  That amazed me. We go into these clubs and pray for the women working, but these men also need SOOOO much prayer!  ’J’ said that he’s her favorite ‘regular’, because all he wants to do is talk!!!!  He pays for her, they go into a private dance room, and just talk!  the fact that a man feels the need to pay a girl just to talk to him….man THAT really broke my heart!

After we talked some more about work, life, and movies ‘J’ started to drift off to go and hang out with some of the other dancers…..They weren’t that busy, so the girls were just hanging out drinking, and taking shots….I wish SOOO badly that they could know the love of Christ!  That deep, unconditional love that forgives ALL, and loves ALL!  Please continue praying for these girls, and men stuck in such a dark place.

Specific Prayer Requests for Club 2:

D the general manager.   He isn’t being such a nice person right now and we hope that he will see what his actions are doing in the lives of these women and be convicted to change.

J the DJ.   We were able to give him the gift of a car, but it has been continually breaking down.   We have been helping him out as much as we can, but he is unable to drive it very far and would like to be able to continue coming to church with us.  I believe the enemy is using the car to bring him down.

Club 1:

Team: Kamille B., Mandy L., Julie W., Brittani C.

Mandy Writes: Thursday night was probably the best night I’ve ever seen in terms of conversations with the girls in Club 1.  We walked in and a few of the girls were already sitting around a table talking with each other, because there weren’t very many customers in the club.  When we came in they moved over to give us more room, but they stayed out there and talked to us the whole night!  Brittani got a chance to reconnect with A who hadn’t really talked to any of us in a long time.  Usually she’s busy working and making as much money as possible, but this week she was ready to go home and just sat and chatted with Brittani and the rest of us almost all night about her 2 kids.  We found out she’s expecting her third baby, so we’re hoping to throw her a shower sometime!

I met 2 new girls, S & L, who have been best friends since their first day of high school, and this was their second night on the job.  Being new at the club, they weren’t very busy, nor did they have any preconceived ideas about us, so it was great getting to talk to them most of the night too!  They shared a lot with both me and Julie, and I got both of their cell #’s so am hoping to meet up with them for lunch sometime soon!  They’re only 19, and L has a 3 year old son at home, but thankfully she lives with her mom who can help her out with him.  Both are putting themselves through college (L for nursing, S for criminal justice), so they may soon find that this career isn’t going to make the money they probably need to pay for college.  I pray we get more time to get to know them, but I also pray that as they discover more about this career, they’ll find out it’s not for them.  More importantly, I pray they’ll know Jesus!

Kamille Writes: I talked to CA most of the time….  She has been there about a month, she is a dowist (sp?) – a Middle Eastern belief that if you exude positive energy and everyone does then it will squelch the negative energy of others and affect the earth.  So, she was very accepting of my beliefs!  She is heavily involved in the underground scene in Louisville – many friends and parties constantly.  She is all about good times and crazy life experiences and was very friendly and fun loving.  She has never had contact with her biological dad and her mom let her drink and do drugs as soon as she wanted to in gradeschool, let her get married at 16 because she also ‘values life experiences’ and has always been her best friend (not her mother).  She wants to move to Texas and open a strip club, so she is working here for fun and to get business ideas.  She asked me how I was handling watching these naked women and explained that a lot of the dancers (herself included) come in here straight and after watching the beautiful girls dance erotically turn gay because their hate for men grows, and their exposure to female sensuality grows too.  She now considers herself a lesbian, but will have sex with any of her guys friends that need it because they mean a lot to her.  SHe also said that the men will pay high dollar for prostitution and that one girl makes 3,000 dollars for 2 hours and that she would do that too.  Her dream would be if she could get paid to beat a guy up – she talked about how fun it would be to beat a man.  She doesn’t have a phone or a car but we are going to connect over the internet.  Pray for her!  She is lost in every area….

Met a new girl to me, KV.  She was easy to talk to and probably in her thirties.  She is a married mother of 3 and seems to really get her self esteem from doing this job.  We enjoyed what we did have in common and I am praying she will be there again so we can connect soon!

I saw IV, SK (who seems to be really enjoying all of the SH team and opens up easily and quickly now about her personal life), S & A…  the other girls went to the bar side – I was always in conversation when they made trips over.

