It's reputation precedes it. Pretty much EVERYONE knows what it is. I knew what it was, but still wasn't prepared for it. The Red Light District of Amsterdam.
To some, it's a place of blissful pleasure and self-indulgence. Beautiful women of every age, shape, and race, stand, offering men (and women) a chance to give into that self-indulgence. "Come, find your pleasure. Come, experience 'love'." And it's totally legal.
The reality, however, is that it is a place of brokenness, despair and hopelessness. It is a place where the broken come searching for some sort of meaningful encounter to escape their brokenness. It is a place where the broken offer themselves to other broken people because they have believed the lie that this is the only way.
I visited the Red Light District because I was visiting one of the ministries that YWAM Amsterdam has there. I knew what this place was about, but it still was hard to see.
As I walked through the streets & alley ways of the district with my contact, hearing about the work that is done there, I was accosted by flat-out pornographic images posted outside of stores, theaters & other businesses. Frescos of naked people were painted on the fronts of buildings. There was no question of where I was.
Then there are the windows with the women (and sometimes transvestites) standing in them. These women with barely any clothing, just enough to cover the important bits (though nothing was left to the imagination), stand there day after day offering themselves to whomever would pay for some time with them.
They would stand there fixing their hair or make-up, making sure they were beautiful enough for their next customer, and trying to seem as appealing as possible. They stood there fully exposed, physically. Vulnerably standing there, crying out for someone to want them.
I hated it. A righteous anger stirred up in me, as my contact shared some of the stories of the women working here. Some women were sold by their parents into prostitution. Some were in the business with their mothers (what?!). Some came hoping for a new life in Europe, but made connections with the wrong people and ended up working there. Some chose it because they just needed money.
But all of these women were believing the lie that there was no other way for them. There was no other way to earn enough money to pay the bills. They have no other skills. They are not worth anything different. They will never be able to stop. They are not pretty enough. Not skinny enough. Not young enough. Not wanted. And a plethora of other lies that the enemy bombards women with.
And as if there's not enough shame that comes with working in this profession, tourists walk through the district just to get a look, as if the women were some sort of animals in a cage. When I was there, I saw families walking through...with children. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Why the crap would you bring your young children into the red light district?!! Other tourists will point and laugh at the women behind the windows, making fun of their bodies or how they look. Enter in more lies that you are not good enough.
These women, whether they fully realize it or not, are broken, stuck in lies, and don't know their true identity...desperately in need of a revelation of the love of Jesus and who they were created to be.
As I saw men approach the women, I started to get angry at them, but then I realized, they are just as broken. Yes, it is wrong for them to pay for sex, but they are only doing it because of their own brokenness & emptiness inside. They are also in need of a revelation of their true identity...who God has made them to be, and the true love that only comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The enemy has been wreaking havoc in these select streets of Amsterdam, but I say no more. The Lord is tired of it, and I want to do what I can to help stop it. And I proclaim that each woman & man working there has been created for a loving relationship with Jesus. Their identity is not to be broken & hopeless any longer. They are worth more, they are valued, and they are loved, and there is a way out. With God, all things are possible.
To some, it's a place of blissful pleasure and self-indulgence. Beautiful women of every age, shape, and race, stand, offering men (and women) a chance to give into that self-indulgence. "Come, find your pleasure. Come, experience 'love'." And it's totally legal.
The reality, however, is that it is a place of brokenness, despair and hopelessness. It is a place where the broken come searching for some sort of meaningful encounter to escape their brokenness. It is a place where the broken offer themselves to other broken people because they have believed the lie that this is the only way.
I visited the Red Light District because I was visiting one of the ministries that YWAM Amsterdam has there. I knew what this place was about, but it still was hard to see.
As I walked through the streets & alley ways of the district with my contact, hearing about the work that is done there, I was accosted by flat-out pornographic images posted outside of stores, theaters & other businesses. Frescos of naked people were painted on the fronts of buildings. There was no question of where I was.
Then there are the windows with the women (and sometimes transvestites) standing in them. These women with barely any clothing, just enough to cover the important bits (though nothing was left to the imagination), stand there day after day offering themselves to whomever would pay for some time with them.
They would stand there fixing their hair or make-up, making sure they were beautiful enough for their next customer, and trying to seem as appealing as possible. They stood there fully exposed, physically. Vulnerably standing there, crying out for someone to want them.
I hated it. A righteous anger stirred up in me, as my contact shared some of the stories of the women working here. Some women were sold by their parents into prostitution. Some were in the business with their mothers (what?!). Some came hoping for a new life in Europe, but made connections with the wrong people and ended up working there. Some chose it because they just needed money.
But all of these women were believing the lie that there was no other way for them. There was no other way to earn enough money to pay the bills. They have no other skills. They are not worth anything different. They will never be able to stop. They are not pretty enough. Not skinny enough. Not young enough. Not wanted. And a plethora of other lies that the enemy bombards women with.
And as if there's not enough shame that comes with working in this profession, tourists walk through the district just to get a look, as if the women were some sort of animals in a cage. When I was there, I saw families walking through...with children. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Why the crap would you bring your young children into the red light district?!! Other tourists will point and laugh at the women behind the windows, making fun of their bodies or how they look. Enter in more lies that you are not good enough.
These women, whether they fully realize it or not, are broken, stuck in lies, and don't know their true identity...desperately in need of a revelation of the love of Jesus and who they were created to be.
As I saw men approach the women, I started to get angry at them, but then I realized, they are just as broken. Yes, it is wrong for them to pay for sex, but they are only doing it because of their own brokenness & emptiness inside. They are also in need of a revelation of their true identity...who God has made them to be, and the true love that only comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The enemy has been wreaking havoc in these select streets of Amsterdam, but I say no more. The Lord is tired of it, and I want to do what I can to help stop it. And I proclaim that each woman & man working there has been created for a loving relationship with Jesus. Their identity is not to be broken & hopeless any longer. They are worth more, they are valued, and they are loved, and there is a way out. With God, all things are possible.
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