At the Strip Club

When do people want to know about the God that created them? When their lives are going well? Do they want to hear how Jesus can save them when they don’t feel like they need a Savior? When they feel and think they have done a great job all by themselves, why would they even ask , ‘am I doing anything wrong’? After an earthquake or hurricane or tornado people are looking for answers. When people feel like they don’t have control of their lives they are looking for the ‘One’ who does have the answers.

An assumption about a woman dancing in a strip club could be that she chooses this line of work and could walk away and do something else at any time. Another assumption could be that she would never want to talk about God, and certainly not ‘AT the CLUB.’  All of these assumptions would be wrong. From an outsider, the club is like being in the pit of hell, men lusting after women and attempting to use them for their own gratification.

At the strip club I have found more people open to discussing God than anywhere else. That includes the women dancers and the managers (men) of the club. These women are desperate to find a more respectable job than dancing. But they feel trapped for many reasons. Addictions, lack of skills, boyfriends, and husbands without jobs that need to be supported. Many need to support their children but lack the skills to get a “normal job”.  Many have been abused as children and are still being abused. They don’t feel capable of doing more with their lives.  Many have dropped out of school before graduation and are unable to go back to get a GED.  They just need someone to come to their side and encourage them and believe in them.  Someone to love them right where they are and give them guidance they did not receive when growing up.

Most of the women know they need to get help but don’t know how. So, ‘there they are’ in a strip club crying out for someone to tell them about God. And most are not shy about talking about God. They want to know everything. One girl wanted to know what to do with the guilt she felt because she had accepted Jesus as her savior and when she came into work ‘at the club’ she felt very guilty. She didn’t know what to do because she felt she had to work, but the guilt was eating her up. One young woman wanted prayer for her dying brother; one woman needed assurance that God loved her even though she was a dancer. We assure them God loves them and that He can make a way when there does not seem to be one. Many of the managers of the club want to know when we will help’ them’ get out of the business. They want us to be at the club with the word of God and a loving touch for these women because these women need the love of the Savior. One woman asked if she could go to church with us and another begged for a women’s study Bible so she could learn God’s word.

During this month’s outreach, our evening was coming to an end with us in the parking lot putting everything back into our cars, but we saw a young woman walking up to Julie  [founder of Beauty From Ashes™ Ministries] to give her a hug as big as the Grand Canyon. She was a young woman who has left the business to get a job that is not stripping. We all had tears of joy when she looked at Julie and said ‘Thank you.’

Who will love them? Will you?

Sharon Aldridge
Beauty From Ashes' OutREACH Team and Mentor