S the bouncer and ST the DJ were more friendly than usual too.

Please continue to keep Club 1 in your prayers:

Specific prayer requests:

J the manager will continue to allow us into the club.

The girls will continue to open up and allow us to build relationships with them.

This week we put up flyers in the dressing rooms letting the girls know we were going to be coming.  Flyers said “you are beautiful”   we hope to share Christ’s love through beauty and love.

If you could donate any of the following items please let us know asap:

Please call 812.207.5294 or email rachelle@scarlethope.org  - Monetary donations can be made on our website through pay pal:   www.scarlethope.org

Thank you for your love and support.

Rachelle

Walking into an unfamiliar place.   Not knowing what to expect we anxiously awaited to see what the owners would say.   God has been preparing the hearts of our team for quite some time to step out and take on another club or two.   The only way to be able to start serving in a new club is to GO into the club and ask.

So Sarah, Hannah and myself decided to take Friday evening to visit some clubs.  Just simply praying for God to open doors is one thing, but believing God will open doors is a completely different story!    Then watching God open the doors is literally the most humbling moment I personally have been able to experience.

We visited one after another and realized very quickly we needed to have male escorts in all of them.    We were immediately turned away if we did not have them.

We kept trying different clubs until like I stated before God literally opened that door for us.   We walked up to the front door of one particular club and a man walked out right as we walked in.  We walked in and up to the bar.   The first thing out of the bartenders mouth was “since you ladies don’t have escorts, I’m going to need to ask you to not talk to the customers while you’re in here” enough said, I thought.  We ordered some cokes and sat down at a table.  It wasn’t terribly busy, a few of the girls came over and talked with us and the first things out of their mouths were “what are you all doing in a place like this?”   I guess we had big signs on our heads that clearly stated this wasn’t our typical hang out.  :)

One girl, J came up to us and wanted to know each of our names.  She was a really sweet young girl.  We told her our names,  and she quickly told us that HER mother was the OWNER of this club.  My mouth almost dropped to the ground, I thought wow Lord, you couldn’t of been more clear with this one.   We told her we would like to talk to her mom.  Her mother is not only the owner of this club, but a bartender/dancer.   It was heartbreaking to know and see a mother and daughter doing this for a living.   So we talked to the owner, J’s mom – PH about coming in and serving in that club.

PH is going to be thinking about it and told us she needed a day or two to think about it, she almost lost her bar last week because of the economy she stated.   So PLEASE keep this in your prayers.  We are heading back into that club to hear her decision on Sunday night.   Prayers are very much appreciated!!

Now you may be wondering, so then what happened with the one you did get?

Let’s just say God has a sense of humor that’s a lot funnier than I am and HE has led us to the largest club in Louisville. It was quite intimidating when we pulled in the parking lot.   We didn’t know what to expect, or where to even go.

When we approached the front doors there were legit, microphones and everything, bouncers outside the club.  Sarah and I  immediately recognized the bouncer.   C, the bouncer was the original bouncer at our very first club we ever went to.   He got to know us and truly became very respectful to us.   C, told us we had to have an escort and once again we did not have that. So i just told C that we wanted to actually just talk to the general manager if we could and ask if we could do the same thing we did at his old club, in this club.

He said  ”yeah for sure, come with me!”  My mind was racing with just how incredible awesome God is, at this point.   The actual owner of this club came and got us and we went to his office, where we told him what we were wanting to do.    We noticed that they have food there, so we knew that was probably not an option.  He quickly agreed.

So we presented to him that we’d like to come in once a week and have a pampering night for the girls!    He thought we were crazy!   After some intense back and forth, he agreed to let us come in next Friday!  But said he wanted to know what the dancers response was before allowing us to come back after Friday.   I could hardly believe my ears!!!    You will!!!!  Oh my goodness, I wanted to scream, drop to my knees and praise God, right at that moment!   But then I knew he would definitly think I was crazy!

So we asked if we could see where we would set up.  He took us to the dressing room and told dancer A to show us around.   There were probably a dozen girls in the dressing room. We went in, introduced ourselves told them what we were going to do!   EVERY SINGLE dancer was beyond EXCITED!!!    I would have to say that was also a God moment, because it already let’s us know how they are going to respond!  They are very excited to have us.

