Escaping the Devil's Bedroom

God at work in Chicagoland adult entertainment venues

Every other Thursday night, two or three women from local churches pile in a car loaded with gift bags containing lotion or body spray, earrings, and a handmade card. Their destination: strip clubs, escort services and other adult entertainment venues in Chicago's western suburbs.

Volunteers with New Name offer gifts and conversation to young women waitressing at topless bars, dancing in strip clubs or working in escort services. They hope to offer a hand of friendship or a listening ear, and Jesus’ love.

After multiple visits, a woman may begin to share about her children, health issues or boyfriend problems. Friendship is built slowly since the volunteers limit their stay to 15 minutes, aiming to respect the women’s time in their place of employment. But behind the scenes, God is at work.

The spiritual battle
Every Monday night from 7 to 8 p.m., a small group gathers to pray at Parkview Community Church. James Vantholen, a college student who attends Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, leads prayer for the members from various churches. Prayers focus on the women’s needs, favor from managers of the eight clubs they visit, and unity among volunteers. But mostly they pray for God’s light to shine.

“We’re asking God to go before us,” says Anne Polencheck, new name’s leader and a member of Parkview. “I always get a vision of us walking into this dark cave and God's light shining in. God has allowed the enemy to have control of this territory, but when we go He keeps the enemy at bay.”

Two months of Monday night prayer is a pre-requisite for outreach volunteers before they begin to visit clubs, but not everyone who prays does outreach. “It's a reminder when we go to prayer, this is His battle. It is a spiritual battle,” says Anne. “They're not singing Kum-ba-ya in these places.”

A way out
Anne and several volunteers visited one local venue for about seven months before Miss M started opening up. Now in her mid-twenties, she lived in more than a dozen foster care homes after age 10. At some point, she had been going to church. Last summer, Miss M confided, “I’m 6 weeks pregnant.” She patted her abdomen. “Can you tell?”

“We just kept visiting,” says Anne. “She didn’t say much, but we’d ask, ‘How’s your pregnancy? How are you doing?” Miss M’s boyfriend, a successful businessman, had requested an out-of-state job transfer after learning of the pregnancy.

“I really need a different job ‘cause my baby’s coming,” Miss M told Anne and her volunteer partner one night.

“It was so encouraging for us,” said Anne. “We hadn't prayed with her there or shared any scripture. We told her we'd pray for her in passing.”

Unknown to Anne, Miss M had gone to church at some point as a child. Desperate, she prayed, “Lord, I don’t know what to do. If you’re really there, will you please help me out of this?”

The next day Anne called Refuge for Women in Lexington, Kentucky, a residential home for women seeking a fresh start from the adult entertainment industry. Surprisingly there was an opening. Despite more than 50 adult entertainment venues in the western suburbs of Illinois alone, Kentucky is the nearest program like this.

The following week, Anne and her partner brought Miss M papers about Refuge for Women. Once the sole patron departed, they talked. “You know a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Miss M said. "I knew this was from the Lord," she later told Anne.

Starting a new life
Anne purchased her a bus ticket to Kentucky with donations from local churches. She took her shopping for a winter coat and new clothes with more donation funds. “She was concerned about having appropriate clothes. She told me, ‘You know they go to church on Sundays and I don't want to wear anything low-cut.”

Two weeks later, Miss M boarded a bus for Kentucky. She calls Anne weekly just to talk. “She loves it there,” says Anne. “She gets along with all the women there, which is unusual.”

Miss M’s baby girl is due February 13. Miss M and the baby can stay in the home for up to a year before they transition to an apartment and a new job. Last week-end Anne and Christy Schweigert, a volunteer from Church of the Resurrection, drove down for her baby shower and took her to a movie.

Miss M has been going to a local church nearby. She plans to get baptized and have her daughter dedicated at the same time.

She’s also been praying for other women still in the adult entertainment industry, and one in particular whom she asked Anne and Christy to invite to Refuge for Women.

“When I get out of this program, can I do outreach with you?” she asked Anne. “I’d love to do something to help the other women.”

