Journal Entry #73

Scarlet Hope – Journal #73 – 2-18-2010

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