What an incredible evening we had as we hit the streets with bags of valentines and candy, sharing God's love with the many prostituted and trafficked women who line the sidewalks and fill the bars every night in the Nana district.
We had over 300 mini valentine/candy bags to hand out, many of these donated by a great team of women from the US, sponsored by NightLight USA, who volunteered with us recently. Just to show the magnitude of what we are up against - we had over 75 bags that were just for Russian speakers. The message of God's love for them was written in their language. We actually ran out! There were more trafficked women than we had valentine bags. This does not include all the trafficked women from Europe, Asia and Africa. Sex slavery and exploitation is a huge issue that must be addressed globally and in the US. What is at the core of this travesty? Sexual brokenness. This is not a victimless crime...the men who use these women are as broken as the women they abuse. It is time that we all become informed about the issues of modern-day slavery and do our part to bring it to an end!
Next year we have decided to ask for help from our supporters in the US to send enough bags so we can hand out over 1,000 bags. Looking for a project - keep this in mind. In the area we minister, it is estimated that over 10,000 women are prostituted every night - 10,000 is actually a low estimate!
As you can see by my pictures, some of these women are very young...tiny, baby-faced, and often frightened. My heart goes out to every one of them every time I see them.
Pray that the message we included in every bag about how God loves them will bring some hope into their lives and open doors for more contact and ministry in the future.
I will be leaving for home this Thursday. It is always so difficult leaving the women of NightLight behind. But, I am also really looking forward to seeing my family and reconnecting with many of you - Susan