Learn more about how you can help New Name:
-January 22- new name gift drive
-Or pray, volunteer, give and other ways you can help

His timing or ours?

"Just do it!" Nike made the slogan famous, but maybe it glued to our brains because we practical, pioneering and sometimes rash Americans already have the inkling to act NOW.

But when inviting someone to step into the open arms of God, much to our chagrin, we can't make them just do it.

*Eileen has been knocking on the same brothel doors in London's fashionable Soho disctrict for the last 17-plus years. The Swiss missionary visits 60 apartments at least once a month each, introducing herself to new women, and offering practical and emotional help, and prayer on her second or third visits. As they begin to trust her, she forms friendships with the women and the maids who work in the flats.

Perseverance and obedience to God's call to reach these women is key, because visible results are few. "You have to be aware you're there for God, sometimes only [in their lives] for a short season, to plant the seeds and somebody else will water them," says Eileen.

"I've asked God if there's another way to produce quicker salvation and results," she says. Each time she asks, God shows her a picture of two hands holding a big heart. 'Show them my heart,' He says."

* Taken from p. 181 of my book, Escaping the Devil's Bedroom: sex trafficking, global prostitution and the gospel's transforming power.

Wanted: prayer for outreach at Chicago p0rn convention

This week-end, July 8-10, some 20,000 visitors will flock to Exxxotica, Chicago's 2nd p0rn convention in Rosemont. Last year a friend and I attended this covered in your prayers, offering chocolates and conversation to women working there. This time, new name*, a local ministry, is partnering with an outreach team of women led by Anny Donewald of Eve's Angels in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Anny's team will be be distributing 700 gift bags to men and women, including a Bible and a business card to my own Church of the Resurrection.

Would you join in praying over this strategic outreach? You can pick a time to pray here.

Please pray:

1) for safe travels and smooth set-up of a booth for outreach.

2) that God provides encounters with people who need to hear about God's healing, grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

3) that God softens hearts and that people would see the love of the Father.

4) that God multiplies these gift bags, with 20,000 in attendance and 700 bags to hand out.

5) for protection over Anny and her team.

*Learn more about new name. 

Heaven's Rain

When ordinary people offer their gifts to God in the fight against exploitation, beautiful things happen. Here's a gal I met locally who's busy with a full-time job, plus assists with her husband's business and her parent's. But Karen Dolce was open to employing her artistic talents to design a jewelry piece that would ultimately help free girls from sexual slavery. The Isaiah pendant is gorgeous. Here's the story behind it:

Me: How did you become interested fighting human trafficking? 

Karen: It seemed so hard to believe that human trafficking even existed today. The desire to help in some way was heavy on my heart and mind. I thought, "I may be just one person, but God can do anything. If He is putting this desire to help in me, He will make a way for me to do it."
 
Me: So, tell me about your jewelry.

Karen: I’ve been designing jewelry for the past 20 years. I sold my jewelry pieces in boutiques for a while and I have clients that I design jewelry for.

Me: How did you conceive the idea for the Isaiah pendant? 

Karen: It was 3:00 AM in the morning and I was praying to the Lord that I was frustrated that a design idea was not coming to me. I told Him that He would have to give me the idea because I had nothing. 

The design for the Isaiah pendant was created that night. The verse, “He sets captives free”, from Isaiah 61 is such a simple truth--it is only God who can truly set us free from any and all bondage. [The inside of the pendant is inscribed with this verse.]

I also wanted it to be beautiful and timeless, somewhat unusual and a conversation piece to assist in telling others about the injustice of human trafficking.
 
Me: I think you've succeeded! Is there a specific project the pendant will benefit? 
 
Karen: Seventy-five percent of the proceeds from the Isaiah pendant will go to an aftercare home for girls who've been sex trafficked in Mumbai, India, run by International Justice Mission.  IJM rescues human trafficked peoples in third world countries and this aftercare home is the first of many IJM would like to open throughout India. 

Me: How can people purchase your jewelry? 

