November 28, 2006
Last night (11/28/06) we went to the strip clubs to give gift bags to the dancers. Pastor James and several others prayed over the bags at Spring 1st. Then the men from Consuming Fire prayed over the bags before we left. Each bag contained a wallet, a tract, a card inviting them to Spring 1st, a pen with the "Need Prayer?" phone number, and chocolate candy. Becks, Anne, Jennie, mom, Wes, my dad and I were the team.
When we arrived in the parking lot of the first club, the parking lot attendant came over to us and asked what we were doing. We told him we were taking gift bags to the girls. He realized who we were and then told Wes that he appreciated what we were doing but the girls didn't. He walked back up to the club entrance and was talking to a girl. When we got to the front door, the parking lot attendant introduced us to a waitress and said she would "be one of the appreciative ones." As he opened the door of the club to us, he said, "This is one time I wish I was a woman." We later gave him a bag as we were leaving the club. There were lots of girls in the club sitting around and very few male patrons. I walked to the bar and waved to the manager. He came around and shook my hand. This is the manager that says he's saved and he's watching out for the girls. He wouldn't let us go in the dressing room. This is the first time we weren't allowed in the back. The bartender came out from behind the bar and gave me a big hug. He told me about his Thanksgiving which was spent at the club. The club prepared Thanksgiving lunch/dinner for everyone who worked on Thanksgiving day. The bartender then tapped my mom on the shoulder and gave her a big hug. One of the girls asked Becks where Consuming Fire is located and asked a little bit about the church.
The second club had a different valet parker, but he remembered who we were and was all smiles. He said he liked our bags. The owner of this club was standing at the cashier stand when we walked in. I talked to him about James, and he said James' problems were more serious than he thought. He thinks he needs to get into a year-long rehab, but James isn't willing to do that yet. There wasn't a lot of activity in this club either.
We stopped by the third club to see if it was open, but it still had chain link fences all around it. Praise God!
The last club is the club that was robbed Monday morning at gunpoint. It was on the news. The robber got $20,000. He fired several shots inside the club according to the manager. This is the club that rarely lets us past the cashier stand. The cashier was new and didn't know he wasn't supposed to let us in, so he told us to go on inside. It wasn't very busy. We gave out several bags, and one of the girls told my mom she recognized her from another club (the one that closed down). She told my mom it was good to see us again. We went into the dressing room and talked with the girls. One of the girls said she is 6 months pregnant and will stop working in the next week or so. She said she is going to stay home. While we were in the dressing room, the manager came in and asked us kindly to leave so we did.
While it seemed like an uneventful evening in the natural, I'm sure warfare was going on in the heavenlies. Anne asked me if I was discouraged. I told her I had learned a long time ago that I can't go by what I see in this ministry. I just have to be faithful and plant the seeds. It's up to the Holy Spirit to do the rest. If I do my part, He will do His part. Anne also said this is a ministry of humility. She said that any other type of ministry can hype people (including themselves) up and people can begin to think that because things are happening, it must be because of them. She said "this isn't that type of ministry". No, it's not. There aren't any accolades. I know there's a ministry called "JC Girls" that is getting national media attention. At times my flesh wants to be jealous or judgmental about the way they do their ministry, but I remind myself of the scripture that says as long as they are preaching Jesus, let them be. That's my paraphrase. All of that to say this: Please keep the ministry team in your prayers. Several have suffered from bad dreams or lack of sleep after ministering earlier in the evening. Several have seen things in the clubs that have tormented them later. This is not an easy ministry. We are going in to the enemy's turf. He will do what he can to bring us down and keep us out of the clubs.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support. God is Faithful.