the ninety-nine

Part two.

We started outreach on Monday night with the same prayer we ended Sunday with, “God please don’t let us see her…” – we really wanted her to leave the streets, we really wanted her to pursue the stirring in her heart, we really wanted her to encounter the fullness of God and the abundance He has for her. Seeing her meant she didn’t go to rehab.

From an outsiders perspective one may think this is a simple decision, if you want to get off the streets then you can leave at any time… but it is not like that, not in the slightest. Leaving the streets because you are arrested is easy because you are being forced. Leaving the streets because you are sick is easy because you have no other choice. Leaving the streets because you are choosing to get clean from drugs and because you believe in yourself is not easy. Drugs suck you in, manipulate your mind, control your thoughts, and take power of your will.

If drugs are not enough to keep you the chaos of life is. The streets suck you in and pull you into a whirlwind of self-damnation with a whisper of ‘this is all you are good enough for…’ The streets tell a girl she isn’t worthy and if the streets don’t kill her the drugs will.

We prayed with over forty people Monday night. Stopped at a few crack houses, prayed with drug lords, held hands with hopeless women, heard the desperate cries “I just want off the streets”….

As the sun went down over Detroit and the scarcity of street lights flickered… we hadn’t seen her yet. We drove to the crack house we found her at on Sunday and were greeted by the same man… he asked if we were looking for her again and we said we were…. He walked into the crack house, his voice echoed to the streets as he called her name… but there wasn’t a response… he came out of the house and said “I saw her earlier…. She looked so great, she was all dressed up, her hair was done, she said she was leaving and then she left….”

I love how God works because even in that moment as joyous as our hearts were we saw that the harvest was still plentiful and right in front of us. We asked our new friend what happened to his nose, which was so obviously in poor shape…. He shared he was in an altercation and his right nostril was ‘ripped’ off….. so we prayed over him and asked God to grow that back, to rebuild cartilage, to heal him. We told him we would be back on Monday again and expectantly looked forward to seeing a healed nose. She may have left but new relationships built from her exit. Even when the one sheep comes back… there is still 99 more to tend to…

As we drove off, Jaime and I put in our calendars “_________ left the streets today” with a yearly reminder. A yearly reminder that she is worthy, she is good enough, she has a plan… We have learned that God is stronger than any force of a drug addiction, any force of mind manipulation, any force of control –when He puts something in our hearts nothing can stop us. The one sheep returned, but we still have ninety-nine more...... ninety-nine more sheep that need to know about God's redemptive love... ninety-nine more that have a story to fulfill....

What we couldn’t do for ourselves Christ perfected.

she was the impossibility...

God can answer a prayer in an instant. Last night we asked God to put two specific women in our path and immediately after those prayers we saw both women. God can answer a prayer in an instant but the word tells us to pray without ceasing – that means when the answer doesn’t happen immediately you keep knocking, seeking, and asking. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. – Habakkuk 2:3.

We see a lot of girls on the streets every week, most we see repeatedly, some once or twice and never again. Some girls we can see every week for a year and still not form a deep relationship with them and some we see continuously for a year and build a connection that is deeper than the one I share with my own neighbor. Some girls grip your heart the second you meet them, their face follows you home, and you find yourself praying for them all the time. There is one girl I met a year ago that I instantly loved the second I first met her. T’was love at first sight if you will. Something about her captivated me and I’ve seen God use her to speak into my life countless times. She is one of the faces we see every week that I take with me off the streets. The whole team loves her. She is the girl that you think will never leave the streets – she is the impossibility.

Last night while driving during outreach I said “Jesusssssss….. it would be SO COOL if you could just put ______ in our path!!!!” one block later… boom. “okay… now you are just showing off”. I jumped out of the car and gave her a big hug and told her how much I missed her and she kept telling us how much she loved us and wouldn’t let go. I think we must’ve hugged for a solid five minutes. As she gripped my arm with her hand and reached her other arm around my neck resting on my shoulder, she began sharing with our team how she tracked down her birth mom and left the streets for the first time on her own terms; she wasn’t arrested, wasn’t in jail, not sick…but wanted to leave. She was clean for four days and the happiest any of us have ever seen her.

