Neon lights flooded the midnight sky and illuminated the bustling street before me. People of all kinds filled the sidewalks and different songs were fighting for the attention of my ears with each step I took. Ladyboys lined the streets wearing heels too high for me to even walk in. I stared at the sight before me and I knew the Holy Spirit was about to move.
In March of 2017, I found myself on the infamous “Walking Street” in Angeles City, Philippines. This street is a hub for the sex trade and this was the first time I saw it for myself.
During my time on World Race Gap Year, I was able to partner with an organization called Wipe Every Tear (WET). Their vision is to give women the opportunity to have their lives fully restored by offering a safe place they can call home, education, and discipleship.
The sad reality is that most of the women in these bars were either trafficked or tricked. These women desperately want to provide for their families. They believed they have no other way than to sell more than just their bodies, but their souls to take care of the ones they love most.
The first time I walked into one, culture shock is the only term I can use to describe my feelings.
This organization I partnered with travels the two hours from Manila to Angeles City to go directly into the bars and speak with the women. Their goal is not to get the most women they can into their program, their desire is to share the gospel of Jesus with them and offer them something they long for: hope and freedom.
WET has safe homes in Manila and there they educate and disciple the women that do decide to come into their care. I was able to visit the homes and meet some of these women and hear their stories. There was not one dry eye in the room as these beautiful women shared the horrific hurts and pains they endured during their time. The abuse and hopelessness replaced by the love of Jesus.
Those are the hearts and stories that will never leave my memory.
On the first night of going into the bars it was laid out for us to not go into these bars trying to convince them to come with WET. They emphasized to just build a relationship with these women and sit and listen to them, as these women do not experience this on a normal basis. Their bodies are valued over their hearts and my group and I came to do the exact opposite.
“Evangeline”
Before going into the bars, we prayed and worshipped as a group. It was powerful because God was moving. I remember during that time I felt the Lord tell me the name Evangeline. Throughout the next three days of going in and speaking encouragement and hope into all the women we talked to no one, including myself, did not meet a woman with that name.
Until two months later.
After living in Manila for that amount of time, we were able to go back to Angeles City and partner with them again.
It was the second or third bar I walked into that night. Blue lights streamed across the room and soft chairs scattered the floor in front of the stage. There were several girls on the stage with the familiar numbers pinned across their little skirts. One was highlighted to me and I felt led to talk to her.
I beckoned her to come off the stage and sit with me on the two-seated couch. At the beginning of our conversation, she shied away towards the opposite end of the couch and by the end, we were laughing, and she was sitting close to me as a good friend does.
We talked about several different things that night, but I offered her the option to meet a group of us at the McDonalds at the end of the street to see if she was interested in WET and what they had to offer. We exchanged FB profiles (because Messenger is the common form of communication overseas) and I walked away hopeful this would not the last time I would see her.
Faith Rewarded
Unfortunately, it was, but not all hope was lost.
She got on the bus that took her to Manila and she decided to stay at one of the homes!
Praise God!
That night she told me her name was Lynn. I thought nothing of the name the Lord gave me from two months earlier until I looked at her Facebook profile with the name Evangeline. Wow, thank you, Jesus, that your timing is always better than mine.
From this experience, my eyes were opened in new ways. My heart was broken by seeing these women sacrifice their worth and value and feeling God’s longing for him to restore it. It was broken seeing these men from all over the world trying to find love in all the wrong places and wrong ways. It was broken seeing evil triumph in a way I had never seen before.
However, I walked away seeing how God’s love triumphs over evil. Every time. I walked away with a deeper hope than I knew existed, a heart bigger than before, and a fiery passion to see people get set free.
Thank you all for reading, there will be more stories to come.