Karen: I now have a website, which I am very excited about: www.heavens-rain.com   

D.C.'s Disposable Daughters

Trafficked and prostituted girls find hope

A block or two behind the White House, the street bustles after midnight. Teenage girls in miniskirts and stilettos strut the sidewalks. Heavy eyeshadow, bright lipstick and tight tank tops hide their age, some as young as 13. (See photos by Lloyd Wolf)

Men of all ages cruise by, considering which body to purchase for an hour. A pair of undercover officers watch a guy with graying hair hand several bills to a blonde, before they step forward to arrest the pair. Scenes like this replay nightly. 

Here in our nation's center for justice, power and democracy, a form of modern day slavery is thriving. Girls launching into prostitution average between 11 to 13 years old in the U.S. America's disposable children are feeding our culture's demand for paid sex, then sleeping behind prison walls.

Where is Jesus in this darkness? In Matthew 25, Jesus describes who He'll welcome in heaven, identifying with the poor and powerless. “I was in prison and you came to visit me," He says. 

In 2003, Candace Wheeler founded the capitol's only Christian outreach to locally prostituted and trafficked girls and women, Restoration Ministries. A handful of staff and volunteers make weekly visits to God's wounded daughters in a jail, a psychiatric hospital and a group home.

Last summer, Restoration Ministries offered a cup of water in Jesus' name to 93 girls in prostitution or at high risk of being exploited. Many girls in the jail have been rescued from Craig's List raids. The group isn't mandatory, but all the girls come. Often they have no other visitors.

During weekly visits, volunteers and staff create crafts like scrapbooks, watch movies, consume popcorn, laugh and pray for the girls, most younger than 15 years old. During one visit, the girls tackled the riddle, “What is something that belongs to you, but other people use more than you?” The answer: your name. But two girls immediately guessed: “my body.”

Typically, a girl remains there 3 to 4 months. So Restoration Ministries may have roughly 90 days to plant seeds of God's love in their hearts.

The girls fill out a survey when they first come to the group. They identify their religion as Protestant, Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, etc. Then on a scale of 1 to 10 they circle how important their faith is to their healing process. Often they select 8 to 10.

At the end of each group visit, nearly all the girls trace their hand on white paper. Within the hand, they pen prayer requests. “I want prayer to get out and to be safe,” wrote one girl.

Three “wailing walls” back at RM's drop-in-center, tucked away in an old brick church building just a mile away, are plastered with these papers, the focus of regular prayer. Once the girls are released from the jail, psych hospital or group home, they can come by for a support group, coffee and a hug or prayer.

Showing God's Love
Last summer an intern named Alysha visited a girl in jail who'd been trafficked from out of state. (See Alysha's full blog post) Let's call her "Jennifer". On her first visit, she found Jennifer hysterical and desperate to know what would happen to her. Alysa explained she didn't have control of her future, but she'd be there to walk with Jennifer.

Girls like Jennifer may be snatched from the streets, or often suffer loneliness, conflict at home, and childhood sexual abuse before being seduced by a pimp posing as an older boyfriend.

The next day, Alysha found Jennifer sobbing with her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth, crying "I wanna go home." She accepted a hug from Alysha, but wouldn't hold out her arms. Alysha prayed for her.

After more visits, Alysha began asking God how she was making any difference to help change Jennifer's circumstances. She heard His voice: "You are changing everything…you are showing her My love.” 

Alysha showed up for Jennifer's court hearing. Afterward Jennifer reported to the other girls in jail that it had gone well because Alysha was there. She hugged Alysha and told her that she was the only one who listens and cares for her.

Recently Restoration Ministries gave Jennifer her first Bible after consulting her mother.

“Many churches want to get the girls to repent of their sins and get saved. They really aren't interested in building a lasting, trusting relationship with them," Candace says. But doing justice and sharing the Gospel are tightly interwoven. Jesus is visiting the prisoners, loving them in their deepest sorrow, and offering His freedom through Restoration Ministries.

In our nation's power nucleus, forgotten girls are discovering God's love for the powerless.

