This past Friday night, our team handed out 19 gift bags. That means 19 women received the message that someone cares about them and their life matters. Despite what the world or what other people are telling them, for one moment they got to hear the truth that they are loved. This Friday was a very calm night on the streets, which is surprising since we handed out so many gift bags. Usually when a lot of girls are out, the streets are chaotic with cars and people, but tonight there was calmness in the night. I can’t help but think the calmness was happening because of the prayers our team and others have been praying. From the time we first started this ministry to now, the “atmosphere” on these streets has been changing. Strongholds on this city are breaking, just because people are praying for these women.
Each conversation we had with the girls was natural and they were so thankful for the gift. We had a few girls ask us in such a sincere way, “Why are you doing this? This is so nice.” They expressed they were so thankful and surprised that we would be out at this time to give them a gift. We got to see a girl that we have met a couple times before. She remembered us and was excited to talk to us. Each time we go out I am reminded that we are becoming friends with these girls. We aren’t just another face, but someone they are beginning to recognize and slowly trust us with hard things they are going through. At one point in the night we were standing with 5 girls just talking to them. I was in awe of what God was doing. He just asks us to go out on Friday night to reach out to his daughters with a simple message. And we do go and then God shows up. There has never been a night that God hasn’t showed up. He loves his daughters and he is always fighting for them. As we were standing with the girls, other people were watching us as they drove and walked by. They were intrigued on what was happening, and what is neat is in that moment they got to see God’s love being poured out to these girls. Other girls on the streets were watching us talk to their friends, and as we were talking they came up to us wondering what was happening. Not only are we reaching out to these girls, but also maybe for a moment we are allowing other people driving by see these beautiful women differently. That they aren’t an object, they aren’t a lost cause, but instead they are someone worth fighting for. We are a part of a bigger story God is writing. Every girl we meet has a story of how they got to be where they are. Just like any person we meet, they have a life story or trials they have overcome, or beautiful experiences they have had. This past week I’ve been thinking of the story that I have and how at times I wonder how it will help the girls we reach out to. But what I have been reminded of is the part in my story of how God never stopped pursuing me. He never stopped, and he will never stop. I want to share this message with the girls we encounter, that our team isn’t going to just stop coming out on Friday nights. We will continue to come out and continue to reach these girls. We are different than those who have walked in their lives and left them. Our team isn’t part of some “cool fad” that will die out. Our team is a part of pursuing these girls as Jesus’ hands and feet, so they can live a life of freedom. Our message is “Because You Matter”, because these women deserve a life that they have dreamed of, they deserve to be loved unconditionally, and they deserve for someone to fight for their freedom. -Brenna If you have a desire to get involved with this ministry and have not done a DTS then check out the Justice DTS at YWAM Ls Angeles and apply here. http://ywamla.org/apply-now/general-application/
0 Comments
It is 5:30 on a Saturday morning and we are on our way back from ministry. The sky looks beautiful as the sun is rising. I am tired and ready to go to bed and while I am sitting in the car watching the sunrise I am thinking about what to write for this week’s blog.
It was quiet night and not many girls were out; which probably has something to do with the 3 police cars that were driving up and down the street. We handed out 7 gift bags. We also had really good conversations with two girls who we had met before and were able to pray with them. But this time most of the girls didn’t want to talk. That was our night; nothing too crazy or spectacular happened. But actually, when you think about it, something amazing and powerful happened that night. We were able to hand out seven gift bags with a card in it that says `Because you matter´ on the front and a little handwritten note on the back. Seven beautiful women (most of them were between 16 and 25) heard that night, probably for the first time, that they matter; that people care about them, that they are not alone and that there is hope in a world that seems so hopeless. We were able to speak truth to them and over their lives; the truth that God loves them with a never-ending love, that He is fighting for them and that there is nothing that can ever separate them from His perfect love. These precious girls are God’s masterpieces bought with a price and He wants to pour out his love over them. And that truth stays even when they cannot see it yet. That night we were able to bring light into these dark streets. God used us to push back the darkness that seems to have a grip on these girls’ lives, with His message of hope and truth. The truth that is so much bigger than the enemy, who tries to deceive the girl’s minds with his lies. It is so easy to look at this night and see `just another night´, but God did something powerful that night; He used us to proclaim His truth over the streets of Los Angeles and over the girls. My prayer is that they’ll see and understand who they are in Christ and that people will come in their lives who will speak this truth over and over again. -Naomi If you have a desire to get involved with this ministry and have not done a DTS then check out the Justice DTS at YWAM Los Angeles and apply here. http://ywamla.org/apply-now/general-application/ This past weekend, our team set off for Las Vegas to reach some of the thousands of women who are sexually exploited there. The plan was simple: to hand out roses, each with a hand written message on a card that says ‘Because You Matter’. Our team spent time in prayer before we left for the “track” (track = section of the street where girls are typically sold). As we prayed God reminded me of the simple truth that He is unchanging: His love, His grace, His mercy, His justice, His power, His gentleness and His faithfulness never change.