So many many things to pray for!

We know the Lord will provide all of our needs.   Since this not a cooking/serving food club.   We are in some quick need of getting some supplies for these women.
Please see what our needs are and if you can help contact me asap:
New Makeup (clean out your closet, drawers, if you have never worn makeup)
Makeup sponges
Makeup brushes
Curling Irons
Brushes
Hairspray
Nail polish
Lotions
Flat Irons
Bobby Pens

We get to have the dancers undivided attention during this time.  It will be a much more intimate approach to loving on these women.   We are so excited to get to share what God’s beauty is truly like God made each of them beautiful and we are thankful for the opportunity to let them know of their beauty both inside and out.

Serving an amazing Father,

Rachelle Starr & The Scarlet Hope Team

Scarlet Hope wants to acknowledge that without God guiding and leading us each day we would not be able to go and meet these women as he has us doing each week.   We take this calling with great humility and acknowledge every step of the way we could not do it without HIM first!

Our devotion was about how the Cross is enough!   When Christ died on the cross it covered every sin.   He didn’t pick and choose, but chose to give us freedom from all of our sin!   Lately we have been hearing a lot about prostitution in Louisville.   The economy is causing a lot of strain on women that work in this industry to provide for their children and families. We know that God frees us from that bondage and we want each of these women to know the Love our Father has for them and the freedom they can have in Him.

Club 1: Team:  Mandy L., Carrie K., Jenny E., Brittani C.
This Thursday night was incredibly encouraging in comparison with the last time I was at Club 1 two weeks ago.  It was fairly busy on the main side of the club, the other side of the club was pretty empty when we went to tell them we had arrived with food.  Many of the girls came over and got food, and we actually ran out of the pulled pork that we were serving!  We got to talk with a few of them for once as they stayed out to chat just a little bit.

M, the bartender seemed to be doing ok.  She said the previous weekend had been incredibly busy, and there were only 2 girls working one night, so she actually filled in to make some extra money by doing some lap dances.  She used to dance for 2 and a half years, which I didn’t know, so it was interesting to hear that she had filled in.  She basically just wanted to make some extra money and had the opportunity to do so, so she did.

I met SH for the first time that night too.  At first she said she wasn’t having a good night, but as the night went on, she was really talkative and bubbly and her night seemed to be turning up a bit.  She had taken a 2 month hiatus from dancing, because she said she just has to sometimes to take a break.  It wears you out.  (Brittani and I both talked to some of the girls about how actually tiring it has to be, but they claim you get used to it!)  When we left the club, we saw SH leaving with a high-roller customer and going home with him.  He was on that side of the club making his rounds with all of the girls, who seemed to know him quite personally, and it was sad to see that SH was going home with him.  Sadly, prostitution is a bigger part of this industry than most people realize.

Last week on the news they reported that Louisville was #1 in googletrends for online searching for prostitution.  Most people would probably be shocked by that statistic as well.  I DVR’ed a news clip last week about this and how the police were using Craigslist to find both predators and girls offering prostitution.  Then I found this youtube clip of how this past weekend the police caught 27 people using craigslist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u37DwMavLNE This is something everyone needs to be praying about.

On this particular night we had 3 teams.   Our two teams that go into the clubs and then another team that went and prayed outside some local clubs in the area!   We really feel the Spirit moving us towards two particular clubs and this will be a wonderful challenge for Scarlet Hope, but God has never taken us to a place he doesn’t provide the way and the means to reach the Lost.   So please pray this week that God goes before us and prepares the way for us to reach more of this industry.

Club 2: Rachelle S., Lindsey D., Allyson H.
The second we walked in this club a part time manager approached us and said “it takes a lot of inspiration for you girls to keep doing this every week, and I just wanted to say thank you for being inspiring”   I had not ever met him or seen him before but apparently he had been noticing our teams.   He hung around and was very nice.  Allowed us to sit and talk with many of the girls.

