Daegu Journal Entry: Volume 1, Edition 3,
Part A
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Tonight
was really difficult for me. This
edition will be in 2 parts because I have so much on my heart to share. The first part will be about my recent visit
to the RLD. The second part will be what
has been on my heart since returning. This
is the third time I have had the blessing to witness in Daegu. The team consisted of 4 members two of whom
were going for the first time from my church.
One of these members is a male, which is a huge blessing. These women need to see that there are men
out in the world with respect, dignity, and integrity, fighting to save them
from this injustice. His presence will
speak volumes beyond what any female can and we are so thankful to have him on
our team. Starting the month of
February, Vanesa and I will switch and only go once a month to Daegu, taking
teams with us.
We
arrived early so we could do a prayer walk over the area and so Pastor Choi
could explain some things to the 2 new members, since we cannot talk amongst
ourselves while doing the distributing.
The weather was so nice today around 60F/15C. It was so warm and it didn’t rain on us like
it was suppose to!
Tonight
we handed out hand cream with Numbers 6:24-26 written on the outside of the
package. “The LORD bless you and keep
you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD
lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” We were reminded before we left that we are
doing the task that God has called us to do.
We should not be going out expecting to receive the blessings God has
for us, but to be a blessing to the ladies as we share God’s love with
them.
When
we arrived at 8 pm to begin the distribution, there was nowhere for us to park. It was very busy tonight, many
customers. A madam recognized it was us
and that we could not find a spot so she provided one for us! This is so uncommon. What a blessing. She removed one of the barricades so we could
have a place to park.
We
began with prayer just like always, inside of the car. Then we set out. The madams were very friendly with smiles
again tonight. Some of them shared about
serious illnesses they had with us.
Illness seemed to be a common theme tonight. A new lady asked us to pray for her!! She has diabetes. She really opened up to receive prayer. Past Choi prayed that she would confess her
healing to other madams once it happens and that she would no longer desire to
be in that place. This now makes two
people who are open to receive prayer in this RLD!
Another
lady was expressing how she doesn’t have hope to continue living. She has been having thoughts of suicide
because she has an incurable disease. We
asked her to share what it was but she didn’t feel comfortable. He wanted to pray for her but she didn’t want
to receive prayer yet. This ladies story
really touched me. I will share more
about it in part B blog because I personally have shared her pain.
Tonight
was extremely difficult for me. There
were so many customers out, most likely because of the Lunar New Year holiday. As we waited a few minutes for Pastor at one
spot on the main road, I saw 3 taxis stop and let out a car full of men. I could hardly focus on the girls because I
was so overwhelmed by the amount of customers.
The looks on some of the girls faces seemed like that of desperation,
like they wanted to be freed from that place.
Normally I see emptiness in their eyes but today they had looks of
panic. Every time I turned to look
another direction I saw madams pulling guys into their doors. I saw men sitting on chairs inside, watching
the girls prepare for the night.
I
saw many men going inside and I know they saw us. They didn’t even care. A madam coaxed one guy inside and when he
turned to look out the door I was able to make eye contact with him. I prayed in my heart he would flee. He looked extremely guilty, anxious to bolt
out that door, but he didn’t. It seemed
like he was battling conviction. Another
guy was sitting outside and as we approached he tried to cover his face from
us. We still gave him a hand cream and
pastor Choi spoke kindly to him. One of
our team members saw someone they knew walking around the RLD.
Tonight
was a night of prayer for healing. It
was also, obviously, a night of prayer for the Johns, customers that visit
RLDs. It was hard to get quality time speaking
with most of the madams tonight because they were so busy. If they did make time for us they wanted us
to make it quick or speak quietly about what we were doing so customers inside
couldn’t hear. There were 2 madams
however, that took hand cream and QTs to give to the girls locked inside. One of those places is a place where we have
already been able to distribute to the sisters.
Also, there was a new madam there tonight we were able to reach out to
for the first time.
PRAYER
REQUEST:
Pastor Choi
is trying to make connections with churches in Daegu. He wants to partner with them and enable them
to continue this ministry in Daegu so he can have more flexibility to go out to
other RLDs in Korea and start something similar. The churches however ignore the problem that
is right under the shadow of their steeples.
Pray for the
Korean Church. Girls at other RLDs have
expressed a desire to go to church but don’t go because of the judgment that is
passed on them when they enter the doors.
They also know about what is going on but don’t do anything to fight
against it. This is not how the Bride of
Christ should be acting. The Bride of
Christ should welcome the sick and needy, not close their doors on them. They should fight for justice and work to
rescue those in bondage. Thankfully,
Onnuri, the Korean church that supports the English church I attend, has
decided to partner with us in the fight for Justice this year. Pray that goes well and grows stronger,
influencing other churches in Korea to do the same.
Pray for the
Johns around the world. Their demand is
what drives this industry to be the most profitable and growing industry during
a struggling and weakening world economy.
Pray for God to change their hearts, and convict them of their sin. Pray
that they would become fighters against injustice instead of supporters of
it. For those that are married, pray
that they may turn away from this and become the Fathers and Husbands they were
created to be. TEN MILLION CUSTOMERS
VISIT RLDS ANNUALLY IN KOREA, 80% MARRIED MEN!!!!!
Pray for the
trafficked victim. The stress of the
trafficked victim is higher than those who were in the Vietnam war. Also, their life expectance after being
trafficked is 6-7 years, and some of these girls start at very young ages.
Pray for our
team, that we will continue to fight the battle of injustice with eager,
passionate spirits. That we won’t become
apathetic or burned out by this issue but remain on fire, desiring to serve in
the place God has called us too. That
our hearts and minds will remain on guard from enemy attacks and that we will
remain faithful.
Pray for miracles
of healing to happen here in the Daegu RLD as they have in other RLDs Pastor
Choi has ministered in. Not just
physical healing but spiritual as well.
Pray that when these ladies are healed, they will accept that gift of
grace and run to God, away from this life they were not created for. Once they are healed, that they would confess
their healing to other madams as a testimony of God’s grace.
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Our gift we handed out. |
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Our Team at the Entrance of the RLD P.Choi, Jaime, Me, Tae |
I am praying for you and so is my church and so is Mark's church. We love you and support your ministry in our prayers. Love ya A.S.
ReplyDeleteThanks Aunt Sharon. Love you too. Hoping to make a trip home sometime soon.
DeleteThank you so much for the work that you do. You are an amazing witness to the love and forgiving grace of.the gospel. I will cont to pray for you and ypur team ~ press on
ReplyDeleteThanks for your prayers Susan. I appreciate your encouragement.
DeleteGod's justice is moving through you! You're always in my prayers. PTL for all the work you're doing! <3
ReplyDeleteThanks for your prayers and encouraging words Gracie. They are definitely being felt.
Delete