The sky was clear, but the streets were cold as we made our way out into the darkness of the midnight streets.  We left in teams to bring this message of Good News to a broken world. Wanna and I began up the hill and I saw what you would typically think when selling ones self is involved, short skirt, long hair, 6” heels and a large purse; draped over the opening of a passenger door. In that moment I realized I was walking into a world that I was completely foreign too, maybe out of my league. As we approached this car the door closed and she began walking toward us, but Wanna kept walking not saying a word. I thought isn’t this why we’re here, but as the night went on I realized that he used Spirit lead discernment to the ones who were prepared to hear? As I stood there listening to him talk to the first young lady we approached I thought why are we talking with her, she is conservatively dressed and looks so innocent. After listening to them talk in the local language, he explained her story to me; she was sold at 12 yrs old as a servant to a family in the city. She worked there for four years until she was raped by one of the men, became pregnant and was then kicked out. She proceeded to find a small paying job that she got by on until her child needed to go to school and the extra expenses came in that she couldn’t afford. With all her immediate options burned up, she went into survival mode and turned to the streets. While they talked I just kept looking into the crisp sky and as I gazed upon all His creation, setting the stars in place, I wondered”oh God how have we gotten this far”. I just tried to speak truth to her about how beautiful she is and she deserves much more than where she is now. I told her how it angers me what happened to her, but there is hope and it is readily available, all she has to do she accept it.

We talked with a few more girls this night and of all the ones we talked to, not one of them wanted to be out there. It was complete survival mode trying to get by when all else had seem to fail them. The most disturbing thing from this experience was not something I saw, but what I heard from Carmen. Most of the girls Wanna and I talked to said they made around 300 to 750 birr a night ($17 to $43) which doesn’t sound like much, but here it’s good money. While in the car Carmen shared that one of the girls they met sold herself for 7 birr; THAT IS 40 CENTS!! When I first heard it I think I went into shock because I really couldn’t wrap my head around that. It was the next day as I was lying in the sun staring into the heavens processing all from the night before that it hit me. Psalms 8 proclaims that God made us just a little under the angels, but the enemy has taking so far from God that we think we’re only worth 40 cents. From created in His image, a little under the mighty, powerful angels to 40 CENTS!

What I saw on this night blew heavily on the embers and passions of my heart, for it just exposed me even more to how the enemy is winning a battle that he has no right to. Yes these young ladies were making the choice to be out there, but if we as men would claim our victory and stop waving the white flag, then maybe there are fewer or no girls out there thinking they’re only worth 40 cents! We are created to provide, protect, lead and LOVE, but we’ve become the predator preying on the weak. It’s time for a generation of men, young and old to rise up and be a men. A man doesn’t us his power and authority to abuse and control, no we use our God given power to defend our families and lead them well. If we don’t love our wives, protect our daughters and teach our sons to do the same, then I don’t see a man at all; I see a weak passive shell of what could be a man. My hearts breaks for each one of the girls we saw on this night, I pray their Father would radically move in their lives.

We will end this on a positive note, all glory be to God! Here is an email I received from Wanna while writing this blog:

Hello my friend! One of the lady whose we have talked last night called me and we meet and make long conversation and she decide to follow Jesus and also want to stop such kinds of work and she start to seek another Job. Please pray for her and her baby girl too. Hare Name is Werkinash (the first lady we talked with)

God Bless you ...wana

 

ALL-OUT!

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