Breaking Chains Pt. 2

She wasn’t supposed to be here. None of them belonged here. Darkness lives here, thrives here, but light shone from them all. They were beautiful, every single one of them and they didn’t belong here. These are the thoughts drifting through my mind as I sit making eye contact with the beautiful girl sitting next to me, telling her there was a way out of this pit of darkness. 

The night had begun well. It was night two of our Parent Vision Trip and night one had been greater than I could have expected. Tonight was taking a turn for the better. Better than the night before. We had decided to walk the strip, talking as we went to the ladies standing outside of the bars trying to pull patrons in. We were always greeted with large smiles and hurting eyes, eyes searching for truth in the world of lies they were trapped in. As we reached the end of the strip, the conversation of what bar to enter began. We decided on a bar near our location and set out with hopes high.

As soon as we entered the bar, I questioned my decision to bring my team here. To my right was a booth filled with lady boys, an unexpected surprise to be sure. I had become accustomed to seeing these gentlemen on the streets outside Walking Street, but never on the street, let alone inside one of the bars. I was concerned about my group, one that was still becoming accustomed to the bar scene. As we were led to a booth, five women and one man from America all in a group is bound to attract attention, but my fears were realized when the attention we had attracted was from one of the lady boys. We had pleasantly responded to the young man and sat down, thinking that perhaps he had seen all he needed and would be satisfied, but, to my dismay, he chose instead to settle down next to perhaps the most uncomfortable member of the group and strike up a conversation. Sitting on the other side of the booth, my anxiety must have been obvious to all who saw me as I leaned over frequently to check on this dear woman. Her husband was seated next to me and once I saw that both he and his wife were doing ok, I allowed my anxiety to fall away. “We’re here to bring these girls home,” I thought to myself and determined that my focus would remain on the task on hand. (I later learned from this dear, precious woman that her conversation with the man had gone quite well and she had been able to share God’s love with him). 

We had gotten settled when one of the bar managers came over and immediately asked if we knew a particular girl. “She went to live with missionaries in Manila and is going to school. She is my friend.”

“Yes!” my Filipino friend, Mak, exclaimed! “We know her. She is in school and really loves it,” she said. 

“I want you to talk to some girls here, is that ok?” the bar manager said. 

“Of course,” I replied. To our delight and surprise, throughout the next three hours, girls were continually brought to us for the sole purpose of telling them about Wipe Every Tear and all that was offered to them. I and two other ladies were even brought onto the stage to dance and break down walls between us and the ladies we were there to share light to.

Eventually, we left, having talked to almost every girl in the bar, our sites on home, when the gentleman in our group, the father and husband to two of the group members, said he felt he needed to return to the bar we had been in the night before. Several of our group chose instead to go back to their hotel, feeling tired. And that is how a father, a daughter, a Filipino, and a girl from Colorado ended up here, sitting in a booth in a bar, sharing love to the ladies who needed love more than anyone I know. The girl sitting before me is so young, only a few years younger than I and yet she has experienced more pain than I can even imagine.

“Come back with us,” Alexis, one of the World Racer members of the group, was telling her. “You can go to school! You want to go to school right?”

“Yes, I do. I just didn’t know I could until now,” she replied. “I have to go back to work, but I want to come,” she said, and then she was gone. 

“Did you get her number?” I asked Mak. 

“I did,” she said, and we paid our tab and left the bar.

Its morning and we have sixteen women coming on the bus with us to come see our safe houses and make a decision. There is hardly any room to sit, some World Racers are even sitting on their parent’s laps. I have a full heart as a look at the two ladies sitting next to me, sleeping peacefully. As we arrive in Manila, all of the ladies are full of excitement to see the houses. We part ways with them and I whisper a prayer that they will choose to stay.

 

Several weeks have gone by and I cannot get the young lady from the last bar I had been to out of my mind. Honestly, I am a bit doubtful she will come, since she hasn’t come yet. Discouragement seems to always creep at the door of my heart, waiting for me to give it permission to enter. Its in moments like these that I am so grateful for the grace of God that gives me the strength to hope against hope. With three ladies who have chosen to come live in the safe houses in the last several weeks, I cannot get too discouraged. God has been incredibly good! As I pack to leave for a short vacation with Melissa and a new friend, a missionary in Malaysia who has come to visit the Philippines, I decide to take one last look at my Facebook. I have a message from my dear friend, Mak, who works in the safe houses and helps us run things there. 

It says this, “Good morning Sensei! sorry to disturb you while you are in vacation, but I can’t wait to tell you that (our friend from the bar) was finally Home with us. I’m just so happy! See yah soon!”

A small scream escapes my lips before I have a chance to hold it back. I jump up and down and my excitement can hardly be contained! God has brought our sister home! I am standing here, completely in awe of God, and so incredibly humbled in this moment to know that He is using me, using US to change the world, one girl at a time. Where, only moments ago, discouragement was threatening to come in and overwhelm my heart, the joy of the Lord now fills every corner of my heart! I could not serve a greater God, who loves His daughters and longs even deeper than I or any of us could, for each of them to come home.