The other night, in the Red Light District, we witnessed perhaps the most sickening thing I've ever seen in my life. I walked away, because I honestly had NO idea what to do, and took this (blurry, sorry) picture from almost a block away to document it.
Man on a motorcycle, stroking an 8 or 9 year old girl's hair, smiling and telling her it'll stop hurting soon. That she did a good job, and the first time is always the hardest. Her supervisor lady laughed along with him, as the little girl cried.
Hi, my name is Stephanie, and I still want to throw up.
Here are some more pictures of the night. To be honest, there's a lot of mixed emotion that I haven't processed yet. Some absolute anger, especially walking by naked men on the porches of brothels, obvious sadness for the girls, and surprised sadness for the men. Many times, men rent women for the week, because they are truly looking for love, and so they buy it. During that week, the woman offers sex, yes, but he gets to buy her things, take her on dates, etc. It is all just honestly heartbreaking.
If our girls were not saved from this, most of them would be "seasoned" by now. Seasoning is done when the children are first taken. They are taught how to sell flowers, in order to decrease their shyness and get them used to selling. Once they are seasoned, the sales change from flowers to their bodies.
Right before we left, we saw another little girl. Dancing around in a princess outfit.
Selling flowers.
Pray for our squadmates who are in the bars on a more regular basis. We've been asked to pray for them, because the bar owners are starting to recognize what's going on when American girls come in, buy coke, buy the girls for a few hours to talk to them, and some girls don't come back. Pray for our girls' safety!
And most of all, remember that our God is (somehow) Sovereign and in control. Re-read my "Child Trafficking and a Loving Father" blog if you need to. He is good. And He IS rescuing His daughters, one at a time.