She told us she had dreams and couldn’t live like this anymore. She told us she had a story, she had a testimony, that she was a human being and not just a prostitute….. she told us she was worthy of love.

We stood on that street corner for twenty minutes listening to her tell us about God’s restoration in her life. If ever I heard the gospel preached it was in that moment. We listened to her tell us that one day she would be riding around with us praying for the girls. We listened to her tell us that God had a plan for her life. She said she was saying good bye to the streets and hello to a new life. It was hands down one of the best moments of my entire life. Before she left Jaime grabbed her hand and looked her right in the eye and told her that God did have a purpose for her life, that she does have a plan and how much he loves her. She is the impossibility God made possible.

She walked away and I started to laugh and then I started to cry… an hour later our team was still in shock. It always blows my mind to see the Sovereignty of our God. How majestic and wondrous His ways are and how beautiful His plans unfold. God doesn’t see a prostitute or a drug addict, He sees His beloved. A whole year I’ve been praying for her….. for this moment, for last night…. To walk in the freedom God has for her. Glory.

Happy Anniversary AWOL!

Today is the one year anniversary of All Worthy of Love! Today is proof that dreams really do come true.

When AWOL first surfaced I was very hesitant. I did not want to start a ministry. I did not want the responsibility. After hearing the statistic that Americans spend $16 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day to show one person that they are worthy of love while $32 billion dollars a year is spent on the human trafficking industry that shows 27 million people that they are not worthy of love, my life was wrecked. I had heard that slavery still existed, I donated money, participated in awareness campaigns here and there but I was not personally affected. I wonder now how that could have ever been true? I was that person that knew about slavery but chose not to allow it to affect my life. I mean it makes sense, it really is an inconvenience to turn a deaf ear to the reality that there are more slaves today than there ever has been before in history. I use the word inconvenience because when that truth resounds in your heart and truly captures your attention it keeps you up at night, it clouds your mind, it surrounds your thoughts, it breaks your heart and takes you to a depth of grief you otherwise would not know.

I started this Facebook event six days before Valentine’s day 2012 and encouraged my 600 Facebook friends (I mean, I probably knew half of them, right?) to donate to an organization that was abolishing slavery to show all people that they are worthy of love in place of flowers and chocolates for one person. I really did not think anything would come from this. But on the 14^th of February 600 people turned into 7,000…. In six days. The consensus of this event was that the majority of the people invited truly had no idea slavery still existed. It was then that I knew I could never revert back into knowing and doing nothing. God began to break my heart to a level I had never known. I began to grieve for the innocent lives that were robbed. I began to feel the pain of bondage. I began to understand more deeply my Makers heart and the pain He feels for the 27 million. So I said yes. I said yes to be a voice for the voiceless. I said yes to being inconvenienced every day of the rest of my life in order to bring one person out of bondage. I said yes to what breaks God’s heart. I said yes to be a part of the solution. I said yes to whatever God wanted to do with my life. I said yes to stepping out in faith on a dream that all people would know they are worthy of love. I said yes.

It has been the absolute best decision I could have ever made next to saying Yes to the saving grace offered by my Savior, Jesus Christ.

The last year has been incredible. I mean I sit here and laugh at all the greatness that I’ve witnessed. If I have learned anything it is to follow your dreams. No matter what. Follow your dreams. What the world sees as impossible, God sees as possible. Even with that truth, I have felt discouraged and inadequate of making this dream a reality because the world says a twenty something year old cannot change a culturally accepted reality of slavery. The world says a young girl from Detroit cannot make any dent in an evil as large as slavery. But what the world says doesn’t hold a candle to what my God says. Yes, I cannot make a dent in slavery on my own --- but with the help of others who have said yes, we can all make a dent, we can all make a difference.  When I think of AWOL two main factors come to my mind:

1. I cannot do anything apart from God.

2. I can accomplish very little apart from a working with a team and being involved in a community.

So today on the one year anniversary – I am not more excited about today than any other day because I have done anything. I am more excited about today because I have single handedly witnessed God move and use a body to make a change. I have seen lives changed. I have seen girls leave the industry. I have seen lives restored and rescued. I have seen abolitionists rise up and say yes. I have seen girls freed from addiction. I have seen organizations come together rather than work in competition. I know that God is a God of justice and He will not stop until it rolls on like a river.

