"Wo Ai Ni" - outreach to women

A few weeks ago I shared about starting an outreach to women in the sex industry. We’d been praying over a strip club in downtown Flushing, hoping to build relationship with the ladies that worked there. Back in April we asked the manager for permission to go in and befriend the ladies; he was hesitant to give us an answer but told us he will talk to the “house mom” first.

Flowers with the notes

After that encounter, we were determined to go back. Excited to be a blessing to them, we brought flowers with handwritten notes attached. What happened next took us by surprise. When we got there, it was closed. Unsure of what to do next, we prayed and asked the Lord where to go. We made our way to Main Street and went into a few Asian massage parlors, some of which are fronts for brothels. That night, through my limited Chinese and our gifts, we gave away all the flowers and shared a few moments of joy and laughter.

This past week, we went back to the same massage parlors (along with some new ones) and handed out gift bags complete with Chinese pastries, candies, the Gospel of John in Chinese, and a bookmark with Psalm 45:11-15. When the ladies asked us why, we simply said “wo ai ni” – “I love you” in Chinese, which made them laugh and joyfully say the same back to us. One lady opened her gift bag, found the Gospel of John, and starting reading it in front of us. For me, watching her was humbling, knowing deep down she had a hunger for God. Another lady read our bookmark out loud and smiled as its message hit home. The whole experience was amazing because I am reminded how God wants us to bring His light to the darkest places (you should’ve seen how creepy looking some of those places were!).

Please continue praying for us as we pioneer this type of outreach to women and build relationship with them. Thank you so much for reading this!