Skyscrapers, cantinas, strip clubs, pimps, worship, prayer…these are the images that stick with me from the Justice Rally in Houston, Tx. Feb. 1-5: the week before the Super Bowl. As the Patriots and Falcons prepared to battle it out on the field, we were fighting a different battle, an underground one.
Sporting events are a hotbed for human trafficking. It’s a matter of economics, supply and demand. More men = more buyers of sex. Only in this business, single moms, young girls, and foreign women—the most vulnerable members of society—are the unfortunate victims.
Because of the violence encroaching upon the city, Elijah Rising, Houston’s anti-trafficking organization, called a Justice Rally to fight this evil. Hundreds from all over America gathered in the city to spread awareness and reach out to victims.
Early Tuesday morning, my team from Kansas City piled into a Honda Accord and started our drive. Under the grey morning clouds, a thin strip of orange crawled up the horizon as we drove south, snippets of gold slowly breaking through the morning fog.
“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till break of day” (Proverbs 4:18).
“Yes, Jesus, let it be so,” I prayed. We were going for righteousness, Jesus leading the way.
My team started out the trip not knowing each other—some I had met only months before, and one member I met for the first time that morning. As we rolled down the highway hour after hour, taking turns being squished in the backseat, our legs cramped and the ice broke. The inside jokes multiplied with the miles—“zzzzZZZZzz!” “Get out!” “It’s little Richard!”—laughter preparing the way for the heartbreak ahead of us. Little did we know how much we would need each other in the days to come.
The first day was training. The next few days were filled with:
– calling up girls on prostitution websites and offering them prayer and a hotline number
– calling up men who responded to our fake prostitution ad, telling them the harsh reality of prostitution and connecting them with an addiction recovery group
– visiting strip clubs, Asian massage parlors, brothels, and cantinas to offer gifts, prayer, and a hotline number
– going to the main prostitution track in Houston and handing out lipsticks with a hotline number hidden in the barcode to any girl who would take one, and
– blanketing every area with prayer as we went.
Dozens came to know Christ while we were there. Two strip clubs were shut down. One pimp was arrested. One man on the street recommitted his life to Christ. One girl working in prostitution decided she wanted to leave the lifestyle. Men on the phone cried and asked for help. Girls said they would call the hotline number.
Jesus rode before us, paving the way and bringing about his righteousness.
In my own heart, here’s some major lessons he taught me from the week:
1) The opposite of slavery isn’t freedom; it’s sonship. Cat French, the leader of Elijah Rising (Houston’s anti-trafficking organization) taught an evening session about how we’re all slaves, and Jesus brings us from the spirit of slavery to the spirit of sonship (“Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son…” [Galatians 4:7]; “The spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.” [Romans 8:15]) We don’t need independence. We need to be loved as sons and daughters, and brought into God’s family.
2) The spirit of slavery is division and competition. In “The Willie Lynch Letter: The Making of a Slave,” (yes, this is where “lynching” got its name…it’s as awful of a letter as it sounds), written back in 1712, Lynch lays out how masters can break the spirit of their slaves and control them. He writes, “My method is simple. … I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves; and I take these differences and make them bigger. I use fear, distrust and envy for control purposes.” Lynch perpetuated a spirit of slavery through envy and distrust. Sound familiar? “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” (James 3:14-15). Satan uses the same tactics as Lynch to keep us enslaved.
This second truth convicted me so much. Before this sermon, throughout the week, every time someone led a girl to Christ, I felt a pang of guilt. A voice in my head told me, “You’re not that bold. You’re a cowardly Christian,” and I would feel like a failure because of their success. Talk about the spirit of slavery! After learning this new truth about envy and slavery the last night we were there, God put my heart at rest. I am enough, and one person’s victory does not automatically equal my failure. We are family, and victory is victory, no matter which person it comes through.
Driving back after the justice rally, I felt like a wounded soldier returning from battle. White cars speeding by brought me flash backs of pimps. I kept remembering images of half-naked girls that I saw on the street or on prostitution websites.
“Jesus, take over my mind,” I prayed as I tried to doze in the backseat. Instantly, I saw a vision of one of the girls being prostituted. She was blonde, had black lingerie and a dark bruise on her left hip (a clear sign of trafficking). I watched as Jesus tenderly removed the black lingerie with the pure heart of a father, wept with her over the bruise, then touched it and healed it. He dressed her in white, then took her to a giant walk-in closet filled with sparkling white dresses, all hers for the taking. Then I watched as he walked down the prostitution track in Houston, covering each exposed girl with a blanket, putting his arm around her, and leading her to safety.
Jesus is our only hope. He leads us into darkness. He gives the light. He leads out the captives. He heals our battle wounds.
Come, Lord Jesus.
The Grace Files 
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