Thanksgiving Gift Bags

Getting bags ready to take into PTs was such a joy this past week. Mary Sue, Tamara, Bekah and I met up in the parking lot to add Waterline cards and some beautiful paintings to the bags before sending them in on Wednesday.

As we looked through the things we'd assembled we all kept saying how much we'd like to get a little gift like this! That sounds silly, but it's important.  That spoke to me. See, one of my own top love languages is gifts. If I got a gift like this from someone I would feel extremely loved and in giving it I'm telling someone how loved they are.

We laid hands on and prayed over each of the bags and prayed specific prayers for the girls who would receive them. Tamara had painted one teeny canvas with a beautiful little girl wearing a tutu. The girl had her hair in a long brown braid down her back. Tamara was specifically burdened for the girl who would receive this painting. Once the bags were tied closed we didn't know which was which and just prayed God would get it to the girl it was meant for. Later inside Tamara got to see the girl who opened it. This brown-haired dancer is now marked for a blessing!

On entering the club our usual friend A was not there taking the money. We continue to pray for A's salvation though. I have been especially burdened for him and pray that God continues to pursue him and send laborers to him. Though I've never been in the club and never met him, as Mary Sue says, I feel sure one day I'll walk right up to him on the streets of gold and hug his neck! I'm believing God for that.

Anyhow. The gentleman who was taking the money was nice, though he looked at Tamara and Bekah as if he thought they were just a little crazy. He called the manager over to show them the dressing rooms. (He also didn't charge them the usual cover; which was a specific prayer request we prayed before going in! Just a little wink from God!) The manager was friendly and smiled while he shook Tamara's hand. Our girls were escorted right back to the dressing rooms and went right in! This guy knows us now and we know who he is and he knows why we're there. To me this is a victory! We have been praying for him for months. From the car we specifically call out the management and ask The Lord for favor with them and we ask Him for their souls. He's beginning to answer those prayers!

We were earlier than usual so there weren't that many girls yet. On entering the dressing room one of the dancers recognized Bekah and Tamara and said "Oh! Let me go tell A you're here!" If you've been reading our updates you know A is one of "our" ladies now. A is a waitress we've been speaking to from almost the beginning. The last several weeks have felt a little more like we're making progress. This week A walked up to our girls and began talking to them about her kids and their Christmas.

"See! This is what I'm talking about!!!" A exclaimed as she walked into the dressing room waving a $100 bill. "I felt like God was telling me He didn't want me to dance for Christmas money this year so I'm just waiting tables. I just got this $100 tip for no reason!"
God is so good! He is pursuing A hard core!

A's grandfather passed away this week. The conversations they had in the time before his passing were those of reconciliation and love. Her grandfather's last requests to her were to plead with her to go back to church. That we know of A has gone for the last 2 Sundays in a row and has found a place she likes. She told Bekah that the weirdest thing for her was that "they don't use the King James Bible!"

We did not see V this week because she's working a different shift now. But Carolyn has been in regular contact with her. The foundation of that relationship is being strengthened and built upon. Pray The Lord continues to soften both A and V's hearts and we continue to see Him working in them.

Our specific requests from the past week are really that God would allow us to reach more girls through these gifts and begin to build new relationships. We're praying that the blessing of receiving a gift bag wouldn't have stopped that day, but they would constantly be blessed by it and reminded of God's love for them by the paintings and scriptures on them. That they would realize and be reminded of their beauty, worth and value by the lovely teacups they received. And that they would trust us more and reach out to us through the notes we wrote and the invitation to take them out for coffee or lunch sometime.

I cannot express how proud I am of this team. Bekah and Tamara may have been nervous to walk into that dressing room on their own, but it was clear that they weren't alone. They allowed God to work through them, they used His words, and were His hands and feet! Their faces shone with His joy and were bright with the light of His gospel. If I, who know them and know Jesus, am absolutely dazzled by this look on their faces when they return to the car, how much more brightly must it shine in the darkness of the club?!

~Tina