The Harvest

We have been praying for the harvest......that it would be ready, and it was picked and ready on Friday night. You go out to Bangla Road, praying and wanting God to show you big things......and sometimes you get in the truck after pouring out your heart all night, and you see no real harvest. At first it can be hard because you have so much passion for these women, and you pour out so much love and at the end of the day, the numbers are still the same. At first this is hard to grasp, but then you see how God is in all the small things....and really it's just about you being there and bringing light and life into that place. So you go, regardless of the numbers not changing drastically because the light you bring may be the only light seen down there.
But we had been talking with this one lady, and for her own safety I will call her Kat, a lot this past week. She seemed very interested in the English classes we offered during the afternoons. We asked if she wanted to meet us and we would bring her to English class together. She agreed and so we set a time to meet. These classes are intended to interest the girls and then we can introduce the idea of the program we work with, which gives them jobs outside of the bars. So the day came when we were going to meet, and so we waited. And waited, and I soon began to think she wouldn't show. When all of a sudden a woman wearing a sweatshirt, with the hood up, a hat, jeans, and sunglasses, walked up to me and said, "Remember me!?" It took me a second to recognize her and then we hugged and walked her to class. She seemed to like the class, and was just taking in everything she was learning, like a child eager to learn. We said our goodbyes and told her we would come see her in her bar in a couple days.
We show up Friday night, eager and ready to see where the Spirit will lead and we found ourselves in Kat's bar. At first we did not see her, and was very sad at the thought of not being able to ask if she liked English class, when suddenly she came in with a smile, I have never seen. She saw us and almost ran over to us, giving us hugs. She sat down at our table, and I could tell there was something different about this woman. Something that the bar girls don't normally have....and that's joy. She leaned in real close and whispered words to me that I will never forget, and it was this, "I leave bars in two days, I got job at the mall." At first my reaction was one of disbelief. And then a rush of overwhelming joy hit me in the face and I couldn't stop smiling. She kept saying thank you so much, I am so happy. And I kept saying thank you so much, I am so happy. We hugged and I almost cried but knew the bar owners were already starring at us, so we both just smiled.
The harvest was ready, and there must have been seeds planted before we got there, because it took just someone taking an interest in her life, and telling her she deserved more, that would change it. The joy on her face was indescribably in words, and it was penetrable to the point of being contagious. There was something so thankful in her voice, when all we had done was shared the love of Christ with her. Friday was a night I will not forget....it is one that God smiled at.