Check out photos by Lloyd Wolf.

Interview by The Blind Project

 

Love that graphic above. Thanks so much to David and The Blind Project for all that you're doing to fight exploitation and make the world better!

The following interview is reposted with permission from The Blind Project (TBP).

Interview with Dawn Herzog Jewell, author of Escaping the Devil’s Bedroom: Sex trafficking, global prostitution, and the gospel’s transforming power.

By David Butgereit, Faith Based Liaison, The Blind Project.

The Blind Project: Human trafficking, sex slavery, trafficking in persons or another term?  What terminology do you use for what we are talking about?

Dawn Herzog Jewell: I call it sexual exploitation in order to include the folks who might be excluded technically from “slavery” or “trafficking.” Many men, women and children are exploited sexually because they have very limited choices in life. But no one is holding a gun to their head in a basement or brothel. Their chains are invisible— a sexually abusive parent, a parent who abused a substance, limited education, a learning disability, etc.

TBP: Your book, Escaping the Devil’s Bedroom, does a wonderful job of exposing the reader to the global scope of the issue.  Will your focus remain global?

DHJ: Yes, it will most likely remain global but it could change if I notice a specific people group or region that is not being covered in the media.

TBP: Some of the essential reading on this topic is very depressing and doesn’t offer a picture of hope, but I noticed “Stories of Hope” dominate your book.  Why was that important for you to include?

DHJ: Without hope no change takes place. If we think that lives are beyond help, then they remain so. The scope of this issue requires an attitude change both in us (those with access to resources and power to create change) and in those who are in desperate need of encouragement and equipping to live with dignity in their God-given potential.

TBP: When reading about sexual exploitation, I am reminded of the role men play in the equation, not just in driving the demand but also in coercing the girls in the first place.  It appears that a man’s pride, a desire to control, and a sense of entitlement are all involved in creating the exploitation. How do you address this?

DHJ: Men alone are not to blame. We are all responsible for our silence and inertia regardless of gender. Men can become powerful brokers of change in speaking out to other men in their families, communities and workplaces about the important role they play as fathers, brothers and sons of girls and women. I encourage men to consider their gifts and resources, then think about how they can plug in. One man can make a big difference in being a role model to others.

TBP: Who is your hero?  Who do you seek out for strength and guidance?

DHJ: Jesus. He offered freedom to people from their pasts and the personal and societal chains that bound them, but he did it in such a way that empowered people to choose whether they wanted to walk into that freedom.

TBP: Your audience appears to be primarily a churched audience.  What is the church doing well, and what can the church do better?

DHJ: The Church does a good job at raising awareness and resources to support some ministries. But the Church can get 10 times better at addressing how people in their own congregations struggle with pornography and therefore contribute to sexual exploitation worldwide. And we need real compassion and love for those in our own communities who are sexually exploited—male prostitution, women in strip clubs, girls involved in porn acting. We can also do a much better job educating young people about healthy sexuality.

TBP: Have you noticed a change over the past several years in how people react to the idea that slavery or bondage still exists?

DHJ: Yes. Today I am surprised when I discover that the idea is new to people. The media and organizations have done a good job of raising awareness.

TBP: Do you notice a kind of “good works fatigue” when educating people about this issue?  Do you ever feel people are thinking, “Oh no, not another cause”?

DHJ: Sometimes, but not often.   I find that people get excited when they learn that creating change in this issue requires a huge range of talents and resources, not just money or skilled lawyers. It’s a ‘cause’ that we can all make a difference in when we take the time to consider how our gifts meet a need both in our own communities and/or abroad.

TBP: Which programs do you think are the most effective for liberating someone from a life of bondage?

DHJ: Those that are there for the long term and involve personal relationships with not only staff, but with volunteers and friends from local churches and communities. A person who’s been enslaved with visible or invisible chains needs freedom that must include a new, supportive community to reinforce their freed and true identity.

TBP: As you work in the field of sexual exploitation, what overwhelms you and how do you deal with it?

