Women who have been trafficked and women in the sex industry
desperately need HOPE – that there is a better way.
This requires that we be
sensitive to their various needs and specifically tailor outreaches and
interactions with them according to these things – not just tell them trite
sayings, such as “Go to Jesus,” and assume that we have, in fact, done our jobs
as evangelists and that it’s now just a matter of time whether or not they will
turn to Jesus.
The same applies to any population of people. While it’s true
that going to Jesus will give us and these women lasting hope, we should not
bypass the facts that they have deeply-rooted wounds and heart issues we won’t
fully understand, and that God is sovereign enough to bring them to Himself on
HIS timing, not ours.
God came down to us and served us. He ate with
prostitutes. He offered them and all other populations great hope – he didn’t
force hope on us. We are to do the same – to go to where others are, understand
those places, and persevere in loving them and continually serving them
unconditionally, no matter what choices they make with regards to following
God.
From shadowing and supporting staff, as well as being an advocate for a
woman who has been trafficked, I have seen the dire need to understand the
population we are reaching out to. Every population can hear and receive the
message and hope of Christ, but every population is different – therefore, we
need to understand as much as we can their various needs, situations, and
cultures or subcultures they are in, since knowing these things will help us communicate
the Message the way they would best understand.
I once heard a story of a
pastor who was alcoholic and almost resigned as a member of the church, but His
congregation had great love and hope for him and “loved him into sobriety.”
They didn’t just look down on him and provide him with trite statements; they
walked with him where he was at, believed he could overcome, and represented the
Gospel to him in the way he needed to see it. They loved him so well, he heard
and responded to God’s invitation for him to live a new life.
There is a woman currently
in a bad situation, and she is selling herself and possibly being sold by
another. She has seen and heard us reach out to her for the past few months, but
had never opened up and accepted our gifts and blessings, until recently. After
a long time of showing her we will continue to love and be with her, she has
decided to accept our love and gifts and finally open up to us about her life.
Undoubtedly, it is because we have represented a place of hope and realness for
her; a place of love and understanding.
Having recently become
familiar with what is known as the grooming process used by traffickers, I was
surprised to learn of the patience traffickers show in luring their victims. Beauty From Ashes™ recently helped a woman whose trafficker
was patient and persistent with her for many months until he was finally able
to exploit her.
It is not unusual for traffickers to operate in this manner;
they wait many months, maybe even years, as they build trust and relationships
with their future victims.
If this man persisted this long, how much more
patient, hopeful, and persistent should we be as advocates and evangelists in
pursuing people with the hope of freedom through Christ?
The one thing that a
trafficker and an advocate/evangelist have in common is persistence. The main
difference between the two is love; love drives us to be sensitive, patient,
and hopeful toward others and their situations, as we hope and pray for their
salvation and restoration from the things they have done as well as the things
that have been done to them.
If we have faith in the Lord and believe He loves
us greatly and mightily enough to save and restore, then we will love others
greatly and have a persistent faith in believing they can be saved and
restored.
Galatians 5:6 - "For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything,
but only faith working through love.”