Lindsey got to spend quite a bit of time with K.  Here’s a bit of her story: I got my plate and just kind of stood waiting for God to lead me to a particular girl to talk to. I was led to sit next to a girl who was eating at the farthest possible seat away from us. I walked over to her and introduced myself. K is a 25 year old girl with four children and her oldest is 10 years old. If you are doing the math as I was last night, she must have been 14 years old when she got pregnant with her first…wow! I could see in her eyes that she so badly wants out of the club. She told me she has been working at this club for seven months. UPS laid her off and she has been at the club ever since. She says she can’t afford to work at a restaurant because she needs at least $10/hour in order to pay her monthly bills. She has a boyfriend who she has been with for two years. He is working at UPS and likes it there. I told her that I would be leaving my full time office assistant job as of March 5 and would definitely like to get her in touch with the people here at DAVID to maybe replace me. She was ecstatic! She is ‘clean’ and has never worked in a club before but felt this was the only way to make the kind of money she needed. Pray that she calls me to talk about this. I gave her my number and am in prayer over her.

DJ, J – He got directions from me for the POST service last week and he showed up there.  Drove all the way there and loved it!  J is really seeking out who the Lord is.   He asks questions about God and Faith and thought the message about the Holy Spirit was something he needed to hear.   J is coming this week and he told Allyson he is bringing a dancer with him.   I don’t know about you, but that is the Lord working.!  We are excited!

AG – Club 2b – I met her for the first time that night and as soon as I sat down she started witnessing to me about the Lord.  I sat and listened and as I kept listening she started getting really uncomortable.   I told her that I was there because I loved her and believe in the same God she just told me about.   It brought me to a place, where I realized here is a girl who God is using despite what it does look like.   It would be wrong of me to judge that God is using her and that he can use her right where she’s at.  But that He does want her total obedience in her life and I think she realized that even though Jesus did come and walk and eat with the sinners, he didn’t act like the sinners. I think somehow through her witnessing to me, she was convicted by the holy spirit herself.   It was a surreal moment that I truly felt the Lord’s presence in.   I am constantly amazed at his mystery!  Please pray for AG that God continues to work on her heart and stir in her an uncomfortableness while working at the clubs.

Thank you for commitment in praying for our teams and these lives.  They are children of God and He loves them as so.

Loving Him,

Rachelle & The Scarlet Hope Team

I could barely believe my ears and her excitement was through the roof!     I felt the need to email this out, because so many of you have prayed for V from Club 2 over the past year. We have brought her before our Father many many times and on a daily basis I think about the amazing things God has planned for V.

V told me this morning that God has been stirring in her life for a long long time, but it was with the help of our teams that go into the clubs, that God got her to a point where he wanted to reveal himself to her.  He did that on Friday night at the club!   She said she knows that God closed this door in her life, and is joyfully awaiting the opening of what door HE has next for her!     She said “isn’t God a pretty slick God, how he works?!”  :)

We know that though this wonderful happy time in V’s life she is weak.   The enemy will come in and do everything he can to draw her back into his darkness!   But we know God is more powerful than anything!

So this week:   Please pray for V.
- She will be going into rehab on Friday for a detox program.
- Pray she can continue to hear God’s voice and follow where he leads her.
- Pray for the enemy to stay far far away from her
- Pray that her needs through this time will be met and provided for.
- Pray she will have a peace that God is in control and He will make a way for her!

Loving Him,
Rachelle Starr & The Scarlet Hope Team

Prayer Teams we NEED You TOMORROW!

2 Chronicles 6:19

Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence.

Will you pray for these lives that we are being entrusted with?  He has entrusted us to bring Jesus to the sick, the unlovely, the dark, the broken?

Club 1 has been taking a turn for quite some time.   I apologize that it has taken us this long to ask for prayer for these women.    We are still allowed to go into this club, so we know God has a sure plan for it!   But the girls hide, they act as though a lot of them don’t know us.   It is almost as if they are being told to stay away from us.   They eat, but do it alone and don’t want much to do in the way of conversing….

So with that said we are asking that you pray for our team as well as the lives in this club, the dancers, J the general manager, the DJ’s, bartenders.

4p.m – 4a.m. is a normal shift for the majority of the women in the clubs.   We are asking that each 15 minutes a time slot gets filled with a prayer warrior making a commitment to pray for them and our team at that time.

If you will commit to doing this tomorrow February 11th starting at 4p.m. – 4a.m.

Please leave a comment on this blog post with the time you will commit!

Thank you so much for praying and supporting this ministry!

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