DHJ: Limited time. I’d love to do more writing and interviewing, but just don’t have enough time while working and raising a two-year-old. I trust that God is raising up more people who are using their time and resources to raise awareness and create change. None of us can save the world, but we can each do our part.

TBP: What are you currently working on?

DHJ: I just completed assisting John Green, founder of Emmaus ministries in Chicago, with his book manuscript for Streetwalking with Jesus. This book will fill a great gap in covering the stories of men on the street engaged in prostitution.

TBP: How do we avoid “issue fatigue” and keep the message of hope for the sexually exploited current and relevant in people’s minds?

DHJ: As the public becomes increasingly saturated with this issue, organizations need to become increasingly creative with their communication and involve those who want to help in creative and meaningful ways. The Blind Project has done some exemplary work in this area of involving people and harnessing their creativity.

TBP: Dawn, many of us at The Blind Project have read your book and greatly appreciate that you emphasize a message of hope.  We appreciate your work and look forward to your continued writing and work in this field. Thank you for talking with us.

DHJ: Thank you, and it was my pleasure.

Resources:

• Dawn mentioned the church can do better by “addressing how people in their own congregations struggle with pornography.”   We have found the organizations XXXchurch and I Am Second to be effective entry points in addressing issues of pornography within your church community.
• Escaping the Devil’s Bedroom website
• Dawn invites you to join the Escaping the Devil’s Bedroom Facebook group page.
• Streetwalking with Jesus, by John Green, founder of Emmaus Ministries in Chicago.

Scuffmarks on the Sidewalk

That's the title of the final chapter of "Streetwalking with Jesus," the book manuscript I've been assisting John Green, founder of Emmaus Ministries, with for the last 6 months. Today I made my last edits on this last chapter with both shouts of joy at nearing the end and tears of sadness too. I've loved this process of helping shape a book of Kingdom tales that much of the world has never heard. It shouts of God's tender, unrelenting love for all of us. John reflects honestly on his journey of learning to do justice in the lives of sexually exploited men in Chicago.

Here's the start of the last chapter:
"I had a "Footprints in the Sand" poster on my bedroom wall when I was in high school. It's a familiar poem about God carrying us during difficult times. When it's printed on a poster, the background is sometimes an idyllic beach view, waves gently lapping the surf under the setting sun and a nice, orderly set of footprints heading down the beach. It's the kind of poster that makes you want to tilt your head to the side and let out a satisfying "awwww" as you melt into the peaceful image.

"It's hard for me to picture my walk with God in those pleasant terms. If I had to re-title that familiar poem, I'd call it "Scuff-marks on the Sidewalk." The poster would show a chaotic urban scene: blowing trash, homeless folk sleeping on a bus bench, delivery trucks belching toxic clouds of diesel, bike messengers and SUVs fighting it out, a diverse mix of pedestrians on the stroll, and a bit of blood and vomit splattering the sidewalk. The scuff-marks are those times God dragged me, kicking, screaming, and digging in my heels, forward in my spiritual life. Or perhaps they mark the times I was so filled with despair that I dropped to my knees in anguished prayer, and God grabbed the back of my shirt collar and towed me onward.  My walk with Christ has been more like a battlefield than a gentle stroll down the beach."

In the near future, I hope you'll buy the book to read the stories of once-broken men whose lives have been transformed. Thank you to all of you who've prayed this book into being every Friday as I work with John via Skype. Please continue praying that we find the right publisher and that God helps us make the final edits on His work.

For more updates, join the facebook group: www.facebook.com/emmausbook.

The image above is from the book's potential cover.

Dealing with Sex Offenders Who Attend Church

My former editor at Christianity Today mag sent me a link to the article below.  CTI is conducting a groundbreaking national survey on attitudes about sex offenders in churches. Take the survey now & get a free download: http://bit.ly/9MJC7E The survey will be used to produce several articles for publication later this year. Feel free to forward or copy this blog post.