  

Thank you, Jaime Davis for your support, dedication, and heart to seek justice. Thank you for saying yes. I am so thankful to have you on this team and to have walked through the last year with you. You are an amazing President and AWOL is blessed to have you as a leader. Your audacious spirit and committed heart to loving the broken and breaking the chains of injustice encourage me. Thank you for being my sister, best friend, and ministry partner. I couldn’t imagine walking through the last year without you.

Thank you, Donna McCauley for believing in Jaime and me and welcoming us into the incredible ministry you lead. You have been a huge blessing to the two of us and your wisdom has forever changed us. I have never known a woman so obedient to God and so in love with His people. Because you said yes countless lives have come to know Christ, to know restoration, and to be freed from bondage. I cannot thank you enough for supporting AWOL and mentoring us as we walk in the path God has called us to. I love you Mama D!

To the AWOL team & Board of Directors --- greater things are still to be done – thank you for saying yes and for believing in a vision God gave me and being a part of the solution. Thank you for following God and for being HIS answer to injustice. You are world changers and it is an honor to work alongside you all in the abolition of slavery.

And to everyone that reads this, know these truths and let them resound in your heart -- God wants to use YOU to impact this world and no matter what anyone tells you – hear this, you are a world changer, you have a destiny, and your life serves a divine purpose…. SAY YES.

I knew I saw her..

I was sitting in Church a few weeks ago and saw the most beautiful red head walk in with her husband. I looked at her three times and was certain that she was who I thought she was… she was one of our girls off the streets. She looked so healthy. Her face was beaming with joy and her husband looked at her adoringly. It took everything in me to not run up to her and wrap my arms around her but I stared from a distance. It was almost as if I was looking at her from a Mothers perspective and seeing the fruit of our labor, I was proud.

It wasn’t who I thought it was. But I do believe it was an indication of who she will be. I texted Jaime and said “you will never believe who is in Church today…. it is ______ in the future and she is fully restored, free from drugs, healthy, and married”. We resolved that this happened because we needed to pray for her. We know that she is very ill and is in need of a critical surgery. The next day on outreach I thought for certain we would run into her and when we didn’t I was really bummed. Again, the next week, we didn’t see her.

Last night we were driving around with Donna, leader of 70x7, in new neighborhoods that Jaime and I have not been to… we were scooping out new possible neighborhoods that All Worthy of Love would begin to do outreach in. While we were driving around my heart ached to be in our regular neighborhood so much that I asked Donna if we could leave and go to our normal route to see our girls.

The second girl we pulled up to was her…. The girl I had been waiting for… it had been weeks and there she was. I got out of the car and hugged her and told her how much we missed her and she shared she had been in the hospital. The time had come where her surgery was life or death and it needed to be done quickly. I had a sweet opportunity to release God’s healing over her and ask him to grow new valves to her heart. There were tears and smiles exchanged but the most constant image I had while looking her in the eyes was the woman I saw in Church a few weeks ago…. Her in the future.

Please join our team in prayer that she would be completely healed either by way of instantaneous healing or through surgery. If surgery, would you please pray for everything relating to health insurance and that the details with the hospital would be divinely worked out?

“When a lion roars, who can keep from being afraid? When the Sovereign Lord Speaks, who can keep from proclaiming his message” – Amos 3:8

from homeless to homeowner

So often we become focused on the victim so much that we lose track of the victimizer. The first night I was in Thailand I found myself looking among all the western men purchasing sex with the most condemning eyes I could. I hated them. I thought those men were the enemy. During our group debrief that night following ministry I asked my team to pray for me because I was really struggling with the men. I had this sisterly/motherly protection come over me that wanted to do whatever I could to keep the young girls safe and in doing so I thought the only way was to exile the purchaser and the supplier. This mindset lasted for a few hours but it has forever changed my perspective. That night my team laid hands on me and I very distinctly remember one of the girls asking the Lord to give me a heart for the men in this industry. My very first time out on the streets with Abide 70x7 I met a man who pretty much runs the neighborhood, drugs, women, you name it. I prayed with this man and since that day I have developed such a heart for him. It’s not just the victim that needs rescued, but rather both the victim and the victimizer. God has really crafted within me a heart to love the victimizer just as much as I love the victim.

