Scarlet Hope is the first of their kind, to have ever walked in places that some of the most wicked wouldn’t be caught in. Bringing with them hope and a realness that could be understood by the women who so desperately needed to hear they are loved and forgiven. Two years prior to this particular day while sitting in the shadows, I had observed with amazement how the most callused of women flocked to them. At first I assumed it was the food they shared with us. But more than that, it was their realness that drew us in and to my amazement- they offered up prayer that is so desperately needed.
Prayer in a building whose architect is evil.
Now I can honestly say I’ve seen it all.  If what I was witnessing was true , I was convinced God would bring me out of exile. Before the miracle of these brave women the only part of God I had known inside these walls and others was a pocket bible I occasionally brought along with my assorted dance gear to work. Before beginning my night I would take in the word to keep my sanity and find forgiveness. In these places, it’s not the money but guilt that
has it’s strong hold on you. I had turned their invitation down two years earlier and often in my desperation they came to mind. I couldn’t go into a church and expect anyone to understand why I felt so unworthy. I can only speak for myself but I am sure it is true for every one; upon your chest you wear a scarlet letter.
And how do you explain to God’s people why you are who you are, and what you need to be healed from or forgiven for. Until Scarlet Hope godly people only stood outside and preached about how unforgiven we were. Should I have gone into a house of God and shared my past with a knowledgeable woman of God, she would have probably fainted.
The women of Scarlet Hope that came to me in the night already knew me. There was no need to explain where, how and what I was, and for the first time shame did not prevent me from hope.
Two years later and a week shy of my fiftieth birthday, I returned to find the women had not given up on what had been shunned by the whole world it seemed. It took less than thirty seconds once realizing who they were, to go from despair to an emotion that I didn’t even know existed within me. “The church ladies†I yelled out, and rushed across the bar to the two women who were more than happy to hear me out.
In this damp, dark and dingy pit we bowed our heads to pray. And as we entered into prayer a customer leaves the bar to join us.
My last day in the club where they found me was spent blowing out my fiftieth birthday candles; leaving behind a lifetime of survival. I had tried everything to escape this lifestyle; money, marriage, education and years of psycho-therapy.
Still nothing could convince me that this wasn’t where I belonged. I was to the point of giving up like so many other women that just drop in one night to make Christmas money — only to find years later she’s lost everything including her family, friends, precious children, self respect, health, confidence, credit, education and all too often her very life.
For me – it was the loss God and his people which I didn’t even know I was missing. But Scarlet Hope restores what the locusts have eaten. It wasn’t enough that I just get in the church building and get out of the club.. they wanted more for me than that. They desire for me and others like me to know Christ and to know his fullness in every area of my life. They have become my sisters and they surround me in love.”
– Mary
Former Dancer – 35 years in industry
