Sex-trafficking. It's not a fun subject to talk about. It's uncomfortable, tragic, and very very real. I have a friend here at language school who has a heart for sex-trafficking and modern-day slavery. She will be serving with Youth With a Mission with indigenous peoples in a remote jungle area of Costa Rica after language school, but while she is here in San Jose she is using her time to help raise awareness about this difficult topic.
Did you know?
- There are more than 27 million people enslaved in the world today...more than at the height of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade (Free the Slaves)
- The highly organized sex trade industry brings in an estimated $32 billion annually...that's more that Wal-Mart, Coke and McDonalds...combined! (UN)
- Costa Rica is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat sex slavery (U.S. State Department)
- Costa Rica is quickly gaining a reputation for being the sex tourism capital of the world
- In San Jose alone, there are more than 300 brothels with an average of 10 women and children working in each
The statistics are staggering. Even more of a shock to me was seeing the reality of the statistics with my own eyes. Along with Brooke and some other friends we have gone downtown twice in the past month to pray in front of the Del Rey hotel, a well-known adults-only hotel. The first time as part of an all-night prayer vigil and the second time on a week-night. Each experience was shocking and numbing at the same time. Here are a few stories/observations:
- "Are there girls who have been sex-trafficked in this hotel?" Brooke asked one man who stopped and talked with us for a long time. The man, Marlon, came over saying, "They all sent me over (looking to the people on the other three corners of the street crossing) to see what you are doing here?" Brooke told him we were there to pray for hope. He proceeded to give us a run-down of each group of people surrounding the hotel--the low-end and high-end drug hustlers, the addicts, the 'sex hustlers,' and the people who 'keep the peace' through force if necessary. When Brooke asked him if sex-trafficking occured at the hotel, he said, "No." But later described how many of the women working there were from other Central American countries and had come under the promise of other jobs then told when they arrived they had a $6,000 debt to pay off and needed to work as a prostitute to pay it off. THAT is sex-trafficking.
- Gilbert. I met Gilbert the first night and got to speak with again when we came back. Gilbert spent a considerable amount of time in the U.S. where he actually became a Christian and attended the Brooklyn Tabernacle church. Fallen on hard times, he now works as a coordinator for transportation and escorts women from the hotel and to the cars which will take them to their next 'job'. We got the opportunity to pray with Gilbert both times we saw him and encourage him that he can be a light in a dark place. But as it seems in most cases, the darkness is so powerful, so seductive and without a strong supportive community around him, Gilbert is struggling to maintain his faith.
- "Praying for all those old gringos going in and sinning?" Was the response of one man who questioned us about why we were there. What began with a sarcastic comment ended with, "I want to change." We may never know if this man decided to change his life that night and open his heart to a different source of pleasure, power and identity. But we were encouraged that God's presence there with us was able to soften his heart in that very moment.
- Looking for _____ in all the wrong places. Brooke's Tico roommate joined us the second time. She comes from a very poor community with a mother who worked as a prostitute for years, even at the hotel. Another great source of information, she actually has some friends and cousins who currently work there. She shared with us about how women who worked there would bring girls in from the poorer communities who wanted to make money and then they would go into a room with a double-paned glass mirror so that the hotel owner and crew could pick out the ones they wanted unbeknownst to the girls on the other side of the mirror. She said the girls would come to make money to buy things, to buy a better life.
- Fishing trip. Brooke shared with us before we went downtown the first time to pray that many international tourists purchase and come on "all-inclusive" vacations which include sex. Sure enough, we saw several vans marked "Tourism" stop in front of the hotel and several international men apparently from countries all over the world get out and walk into the hotel then the van would return a few hours later. One man walked by us and asked us if we needed a hotel room for the night as we were in a "dangerous place." We explained to him what we were doing there and that we live here and we were being careful. Brooke asked him what he was doing there and he replied, "Well, I came for a fishing trip and we were supposed to go to the beach but the roads are closed because of the rain, so we came here instead." Lightbulb.
- Cinthia. Many people came up to us both nights asking for money or food. As the spirit led, we would give food or just pray with them. Cinthia came up to us asking for money and then saying how cold she was. I offered her my scarf I had in my bag. (The first night we went I have NEVER been so cold standing in the rain all night, so I came better prepared the second time!) She said no and walked away. WHEW! I really love that scarf and didn't want to give it away. I felt God tugging on my heart to offer it, but was relieved this was one of those times where all I had to do was obey, but I would get to keep my scarf. Not so fast....Cinthia came back 10 minutes later. "Do you still have that scarf?" I gave it to her and prayed she would keep it to help keep her warm and not sell it for money.
- A police officer. The second night we went there were more police officers in the street than before. There is a security camera over one of the street corners and we had been told the police watched the camera and if something started happening they would arrive. That story seemed to be true as we watched this happen the first night when there was a scuffle on the 'low-end drug hustler' corner. But the weeknight we went we saw several cops on foot and several pass by in trucks or motorcycles. I mentioned to our group that I was hoping one would come over to our corner so I could ask them some questions. My stepdad being a police officer, I was disgusted at how the police could just sit back and watch this all happen before their very eyes.
They never did come over. As we got in the taxi to head home, Brooke started talking to the taxi driver, who proceeded to tell us that he used to be a police officer. I was tired and not fully concentrating, so Brooke nudged me in the side. And I got the chance to ask him several questions. He explained to us his views on the problem of illegal immigration and the mafia and how that all played into the sex tourism here in Costa Rica. It was a fascinating discussion and an answer to prayer!
So, what? What did we learn, what did this accomplish?
"Everyone wants a revolution, but no one wants to do the dishes." -Shane Claiborne
"...Prayer is spiritual defiance of what is in the name of what God has promised." -Walter Wink
Not many people want to get their hands dirty with topics such as these in places such as these with people such as these. But if we want a revolution, if we want to see this city block, this hotel, these people come to know a better life, the One who has created a beautiful story for them waiting for them to step into it...then we must get our hands dirty. We must know these people and this dark place, we must arm ourselves for battle....which leads me to....
Prayer. I have never in my life more fully understood the power, the strength, the hope of prayer as I have since moving here. We pray because God tells us to, tells us He wants to hear our requests, hear our deepest longings. And when we pray we remind God of what He has promised. He has promised beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, freedom for the captives, sight for the blind, and life...more and better than we ever dreamed of.
Brooke has challenged us to pray every Friday night for the end of sex-trafficking and slavery. Would you join me? Prayer is a powerful weapon bringing light to dark places. Consequently a recent Friday night God very carefully, but very firmly brought me down from a place of self-dependence and into a place where I could pray from my heart for this issue. He used my attitude of wanting to be strong and independent to humble me to see (and even experience, though with his protective arm around me the entire time) what these women experience...the fear they have, the sense of violation and being trapped.
We know and love a God that has created such a better life, a better future, a bigger hope! And He wants to work through you and me to bring this Reality into the lives of the least of these here and around the world.
