Fishers of Women

Only a 15 minutes drive from my respectable suburban home I found another world going on this Thursday night. It was a world of desperate women at the lowest point of their lives standing on the street as sex workers. I joined the OM training team on their outreach to the inner city of Pretoria. They had been there for a week already. I was just a visitor. We split up into small groups of girls with guys following behind as our bodyguards and set out to meet the women.

We met ladies of all colors and ages, some were young teenagers, one was older than my mother. Our goal was to chat with them and pray for them and let them know that they are loved.  Some of the women turned their backs on us when they saw us knowing who we were, but most allowed us to talk to them and pray with them. We met one girl who was once a Sunday school teacher, another told us she was a pastor’s daughter. I wondered if her parents knew where she was and if she would ever return to them like the Prodigal Son.

I sat on the curb with a young girl. She was high and smelled of alcohol. She was crying and her mascara was smeared. “I want out,” she cried. “He took my life,” she said and pointed angrily at her pimp across the street. I asked if I could pray for her and she agreed. I didn’t know what to pray. Her situation seemed impossible.  I prayed for a miracle, that God would set her free from her pimp, from her addictions and all her bondages. After that she crossed the street and disappeared.

Some of the ladies have been brave enough to escape this industry. A few have gone into rehab and are off the streets. But it is a dangerous and difficult process that needs much prayer. Only Jesus Christ can truly set them free.