May 17th Ministry Update

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Jen

Hi friends,

Thank you for continuing to pray for After Hours Ministry. Here are some specific ways you can pray

  • Pray specifically for C and A who have left the streets in the last several months that they would continue to choose life, that they would place their faith in Jesus and trust in Him completely. Pray for provision for them and others to come alongside them and encourage them.
  • Pray for our Friday night outreaches that we would have wisdom and discernment with each person that we speak to and that we would be led by the Spirit walking by faith in all things. Pray that as the women see us regularly their hearts will be open and that we would have opportunity to build relationships with them. Pray for our safety.
  • Pray for our team, that we will walk in unity of one mind and one spirit. Pray that as our team grows each one would see how their giftings may be used to glorify the Lord in this ministry.
  • Pray for more partnerships in the local community and across the nation that we may offer greater resources to those we are ministering to.
  • Pray for a possible radio interview this week, that in whatever ways we are able to speak to the public we are able to bring glory to Jesus and be a light and encouragement to others.

Other cool stuff

  • check out this documentary that we are a part of www.volviendo.org
  • interested in helping out victims of sex trafficking through changing state laws? Check out www.castla.org
  • want to read our weekly blogs and hear more details about our weekly outreaches? Go to www.afterhoursministry.com

Blessings in Him!
Jen Cecil

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The Track

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Julia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pessimism.
optimism.

so many ambitions.
so many lost dreams and opportunities.

turns that lead to dead ends.
promises that were never kept.

i never meant it to end up this way.
i thought i’d just try something new for a while.

hope long gone.
a fear to hope again.

innocence.
fear.
regret.
resignation.
apathy.
anger.
nothingness.

darkness and light
reality and denial

…one day
…one day
…one day
…one day i’ll stop saying one day.

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You are loved

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Julia

Every so often we go out on a Friday night and the atmosphere is just….off. The girls that we meet are hesitant to talk to us and the street feels chaotic. That is how this last Friday was.

When we first got on the track we saw lots and lots of girls but they were all spread out all up and down the track. They were not clumped together as usual, they were each standing on their own.

We also saw a big fight break out on the side of the street between about five girls and two pimps. There was lots of hitting and yelling.

I am not quite sure what makes nights like this happen. Why one night can be so different from the week before. We can come up with theories like how we sometimes  see this happen on weeks when new girls are getting turned out. Or relate it to conversations with girls over the last few weeks telling us how lately things are getting more and more dangerous out on the streets; the Johns are being more violent, demanding weirder things, not paying for services they receive and kidnapping the prostitutes. But this type of activity tends to make the girls want to clump together and watch each others backs for safety.

As I drove back to my safe warm house in Pasadena that night I couldn’t get the hectic weirdness of the night out of my mine. The bottom line is, we can’t figure it out. The street is unpredictable. And the girls have to live in this environment all the time. They never get to take a break, they don’t get to drive back home to their safe houses if the street happens to be unpredictable and chaotic one night.

I struggled to find the words to say to these women that seemed so nervous and skittish as I approached them this last Friday. How do you comfort these women that face this kind of abuse, fear and unpredictability everyday? But I take comfort in knowing that God sees them. God knows what they are going through. God intimately cares about their every step. Sometimes it does not make sense to me why they are stuck where they are at and why they have to go through the struggles that they do – but I am confident the One who knows them best is constantly chasing after them. I am humbled that each week we get to go out and try to be just a piece of that. We get to be just a word or a touch or an encouragement from the One whose heart is breaking watching them scared, lost, confused or wandering.

They are so deeply loved. And that’s the only message we need to communicate to them. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been – it doesn’t matter where you are.

You are loved, you are loved, you are loved.

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When My Father Comes

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Jen

Last Friday night we met a young woman, A. We spoke with A for some length of time. She seemed really open and shared quite a bit about herself.  We asked her if she wanted prayer and she asked that we would pray for her father to be released from prison. She went on to explain that she felt unprotected and alone without him and that she believed her life would significantly change when he was able to care for and protect her. She believed the answer to her leaving the life of prostitution was to have her father back in her life. As I was listening I heard the Lord say, “tell her I am”. Over and over I kept hearing that and knew I had to tell her that all the things she hoped her earthly father to be, her heavenly was and more.

By the grace of God I was able to speak this truth to her and in the moment she seemed to respond. She went from saying “if” and “when” to “now”. I told her that her heavenly Father was able to deliver her now and perhaps we were sent just for that reason.

This interaction with A spoke volumes to my heart. How often do we say to ourselves “I will do this or that…if and when” when God is already there, ready to deliver us. We look to the things of this world, to other people to take a role that was meant for God alone. We will always come up short when we seek to fill God’s position with another. And yet, when God takes this rightful position we are free to be in a right relationship with others and the world around us.

“A” did leave the street that night, whether out of faith (that God had come to deliver her) or fear (of her current circumstances)… I don’t really know. What I do know is God met us there and will continue to do so. God knows the depths of our hearts and speaks straight to them. God comforts us, guides us, assures us, provides for us, and desires to be our all and the choice is ours. In the last few days as I have interacted with A, I can sense the battle taking place within her.  To choose to be free is to choose to walk by faith, faith in a God who is not necessarily tangible (though even our presence on Friday night challenges that idea) and may even seem distant in light of her current circumstances, or to continue on bound up in chains always waiting for “if” or “when”.

