During the 2023 Peru Mission Trip with Overseas Missions, one of the things we did was hire prostitutes. Now, it sounds terrible when I say it that way, but the REASON we hired them was so we could have their undivided attention to throw them a party. You see, our team leader reasoned that since Jesus was known for hanging out with prostitutes and sinners and yet never engaging in any of their activities, we should do the same, and facilitate these women having a night with King Jesus.
Prior to even leaving the USA for Peru we had already known this was part of the plan, so some of us brought party supplies with us, including a kit to make a big purple-and-gold balloon arch. Some of the local women bought party supplies at a store, then we spoke to Sylvia, the manager of our hotel, to borrow a large meeting-hall, which we subsequently decorated with all kinds of party supplies. The women didn’t typically go to one of the main city plazas until around or 9 pm, so it was going to be a late night, but we pre-planned for that as well.
Once we were ready for the party, complete with cake and a range of other snacks, we had to figure out which members of the group were going to locate the women who we would be sharing God’s love with. In the end we all decided to go, so we hailed a bunch of motorcars (which are the local equivalent of taxis) to find women and escort them back to the hotel.
Now, we had a secret weapon with us. One of the local women has, for the past 13 years, gone and ministered to the women (and some cross-dressing men) in the plaza, so she was able to point out who we should speak to. But get this. What sounds like a group of people making plans on God’s behalf took a supernatural turn—something we only found out hours later—but when we arrived in the plaza, even before we had approached anyone, a few of the prostitutes were standing together and they felt a wind go across them and a sense of peace settle upon them. After we hired the 4 women, they decided to take a separate motorcar to the hotel, and one of them told the others “our services won’t be used tonight.” The others didn’t believe her at the time—but God had gone before us to prepare their hearts to receive from Him that night.
It reminds me of when Abraham sent a servant out to go find a bride for Isaac and the servant wasn’t sure how to just “find” some random woman. Genesis 24:39-40, spoken by the servant of Abraham as he tells the story to Rebekah’s family is as follows:
“Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman won’t come back with me?’
“He [Abraham] replied, ‘I have walked faithfully with the Lord. He will send his angel with you. He will give you success on your journey. So you will be able to get a wife for my son.”
In the same way that an angel went before Abraham’s servant so the man could find a wife for Abraham’s son, God sent an angel before us so that these women could have an encounter with their bridegroom, King Jesus.
The women were definitely not expecting a party, and took some time to warm up to us, but eventually they were smiling and having a good time. We served them cake, chatted briefly, then as they warmed up to us our leader asked if they minded if we shared some things with them that God was telling us about them (ie. prophesy to them). They agreed, so we began to prophesy God’s plans and purposes for their lives and share wisdom and insight about who God had created them to become. The more we talked the more it was apparent these women weren’t even selling their bodies because someone was forcing them or because they were young and foolish. Almost all of these women had families at home that they were trying to feed. In one case, the woman had stopped the lifestyle and was washing clothes for around 50 soles a day (about $13), but it was backbreaking work and her father had grown very sick and she needed the money to take care of him. Since she had a means where she could make double her daily income in an hour, it was easy to understand how she went back into prostitution. These women lived hard lives and were trying to make ends meet, not live some kind of glamorous lifestyle of the rich and famous. They just didn’t want their families to starve and be homeless. As such, the theoretical worth of their bodies could be reduced to $15-30USD an hour. It’s really sad, if you think about it even for a moment.
During the time we prophesied over them, our leader realized that the Holy Spirit was speaking in a particular and unique manner. You see, earlier in the day when the women had gone to buy party supplies, they bought some roses as well, but only had enough to buy two at first. Somehow they got the money for four, and brought four roses back to the hotel. Well, we didn’t know until that night that we would end up with four women, but God did. Furthermore, one of the women’s names was Rosa, which means “rose” in Spanish. This was yet another way that God encountered both these women and us, preparing the way before all of us for the night.
We prayed for them, hugged them, and spent time letting these precious women know how valuable they are, now much God loves them, and that He has prepared a way for them. One of the other local women with us shared her story of how God brought her out of a lifestyle of prostitution and she encouraged them that God had prepared a way for them to leave the lifestyle and still care for all of their needs as well. All in all it was a powerful night, and the women left with double their normal rate (we wanted to show them double-honor and not just pay “as good as” the men who use and abuse them), the rest of the cake, a bunch of snacks, roses, and hearts full of God’s love for them.
One final detail was that right after we left the plaza and everyone was headed back to the hotel for the party it began to downpour. This wasn’t a light sprinkle of rain, and no one would have remained out in the plaza anyway. If we hadn’t gone when we did there would have been no one to minister to that night, and those women wouldn’t have made any money either. Not only that, but right as we finished the party was when the rain stopped. God literally took care of all of the details for us because He is far more interested in touching these women than we are. The Bible tells us that God is a jealous God. This doesn’t mean that He has petty squabbles over things, but that He will stop at absolutely nothing to restore His daughters and sons to Him and for Jesus to have his full reward—that is the WHOLE Bride presented to Himself without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. He is committed to completing His work that He has begun in all of us, and this was very evident in how He revealed Himself to these precious women that night.