So far that weekend, however, a lot had changed… Our plans changed. At first we intended to partner with two different ministries for our trip but at the last minute both these things fell through. Sure of the fact that God had called us to Las Vegas on this particular weekend, we stepped out in faith and went anyway. We knew that we had been called to Vegas and that God hadn’t changed His mind; He had a purpose in us going there. We know that when our plans change, He remains. Our city changed. God reminded us as we prayed that although we were in a completely different city, in a different state, that He is the same God who goes with us when we head out to the streets of LA. The same God of angel armies who is our guardian, who promises to go before us and go with us when we’re in LA will remain faithful and protect us on the streets of Las Vegas. When our cities change, He remains. Our hearts changed. Before we went out, God led us into a time of repentance. Once again He changed our hearts towards the men that purchase these precious women, reminding us that they are equally broken. He took our focus away from ourselves and reminded us that this weekend was all about Him and His beautiful daughters that He has called us to reach. In a section of a book I’m reading it talks about how repentance invites the glory of God and prepares us for His presence. Repentance eliminates hindrances and distractions, allowing us close enough to God for Him to “guide us with His eye”. We left for the track, knowing that we had prepared the way for His presence; and knowing that the same God who had changed our hearts also has the power and the desire to change the hearts of the women we reach out to. I was reminded of the following verses in Isaiah 1: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” God spoke that He wanted to bring that same message to the girls on the track. Little did we know how true that would be… The first girl we met that night (we’ll call her P) was so excited to see us. She enthusiastically reached for one of the white roses with a card that read: “God sees you, He knows your heart and He loves you no matter what you do”. Both P and her friend were very open to talk to us and tell us about their lives. We asked them if we could pray for them and P replied “I can’t pray to God, He won’t listen to my prayers”. That moment was so powerful. We were able to speak truth and tell her that God loves her regardless of what she’s done and He will hear her. I pray that the truth of God’s unchanging love for her will resonate as she looks at her rose and our card this week. By the end of the night we hadn’t handed out as many roses as we’d hoped, but once more God told us that when things don’t go our way, He is the same God. He is still good. “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17-18 When things change and don’t go quite as we’d planned, He remains. No matter how we feel or how hard it gets in a ministry where we don’t always see fruit, I’m reminded that He is always worthy of our praise, we can always rejoice in Him, because He never changes. I pray that this week, the women that we reached in Las Vegas will get a small glimpse of the incredible, unchanging love that God has for them. - Laura As the night began, there already seemed to be a theme going on. The theme for tonight was ‘distraction’. Our team met at 3:00am in the prayer chapel, and we took time praying out truths about God we’ve seen in our own lives, and then declared it over the women and men on the streets. Some truths we declared about God were: constant, safe, faithful, persistent, merciful, our identity, comforting, peaceful, and trustworthy. These are words we have seen in our own lives as the truth of God, and this is what we offer to these precious women we meet. . Each time I go out, I open my hands and say, “God I don’t have much, but this is what I have, can you use it?” It’s realizing that God uses what I offer and exceeds all my understanding. I didn’t call myself, God called me and He just asks me to simply be obedient to what He is telling me to do today.
When we go out each time, I realize the battle we are up against. It says in Ephesians 6:12, “ For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” The enemy doesn’t like us, and he tries to defeat us, but it doesn’t work. We come with the power of God; we come with the blood of righteousness. As we finished praying out the truth of God, Laura shared that as we worship we distract the enemy. This shows how powerless he is, he gets distracted when we worship. He has limited knowledge, because the devil is not a god. He is an angel that tries to look powerful. He can’t read our minds, so when we use our mouth against him, and declare words of truth he gets distracted and flees. How cool is that? We can defeat the enemy just by declaring truth. I think sometimes we try not to acknowledge that the enemy is at work, because we don’t want him to take any credit. But in my own life, when I have said, “Devil I am well aware of the way you operate and I won’t let you do this anymore. I am taking my power back and I am going to be the person I am called to be,” this is when I have received freedom. As we headed out we were distracting the enemy, and he was trying to distract us. The battle was real, and it was strong. Everything was going smoothly as we began, but once we got to the area where we see girls, it was chaotic. There were multiple girls out, a lot of cars, and many random people. On an average night we hand out about 8-10 gift bags. Tonight we handed out over 18 gift bags, and actually ran out. Each time we handed out gift bags to girls, we would see more across the street, or down a little ways. It was a bit overwhelming, seeing the demand, and wanting to reach all these beautiful girls. We reached many women tonight, were able to give them a gift bag, and share with them resources we are able to connect them to. With each girl we met, you could see they were distracted by something. Too much commotion was going on, they were being watched, but yet they wanted to talk to us, and for us to pray for protection over them. Each time we go out we meet new girls, but tonight we saw girls that we have met before. They remembered us and were thankful to see us again. We saw “M” again, and I was excited because I had met her a few weeks back. As we walked up she remembered us. I shared that I remember we gave her gloves the last time we saw her, and I think she was surprised that we even remembered her. We talked for a little, and we prayed for protection over her. As we started to walk away she began to share with us that every night she comes out she prays a long prayer because it is dangerous to be out here. The times she hasn’t prayed is because she has been distracted by fear, and each time has had something bad happen to her. When we met her the last time, she hadn’t prayed because she was distracted, but then we showed up with gloves, and were able to pray for protection over her. “M” said tonight she was distracted again and hadn’t prayed but we showed up to pray for her. What is neat is “M” was able to put those two things together, and that God was speaking to us about distraction before we even saw her. Coincidence? I think not. I think God is speaking to “M” about distractions and showing her that He shows up to protect her. And he is allowing us to be apart of it. As the enemy is trying to use distraction as a bad thing, God is using it for His own glory. I love God so much, because he takes what the enemy is trying to use for evil, and He turns it into a beautiful story. -Brenna |