Please pray for A to choose life. Pray that she will know God as God is, our gracious and merciful Father who longs to restore us. Jesus, who has come and made a way for us out of bondage and into everlasting life. May her image of an earthly father be changed and replaced by the gentle, yet firm love and faithfulness of our heavenly Father.

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:15-18

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Twitter!

Posted on April 25, 2012 by After Hours Ministry

After Hours Ministry now has a twitter! We’re not saying you should follow us…but, um, you probably should.
@AfterHoursMin

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April 23rd Ministry Update

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Jen

Hello faithful friends,

Here are some ways you can pray for us this week

  • Pray for A who we met on outreach last week who has asked for help in getting off the streets. Pray that she would choose life and take steps toward freedom. Pray for wisdom for our team as we guide her through that process. Pray that she will continue to connect with us and that a genuine relationship will develop.
  • Pray that we will continue to make connections in the community and that those we have will be strengthened that we may have more resources to reach men and women involved in prostitution.
  • Pray for wisdom and creativity as we seek to minister not only to the women on the street but those being sold through websites
  • Pray for the administrative aspects of the ministry and those who are faithfully serving in this capacity.
  • Pray for the training I will attend this weekend with Treasures, that it will be a time of equipping and encouragement. Pray for all who will attend that they will be empowered to reach out to those in the sex industry in their own cities.
  • Pray for provision and vision for our team and that our board, outreach team and support team would be of one mind and one spirit in Christ.

Praise God for His faithfulness and His heart for His people. We are overwhelmed by His love and grace and long to see others walk in the freedom of Christ.

Blessings to you this week,
Jen

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Fighting for Freedom by Mandy

Posted on April 12, 2012 by After Hours Ministry

One of my greatest heartaches comes when I see broken people void of desire for freedom. We’re all broken! That’s one thing that God is continually teaching me especially in light of working in a ministry with prostitutes…I’m just as broken as these women. The only difference is I’ve chosen freedom. Every single one of these women are just like me. I think that’s exactly why it makes it so hard to go out on ministry every Friday night & encounter hearts that are darkened and untouchable by any light that approaches.

This was so apparent this last Friday as we hit the streets…but in an unusually extreme way. It seemed every woman we approached on the track was disinterested & unimpressed with our humble yet creative little gift bags we held out to them. Not only was their disinterest apparent, I noticed in myself an unusual fear & discomfort in speaking to them due to their receptivity. My whole group felt the seeming coldness in the women. We huddled and prayed, surrounding our plans and expectations for the night to God and trusting that it was in his hands. Much of the night continued in this way. We encountered a few women who accepted the gift bags & opened up in conversation which was encouraging. We got to pray with them and trust God in the ways he was working in them.

The night was drawing to a close and we began heading back to the church to meet with the rest of our team when we saw T. She was standing alone on the street corner so we pulled over quickly and I jumped out of the car along with one of my other team members. As we approached she greeted us with a warm smile and handshake as we introduced ourselves and said our names. The minute I looked into her eyes I remembered that this was a girl I had met and had quite a long & meaningful conversation and prayer time with several months back. She recognized me right away as well and we began to catch up. She had testimony of how God has been working a lot on her heart and she has felt challenged to go back to school and work her way towards getting off  of the streets. She said just 3 months ago she was out on the streets every night and over the past month has only been coming out 2-3 times a week. When we asked her about her walk with God and whether or not she had a personal walk with Him she answered very genuinely that she has always desired one and has always known the truth but has run from it. She said she recently made the decision to start over and is on the road to recovery. We prayed for T and told her that she could call us if she ever needed anything. I walked away with an assurance yet an emptiness in my spirit. An assurance that God is in control of every situation and that he is working in T’s heart but an emptiness not knowing if I would ever see her again and having to trust that her life and story are in God’s hands.

However, I had my own little epiphany that night. I think often times we don’t see people and situations as God does and our judgements can quickly deceive us. I see God at work in the heart of this prostitute in a more real and raw way than I see in many Christians sometimes. Of course I see her brokenness and the ways in which she needs to be freed but I think it’s so beautiful how she is a child of God fighting for freedom. It’s a very real battle in her life and I don’t want to be the one to point the finger and make snap judgements. I think the way we view people affects the way in which we can love them. As Christians we’re called to walk humbly and love selflessly, no easy task at all. I think we would all do good to ask God for strength and wisdom to see His people the way He sees them so that we can learn to love them more purely and reach out to them more effectively. God is at work in the heart of many of these prostitutes and as long as we put them in the broken and untouchable zone in our minds and spirits we will be ineffective tools to be used in a real way in their lives.

I wonder how many of the women that we encountered that night before speaking with T may have been in a similar place in their hearts but have been fearful to open up in it. I wonder how many were screaming for freedom inside but putting on the hard shell. I think way more than I had anticipated yet I let my fear and doubts hinder the way in which I could minister to them that night. In this ministry I’m learning to continually ask for strength and discretion to trust that God is at work in their hearts even if it seems blatantly otherwise on the outside. Lord guide us into new levels of faith and trust!

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