I suggested CT also include articles on s-x offenders being people too, and the potential for their transformation. While we need to be careful to protect our children, we also need to view these men and women in light of the Gospel's hope, as God's wounded sons and daughters. Let's remember who the real Enemy is. The editor replied he was already looking into that. Go CT!

How do we protect our members from known sex offenders?
by Richard R. Hammar

Question posted on ChurchSafety.com:

There is a female, registered sex offender who wants to attend our Sunday services. We want her to attend, but what guidelines should we have in place to safeguard our children?

Answer by Richard Hammar:

When the senior pastor, or any member of the church board, is informed that a registered sex offender is attending the church, there are steps that can be taken to manage risk. These include the following:

1. Obtain a record of the sex offender's prior criminal convictions by conducting a national criminal records check. The church must be fully informed regarding the sex offender's criminal background.

2. If the sex offender is on probation, identify his or her probation officer and ascertain the conditions that have been imposed. In some cases, sex offenders are not even allowed to attend church. If the probation officer says that the offender is free to attend church, ask the officer if he or she would recommend that the offender be allowed to attend church, and if so, under what conditions. Obtain this information in writing, or, if that is not possible, make a detailed written account of the officer's response.

3. Condition the sex offender's right to attend church services and activities on his or her signing a "conditional attendance agreement" that imposes the following conditions:

• The sex offender will not work with minors in any capacity in the church.

• The sex offender will not transport minors to or from church, or any church activity.

• The sex offender will not attend any youth or children's functions while on church property, except for those involving his or her own child or children, and only if in the presence of a chaperone (see below).

• The sex offender will always be in the presence of a designated chaperone while on church property. This includes religious services, educational classes, activities, and restroom breaks. The chaperone will meet the sex offender at the entrance of the church, and accompany the sex offender on church premises until returned to his or her vehicle.

• A single violation of these conditions will result in an immediate termination of the sex offender's privilege to attend the church.

• The conditional attendance agreement option will not be available unless the church's insurer is informed and confirms that coverage will not be affected.

4. In some cases, exclusion of the offender from church is the only viable option. This option is advisable if (1) for any reason the conditional attendance option is not feasible or enforceable; or (2) if the offender's crimes are so frequent or heinous that exclusion is the only appropriate option; or (3) one or more of the offender's victims attends the church. This will be a judgment call made by the pastor and board.

5. It is often desirable to draft a short policy addressing the church's response to registered sex offenders attending the church, and have it adopted by the congregation during an annual or special business meeting. This would allow the membership to discuss this issue in a rational manner.

6. Seek legal counsel in formulating the church's response.

For additional information on handling registered sex offenders, see volume four in Richard Hammar's four-book set, Pastor, Church & Law (4th ed., 2008, Christianity Today International).

Richard R. Hammar is senior editorial advisor for Your Church, Church Law & Tax Report, and Church Finance Today. He serves as legal counsel to the Assembly of God denomination. He is an attorney and CPA, specializing in legal and tax issues for churches and clergy. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is the author of more than 100 books, including the annual Church & Clergy Tax Guide, the Compensation Handbook for Church Staff, and his landmark work, Reducing the Risk: Keeping Your Ministry Safe from Child Sexual Abuse.

 

His gift is a song

I love learning how people are using their talents in unique ways to fight sexual exploitation. In the last year I've talked to dozens of college students who are prepared to cut short their studies in medicine, business, or communications in order to pursue law for very noble reasons. Why? They've heard IJM's eloquent president speak on rescuing young victims from brothels thanks to a slew of tough lawyers. I'm all for IJM and lawyers dedicated to abolition of this human slavery. But, these students haven't heard yet that God uses and calls the full body of Christ.

 

Fighting sexual exploitation on a global scale requires all the unique gifts and talents God's distributed to the whole Church--graphic designers, accountants, bakers, actors, architects and more. We are all needed to both stop the horrors of exploitation and help restore broken lives of both victims and perpetrators.

Last week, a producer in Nashville emailed me after hearing my interview on Moody Radio. He shared this song that he'd created, offering his writing and production talents for this cause.

