Not Playing Around

When Jesus stood up, He said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go and from now on do not sin any more.” John 8:10-11, HCSB.

Emily* is just an average 20-something young woman. She grew up in a Christian home in Huntington Beach, California where she accepted Christ at an early age. At age seventeen she rededicated her life to Christ, and in her words, her faith became her own. Emily began making short-term mission trips during her college years. She went once to India and made other local trips with her church. She liked her job, her church, and her family, and she had no real intention of doing any kind of long-tem mission work. Then a traveling evangelist spoke at her church. At the end of one of his sermons, he said, “One of you has been doing short-term mission trips. You need to stop playing around and get serious.” That was all Emily needed to commit to a longer international term.

Emily applied to serve as a journeyman with the International Mission Board, but when the time came to find a job match, nothing seemed to fit. She did notice one job that would require her to work with prostitutes in a predominantly Muslim Southeast Asian nation. While Emily knew this job would allow her to utilize her spiritual gifts of mercy and service, she was a suburban kid from a sheltered family. The idea of working with prostitutes scared her. She listed it as her number two choice and chose another job in Asia as number one. Emily was approved for her first choice. But while she should have been thankful, she wasn’t. She called her IMB representative and told her that she really believed God wanted her to serve among the prostitutes. Immediately, her request for a job change was granted, and Emily’s life was changed forever.

Emily’s city has five red-light districts that are divided according to the cost and the age of the prostitutes. Emily and a small group of local believers are part of a social foundation granted the legal right to work with the country’s poor, prostitutes, and homeless. As a result, Emily has been able to gain access to three of the five red-light districts. While the group occasionally goes out from 11:00 p.m. to midnight, they most often visit the district from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., distributing free make-up and sharing God’s love when the opportunity arises. Occasionally, they are able to befriend the women and to have more meaningful conversations. Still, the work is slow and difficult.

Emily will complete her term at the end of September and return to California to study in a seminary there. Before she leaves she hopes to gain access to all five red light areas to share the gospel with the women without interruptions. The hopelessness and bondage Satan has over these girls breaks Emily’s heart. However, her time among this group of women have made her so glad that she listened to that evangelist and stopped “playing around” with missions.

*Name changed for security reasons.

Pray that:

Workers will be able to gain access and to share God’s love freely among these women in all five red light districts in the city.

God will move in the hearts and lives of these women to realize their desperate need for His deliverance.

The local church will reach out in love to women trapped in the strongholds of prostitution.

The Government will continue to take steps to end the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation and forced labor.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.