It’s really awesome how God has brought Jaime and I together in a sense that we pretty much have one mind. We both have a heart for the men. It is such an honor to serve and do ministry alongside her. Over the last several months the two of us have watched chains of barriers diminish before our eyes as a relationship with this man has unfolded and strengthened. We love him. {We don’t agree with his choices, but we do believe that Jesus Christ died for him and loves him. We also believe that if the victimizer gets saved the culture of that entire neighborhood will see a revival. See, God uses our personality characteristics from our worldly lives in our redemptive lives. This man is a man of power on those streets in a worldly sense but we believe that God will use him to be a man of His power, like Paul in the Bible}

Each week Jaime and I are taken to a deeper level with this man and what it is he ‘does’. Each week new chains are broken and he becomes a little more comfortable sharing with us. Each week he is more open with specific prayer requests. Most recently we have been praying about his lady friend who also works with him and her court order to go to rehab. She is addicted to heroin.  A few years ago the two came together, she was homeless and he was fresh out of jail. Now she is a homeowner and he is in love with her. We have been walking through the events with him that have lead up to the court ordered rehabilitation and he has earnestly asked us to be in prayer for the two of them. Coming off heroin is tough. I don’t speak from personal experience but I do speak on behalf of my friends on the streets that I’ve had the privilege to get to know… heroin is nasty.

Last night Jaime and I walked up to his door and knocked, the lady friend answered the door and invited us inside. Immediately I had peace about entering and so did Jaime. We asked our team leader if it would be okay and she said if our spirits were are peace it was okay. {this is a huge opened door}. We entered. We entered into this man’s house, a new territory, a new level of trust. The two invited us into their living room to sit down and they began to share their heavy, heavy hearts and need for prayer with us. This is light entering darkness. Jaime and I sat there and held their hands as they shared that rehab was happening this week and she was fearful of how terrible it would be to come off the drug that controls her life. The pain he felt knowing she would be alone, hours away fighting for freedom against drugs rocked a grown man who is known for his power on the streets. Two broken people, one hope. So we laid hands on her and prayed deliverance over her life. We encouraged her. Jaime prayed that the blood of Jesus would run through her veins and that every mark heroin ever left on her mind and body would be gone. We assured them that we were in this with them and they were not alone. We got his number {gasps…. Can you believe it}. This is discipleship. This is building relationships. This is all God’s doing. We plan to visit her at the rehab place weekly and disciple her as she goes through this new season of restoration.

Obedience.

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. – 2 Peter 1:21

Over the weekend I witnessed more miracles than I can count. The Holy Spirit is alive and active.

I attended a spiritual awakening conference and it was life changing. When I first walked into the conference I saw this couple sitting in front of me and I thought “wow, they would have a really good looking child”… strange, right? About an hour later I got a word laid on my heart, ‘infertility’. My intial reaction was ‘wow, God, that is a really tough word’…. It came again. Then ‘I’m going to give you a child’ came. Okay. So a tough word and then hope. I prayed discernment… I knew the word was for the couple I had saw when I first walked in, but how scary to walk up and tell them “heyyyy…so the Spirit told me you are struggling with infertility butttt God says He is going to give you a child”. Again, the word came. So out of obedience and faith I walked up to the couple and introduced myself and asked if they had any children. The woman’s eyes began to water as she responded that they did not. I proceeded to share that I felt like the Lord told me they were struggling with infertility but He was going to give them a child. The woman began to cry. They didn’t say much and I began to feel a little panicked. What if I just spoke death into a womb? But peace washed over me and the couple thanked me for being obedient. They ended up speaking life into me and sharing that my obedience would give life to others. About an hour or so later the couple was heading out to leave and walked over to me and apologized if they did not seem receptive toward the word I shared. The two then proceeded to tell me that they had been struggling with infertility for seven years. Biblically the seventh year is the year of completion. I reiterated that God wanted to give them a child. The two left. A little while later this young man I had not met before came up to me and pointed at me straight in my face and said “you are a woman of obedience” I smiled and said “I receive that”. He proceeded to share that the couple I gave the word to were his youth pastors and he practically begged them to come to the conference. That evening was the only evening they were able to make the conference but came because this young man told them that God had a word for them. Haha. So wild.