God is so great! Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Since this ministry started the desire of our heart has been to show the women at Emerald City that we love them and care about them . . . but more importantly that God loves them and cares about them. It feels like after this past weekend that we have been given that opportunity in a big way!
Friday night we made our second trip to the nude bar. In the words of Alex and Steph, “A-MA-ZING!” The girls welcomed us excitedly! They were thrilled to see us back . . . especially with a Christmas dinner! Things seemed to be a little slower in the bar so we had great opportunities to get to know the girls better. One of the best parts of the night was handing out Christmas stockings filled with great donated gifts. The girls were so appreciative and couldn’t believe that anyone would do something like that for them. It gave us an amazing opportunity to share why we were there. The owner even came back to hang out with us! He had a plate of food and commented that it would probably be the only Christmas dinner he would get. He stayed in the dressing room and chatted with us probably 20 minutes! When we left he thanked us and said we could come back anytime!!! A-MA-ZING!!
Saturday we had our Christmas Party with the girls at a local park. Six ladies showed up with their significant others and children. Santa was there to hand out presents and take pictures. It was so nice to see the girls outside of the bar environment and get to know them on a more personal basis. It really solidified the fact that they are not so different from us . . . moms who love their kids and are trying to provide for them. Many of them commented on how nice it was to get their kids out to play with other children. They were so appreciative of the gifts their children received. What a fun, amazing, and wonderful day that was!
-Kim
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Adopt a Christmas Child
Several of the ladies signed up to have help with their kids' Christmas gifts. All of the children have been adopted by ladies at our church. On December 20th, we are having a Pizza Party at the Port Charlotte Beach Complex Playground. Santa will be there, and the kids will be able to pick up their gifts. We are really looking forward to this party! And it seems like several of the girls are as well. Please let me know if you want to help in anyway. We need donations for Pizza. plates, cups, napkins, drinks, balloons, etc. Please email me at lalexsnyder@yahoo.com to find out how you can help.
Christmas Celebration
We are invited to come back to the Nude bar at Emerald City on Friday night, December 19th. We visit the girls at the Bikini Bar at lunch every Friday, but have been given permission for these special events at the Nude Bar. Please pray that the second visit goes as well as the first! The girls will be expecting us! The relationships that we are building are so important. Thank you for partnering in this ministry with us.
Thanksgiving Celebration!
Jesus we are so thankful for you being all over this ministry! Stephanie, Laura, Kim, and I (Alex) met at the church around 8pm the day after Thanksgiving to prepare the food for the night. We were all nervously talking about what to expect in the next few hours.
I was worried Kip, the owner would turn us away saying that we could not be there. My other fear was that if we did get in, we would be embarrassed by how much food we brought. That the girls would just turn their noses up to us, and no one would eat.
Oh contraire! The night could not have gone better! We walked up to Kip to let him know we were there and ask where he would like us to set up the meal. He acted like he had no idea who we were or why we were there! After some gentle reminding- he said whatever, just bring it in the back.
So we all four walked through the nude bar carrying a tray of food each, to the DRESSING ROOM! AMAZING! We were welcomed with squeels, smiles, and excitement. Statements like oh my goodness, thanks so much, you brought us food! This is the only Thanksgiving meal I'll ever have. This is so nice! I can't believe this. And questions like... why are you here, what are you doing, why would you do this for us, and thank you, thank you, thank you.
They were taking turns eating two at a time- fighting over who got to go next, and basically stuffing their faces as fast as they could. They enjoyed every bite- and commented on how great the food was. We even heard- this must have been made by some "grandma types" I know you guys can't cook this good. And I wish I were your kids if you guys made this! We went back to the car twice for the back-up platters, and even fixed them take-home plates.
We were not in the action of the club- answer to prayer, and the girls were relaxed and so comfortable around us. Conversation was amazing... There were several one on one conversations. With 22 girls in and out of the club all night all four of us were able to get to know several of the girls better. And share with them why we were there- to show them that we love them like Jesus loves them.
One girl said I'm so glad you guys are here- it gives us a good reason to hide out back here. One girl said now, you guys are from a church? I thought all church people were judgmental- why would you guys do this for us? My mom goes to church and she says this work is of the devil. I said we want to be like Jesus and love you like he does. We want to be joyful- and show you what He is like. She said Jesus is like that? What a quote! It was an amazing moment. She said well if church people are more like you I might be more interested in going sometime. You guys are even "hip", not all stuffy like "church people"!
I am so glad we could be Jesus to these girls. Emerald City is desperate for the smiling face of Jesus and the grace that He freely gives to each of them. Someone to listen to them talk about their past and their hurts in life. I pray that when they lay down at night they think about those girls who in many ways were much like them... but long for that one thing that makes us different. JESUS.
I was worried Kip, the owner would turn us away saying that we could not be there. My other fear was that if we did get in, we would be embarrassed by how much food we brought. That the girls would just turn their noses up to us, and no one would eat.
Oh contraire! The night could not have gone better! We walked up to Kip to let him know we were there and ask where he would like us to set up the meal. He acted like he had no idea who we were or why we were there! After some gentle reminding- he said whatever, just bring it in the back.
So we all four walked through the nude bar carrying a tray of food each, to the DRESSING ROOM! AMAZING! We were welcomed with squeels, smiles, and excitement. Statements like oh my goodness, thanks so much, you brought us food! This is the only Thanksgiving meal I'll ever have. This is so nice! I can't believe this. And questions like... why are you here, what are you doing, why would you do this for us, and thank you, thank you, thank you.
They were taking turns eating two at a time- fighting over who got to go next, and basically stuffing their faces as fast as they could. They enjoyed every bite- and commented on how great the food was. We even heard- this must have been made by some "grandma types" I know you guys can't cook this good. And I wish I were your kids if you guys made this! We went back to the car twice for the back-up platters, and even fixed them take-home plates.
We were not in the action of the club- answer to prayer, and the girls were relaxed and so comfortable around us. Conversation was amazing... There were several one on one conversations. With 22 girls in and out of the club all night all four of us were able to get to know several of the girls better. And share with them why we were there- to show them that we love them like Jesus loves them.
One girl said I'm so glad you guys are here- it gives us a good reason to hide out back here. One girl said now, you guys are from a church? I thought all church people were judgmental- why would you guys do this for us? My mom goes to church and she says this work is of the devil. I said we want to be like Jesus and love you like he does. We want to be joyful- and show you what He is like. She said Jesus is like that? What a quote! It was an amazing moment. She said well if church people are more like you I might be more interested in going sometime. You guys are even "hip", not all stuffy like "church people"!
I am so glad we could be Jesus to these girls. Emerald City is desperate for the smiling face of Jesus and the grace that He freely gives to each of them. Someone to listen to them talk about their past and their hurts in life. I pray that when they lay down at night they think about those girls who in many ways were much like them... but long for that one thing that makes us different. JESUS.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
