Another Friday Night in Seoul’s Red Light District

Sometimes, just knowing there is somebody out there who cares, is enough to inspire the will to live another day.

This past Friday, I was blessed to be part of another outreach with my church to Seoul’s Red Light District. This time, we delivered roses to over 400 girls trapped in sexual enslavement. Our goal was to show these girls that even though society has discarded them, God still pursues them with a Relentless Love.

It was absolutely heartbreaking to see these young (12-22 year old), beautiful, innocent girls in these elaborate “show rooms”, dressed up in sparkly princess gowns, sitting there waiting… to be sold, bought, used, and discarded, over and over and over again. Make no mistake, these girls have not CHOSEN this lifestyle, they were forced into it; they are slaves, raped repeatedly each day for profit. These girls have absolutely NO worth to those who enslave them, other than the income they generate through the forced sale of their bodies.

You may be wondering: What will a rose do for these girls? Don’t they need more than flowers? The answer is yes. They need much more than flowers. What they NEED is the knowledge of God’s Unfailing Love for them. What they NEED is people who won’t give up fighting for their freedom and their honour.

The flowers that we gave out were meant to be a representation of God’s Love for them. And of the fact that somebody out there cares. We prayed over each flower… that just by looking at them, holding them and smelling them, the girls would have a Divine revelation of Jesus’ Relentless Love.

The Bible records miracles of people being healed just by stepping into the shadows of the apostles and by touching the handkerchiefs of God’s servants. We believe in faith that we have access to the same Power of God today. For it is written, “Anyone who has faith in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works than these will he do…” (John 14:12).

Many of the young girls who are enslaved have no family whatsoever; nobody who cares about their well being. They are continually abused and mistreated. These girls never receive presents. For some of them, the flower we gave them may have been the first they have ever received. The simple rose was so much more than fragrant pink petals on a green stem. It represented HOPE. It represented the fact that there is SOMEBODY out there who knows they’re alive. There is somebody out there who knows where they are being held captive. There is somebody out there who actually CARES about them.

It doesn’t end with the flower. There is MUCH to be done for these victims of sexual enslavement. God is clear in the Bible about our mandate, “Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” – Isaiah 1:17

How can YOU help?

1. You can pray for these red light districts and the ones in YOUR home town to be shut down permanently.

2. You can pray for the full physical, spiritual and psychological restoration of these young girls who have been enslaved for so many years.

3. You can pray that the pimps and madams repent and turn from oppressors into abolitionists.

4. You can volunteer your time, energy, finances and resources in some capacity to help girls who are enslaved as well as those who have been rescued from sexual enslavement.

We must use our freedom to fight for the freedom of those who are enslaved and oppressed. We must be a Light in the darkness. We must be the hands and feet of Jesus. We must never give up.

Because, sometimes, just knowing there is somebody out there who cares, is enough to inspire the will to live another day.

Fast for Freedom

My church is engaged in the Fast for Freedom this year during Lent. Lent is the 40 day period before Easter that represents the last days of Jesus’ life on this earth, his ultimate sacrifice on the Cross and His triumphant Resurrection and Victory over death.

Many Christians choose to fast during Lent, in an exercise of sacrifice, discipline and obedience to God. Some people fast by giving up one meal a day, or abstaining from a specific food or practice. However, fasting is much more than arbitrarily abstaining from something. It about filling that void with spiritual nourishment. It is an opportunity to focus on God, deepen your prayer life, stretch your faith and grow spiritually in your relationship with the Lord.

This year will be the first in which I am fasting for Lent. When I was trying to decide what I would choose to sacrifice, I thought of what took up the majority of my time each day. The answer was simple: facebook. I easily spend 2-3 hours on the website daily.

How much time do I spend with God every day? Looking at my priorities alone, it would seem that facebook has a higher ranking in my heart than God does. What a sad thought. It made me wonder, what changes could I affect in my life and in the lives of others by dedicating even half the time I spend on facebook every day to praying, reading God’s Word or meditating on Scripture?

There’s only one way to find out. For the 40 days of Lent (from Monday – Saturday), during the time that I would normally be on facebook chatting and socializing, I will, instead be spending time with God in prayer, learning from Him and seeking His Heart. We do not fast on Sundays, as this day is meant to represent the hope and expectancy of Easter Sunday and Jesus’ resurrection.

For the Fast for Freedom, my entire church is partnering together in 40 days of prayer and fasting . We will be praying specifically for 5 extremely significant issues that affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. These are the issues I will be focusing on in my prayer time during Lent.

And this is where you come in, dear one. Would you commit to praying for one or more of these issues with me every day for the next 40 days? Even if only for a couple of minutes each day, your prayers have power in the Name of Jesus! Let us partner together in faith to move mountains for the Kingdom of God.

1. For the salvation of Mr Kang; the head pimp of Korea (who I have met personally). That he would realize the gross error of his ways and that he would become a powerful abolitionist of human trafficking and sexual enslavement.

2. For the salvation of Kim Sung Mo – a comic book artist who graphically fabricates the brutalization and murder of prostitutes for profit, including detailed maps and locations of red light districts in Korea. And for these comic books to be banned completely.

3. For the breaking grounds to be destroyed. These are the buildings and rooms where kidnapped women and children are brought to be repeatedly raped and tortured into submission to be made into prostitutes.

4. For all forms of human slavery and injustice to end in our lifetime.

5. For the salvation of a loved one. I am praying for the salvation of my brother – for him to come to know Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour.

We pray these things in Jesus’ Mighty Name! Amen.

“This is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.” – Isaiah 58:5-6