Red Room Ministry

While I was in the states in May a few people from our church started going to share Jesus with the strippers and bouncers outside of a club in Central London called the Red Room. Liz, one of the performers on the West End, noticed each night these girls standing outside the club on their  cigarettes breaks and was compelled to go share with them. This then launched a small group of others to consistently go every Thurs. night to continue to reach out to them. It took awhile to start to build the trust with them but it is amazing what consistency and home baked goodies can do to tear down barriers.

At the beginning of July I started to join them for these Thurs. night outreaches. It has been amazing to see how the Lord continues to break down the walls with them as we continue to come week after week. We have really begun to build some good relationships with the bouncers, and though they won’t all admit it, they actually look forward to us coming each week now. One of the bouncers is Islamic and the others all have some issue with religion, however, we are getting to continue to show a true representation of who Christ is and what real Christians look like. 

We only get to have brief conversations at a time with the girls as they are only allowed out front while they smoke a cigarette. But over the weeks we have begun to build relationships with some of them and share the love of Christ with them. Some nights though they can be pretty drunk, as some of them say the only way they can get through their jobs is to drink. Most of the girls are from Romania, so not all their English is all that great. Most of them have some idea of ‘religion’ of some sort but not of the Gospel of Christ. It is so heartbreaking though as multiple of them have made comments about how they have so many ‘religious’ clients which has left them so jaded. But bit by bit we are being able to share with them something so different than anything they have ever heard of or seem before...the true love of Christ. The Gospel!

So many of these girls do want to get out of this line of work but it is really difficult to. One of the girls, who’s only 19, told Errena the other week about how she supports her family back in Romania and this is the only way she can make this much money without selling herself for sex. Other girls have told us that this particular strip club is actually one of the best to work for because you don’t have to have sex, whereas a lot of other strip clubs that isn’t the case.

It is so unbelievably heart breaking as we learn more and more about what goes on there and around us on the streets. As you see young women, that are clearly prostitutes get into taxis and leave with men. Hear some of the promoters for other clubs and brothels, that are the street around us, tell us that some of them are actually pastors. Or have the girls at the club tell us that it is the slow season this month because kids are on holiday from school so more guys actually stay home with their families. They so desperately are in need of Jesus!!!! Pray for more open doors for us to be able to share the Gospel and shine light in the midst of such darkness.

Each morning as I make my way home after a night of outreach, as the day begins to dawn and the sun shines forth, I'm reminded of the amazing hope that we have in Christ. His light is greater than any darkness. I rejoice in His salvation. Christ redeemed me from the darkness and now I stand in His glorious light. I rejoice that we have the privilege to be tools in His hands to bring the light of His salvation to these dark streets.