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:Â 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
