Valentine's Dinner

For the last few years, the Evangelism Team has been hosting a special Valentine's dinner for the ladies who work behind the windows in the Red Light District.  It's something that many of them look forward to and ask when it will be.  And this year, I was blessed to be a part of that dinner.

With a mini army of people preparing things, we got the room ready, prepared the food, and also wrapped gifts for them.

We had 5 guys, who were the husbands of our volunteers, offer to serve the ladies.  Most of these ladies rarely encounter men who don't want something from them or abuse them.  By having the men serving, it showed them that there are good men, godly men, who can treat a lady well and not want something from them.

With the men serving, it freed us up to be able to sit with the ladies and enjoy dinner with them.  After some delicious Venezuelan cuisine, one of the men shared a brief story which spoke of God's love for each of us.

It was one of the ladies birthday, so we were able to have a cake for her, sing to her, and give her a birthday gift.  She is here alone in the Netherlands, so being able to do this for her was such a blessing to her.

We also had the privilege of having Tom & Donna Cole with us for the evening.  The Coles have a ministry called Pure Heart and they really help people work through the various heart wounds they have received, and help them step into the fullness of who God is.  While they didn't do their full, normal ministry, they were able to really speak truth out over each of the ladies and pray for them.  Many of the ladies were brought to tears has they received truth about their identities and experienced the Father's love over them.  It was so great!

The atmosphere just filled with a sense of belonging and even after the ladies had been prayed for, they didn't want to leave, and remained to hang out and talk with each other.  When the evening did come to an end, each of the ladies was sent home with a box of chocolates & a rose.

It was such a special evening, and such a privilege to be able to love on these women, speak truth over them, and pray for them.  They are rarely treated with love & respect, but for this night, they were normal women who were able to experience the love of the Father.  And I am believing for the miracle of them leaving the windows to step fully into who God created them to be.