I've been thinking a bit, recently, about all the people we will be leaving behind when we leave in just 15 days (PANIC!!!!!). There are so many who have had a major influence in our lives. We will never be the same! During our first term I went, twice weekly, to a national health centre where prostitutes came to be registered and have a health check. I loved this job!!! The women were amazing. This is a story that I wrote while I worked with them. Thought you might like to get a small glimpse of my (and their) world. I'll post another one shortly.

SHORT SKIRTS AND HIGH HEELS(written in 2002)

Did you automatically think of "prostitutes"? Funny how that happens isn't it. All those preconceptions and misjudgements come flooding back in an instant. They're things that I've been learning to deal with over the past 4 years.

Twice a week I visit a national health centre where currently working, registered prostitutes come for a 2 weekly health check. It's a great place to go! These women are some of the most amazing that I have met in my life. I work alongside the psychologist, facilitating an orientation programme for the new comers, outlining their legal rights, the risks in their jobs and also their sexual health needs and precautions. I must be one of the only missionaries who carries a condom in their pocket at all times!! For many varied reasons these women have entered this line of work. For many it is the financial strain of being a solo mum to several children. For some it is that their husbands or partners have forced them into it. For others it is an informed choice. It doesn't matter why or how they come to be prostitutes. What does matter is that at some point in their "career" they have been made to feel that God couldn't possibly love them!

Now we all know that that's just not true but when seemingly godly people have told you that every day it's hard not to believe it. Many have taught these women, on a regular basis, that they are sinners (aren't we all?), that they could never be accepted by God nor loved by Him because of the lives that they lead. How vicious are the lies that come from below!

The God that I love and serve is a God of mercy. He is one who is seeking a relationship with us all and He includes prostitutes. He is waiting for them, loving them, accepting them in all conditions of health, strife, fear and work. It doesn't matter to Him what they do for a living. It does matter to Him that they become a part of His family and that's where I come in.

Many times I have been asked about my opportunities to witness to these women and my usual response goes along these lines....that I believe my job in this workplace is to love these women unconditionally, to accept them just as Christ accepts them and to show His love and acceptance to them through my own behaviour and actions. I've come to realise that's now not enough. Now I have to get bolder. I need to speak those words of Christ's love and acceptance to them and invite a response. I'm not sure how to go about that given the secular nature of the Government Health Cnetre but I'm going to try. I would hate to think that when I leave for home assignment in just a few months, that I will be known as a smiling face who loved them but gave them no hope of a life beyond today and all the pressure it holds. It's a good thing to evaluate our ministries in the light of eternity.