"Child of God"

I paint on the face, I strap on the heels

Shut down my heart so it won’t have to feel

the hands that don’t know me all over my skin

and the eyes that don’t love me drinking me in

 

Under this make up I’m black and blue

The petals were crushed before I could bloom

I didn’t choose this

No one ever would

And I’d break these chains if only I could

 

I’m a child of God

I hide in plain sight

I’m a child of God

Slave to the night

Powerless, broken, abandoned, abused

Do you see a child of God

Or just a prostitute?

Listen to the full song, "Child of God," at www.musicforthesoul.org and click on ‘Sex Trafficking’ under the ‘Get Help With’ banner.  Writer and producer Steve Siler granted me permission to use it in church ministry. Feel free to do so yourself, but please abide by the usage rules below. He also has the lyrics translated in multiple languages, available for the asking.

 

What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? Offer those gifts to God. More than likely there's a place out there that really needs your gifts to fight exploitation. You'll be amazed at the adventure He'll take you on.

----

Music for the Soul intends that Child of God be available to be used free of charge by those ministering to persons rescued from sex trafficking or to help persons coming out of the sex industry.  If organizations want to use Child of God for live events, or package for use in promotional, educational, or curriculum media presentations, or for a premium piece (private label CD) to fundraise for their work or we will negotiate below market license rates to make that possible. "

To contact Music for the Soul for your own copy and permission to use simply e-mail them using the contact page at the site or call the toll free number at 1-877-298-9081. Anyone wishing to make a donation to support the free distribution of Child of God can do so at our website or by mail to Music for the Soul, P.O. Box 159027 , Nashville , TN 37215-9027

You welcomed Hope

I was dumbfounded at how many of you responded to my last post. Friends and strangers from 5 countries sent cards and gifts welcoming this little babe into the world. All this in the midst of the bustle of Christmas dinners, travels and last minute-shopping. Instead of silence or stinging rejection upon her arrival, this baby girl  born out of wedlock to a former exotic dancer was showered with your love gifts and prayers.

Baby Olivia Hope made her debut earlier this week. Here's the scoop from Ellen (not her real name):

"I was rear ended in an accident yesterday and while I was waiting for the cops to show up, Lisa (not her real name) texted me that she was at the hospital and they were going to induce her. After several hours of dealing with the wreck and getting the kids [taken care of], I headed to San Antonio.

As we waited, I asked Lisa and her boyfriend, B, what Olivia's middle name was going to be. Lisa suggested Olivia Lillian and I told her that was mouthful to call her when she was mad at her. She said she didn't know what to name her and asked B. He said his mom's name was Esperanza and although he didn't really like the name, he liked its meaning, which is Hope. I said - THAT'S IT!!! And I shared with them how I had been really thinking of that word a lot this past week as I read the Bible. So, Hope it was.

There was a scary moment when her head first came out as the cord was wrapped around her neck. The doctor was quick to stop everything and cut it off. Olivia was totally silent and it really scared me. I was not sure if she was alive. But the doctor grabbed something and started suctioning her mouth and then Olivia started to cry. The doctor then went on to pull her all the way out.

Her little arms stretched up to the sky like she wanted to be picked up. Lisa was crying and the baby was crying and they looked exactly alike. Olivia has her mom's nose and mouth and it was so funny to see two crying girls that looked so much alike. She was born a little before 1:30 in the morning. She weighed 6.9 lbs and was 19 inches long.

On the drive home around 3 a.m. I reflected on how far Lisa has come [in the last 4 years since I've known her]. It was almost a year before I could really talk to her as she was such a tough and wounded girl. Now she is like a daughter. She has not been dancing for over a year now. I am so proud of her.

Thank you for all your donations and prayers for Olivia’s arrival. Please keep praying for them. She still wants to move back to Austin to live nearby. Please pray that she is able to continue her schooling to be a medical asst. She has done very well in her classes and her self esteem is so different as a result.

I am so thankful I got to be with her while she had the baby as well. Please pray for Lisa and B to be good parents and for their relationship."