Today we discussed in our ministry training program the Red Light District and prostitution around the world. One of the sister organizations with The Shelter is The Scarlet Cord. They work with getting women who are prostitutes out of that life. Most of the women there have been brought their either because they were sold by someone into slavery, or because they found a boyfriend who then abused them and brainwashed them to work for him behind a window. The prostitution industry is a Billion Dollar industry and one of the fastest ways for people to make money. Most of the women in the Red Light District are there because of 4 reasons. Either they want to be there for the money (many Eastern Europeans make in one month what they would make in a year or 2), they have be trafficked there from other parts of the world and are slaves, they have a “loverboy” who pretty much owns them and abuses them until they can’t think or do anything for themselves, or they are there to earn money for drugs. The last reason is not really prevalent here in Amsterdam. Most of the women have be sold by someone else and trafficked here or they have a “loverboy”. We watched a movie that The Scarlet Cord made with real stories of different women who have gotten out of prostitution, and the stories were horrifying. I almost got up and walked out because I thought I was going to throw up. So many women in other countries think that they are going to move to Western Europe to find a good job as a nanny or a maid, who then get sold into this slavery and it’s so hard for them to get out. Many of the women are here illegally, because they were smuggled into the country, so they can’t go to the police because they will be deported and they are too scared or ashamed to go back home. It is such a terrible injustice that is happening in the world.


I just ask that everyone can pray for The Scarlet Cord. It’s a very hard job that these people are doing; going to the red light district every day and building relationships with these women to let them know that there is a way out. Right now the ministry is being supported by the government, but that is soon going to change and they will need to find funding from somewhere else. They help these women find housing, jobs, friends, and offer counseling for all the emotional scars; but most of all they show and teach them about God. It’s an amazing work and a very difficult work. I know that this is something that I would never be able to do. Just watching the video made me sick, so I know that I couldn’t see that every day; and I refuse to go into the Red Light District because I can’t be in the presence of that much evil.

 
On a happier note (because I don't want to be a downer) on Friday we celebrated Queen's Day.  It was mass chaos.  There were people everywhere.  It was really neat to see and I'm really glad I experienced it.  Here are a few photos of the day.