We arrived in the Philippines on May 16 and my team partnered with a ministry called Wipe Every Tear, which my sister in law did her parent vision trip at when she did the World Race back in 2018! Wipe Every Tear works with victims of human trafficking by going into the bars on Red Street, which is the red light district street in Angeles, the town where we stayed. Angeles is primarily known for sex tourism, which became established during WWII because of a US military base located there. WET does ministry in Angeles to talk to the women, show they care about them, and tell them about the things WET has to offer, like breakfasts on Thursday and Friday from 2-5am, which we helped at by serving the food, talking to the women and washing the dishes. There’s also fellowship on Friday mornings from 9-noon where we worshipped together, had a Bible study lesson, and testimony time. We also stayed at a safehouse in another town for the girls that have decided to leave the trade and pursue education and other work. WET pays for their education if they decide to go that route, and they offer other jobs like making jewelry and soaps and things like that. While we were there we led some devotions, did some fun fellowship activities like Zumba and arts and crafts. The girls range in age, usually from 16-50 or so.
These girls found themselves being trafficked due to being trapped in poverty, and they were “scouted” by someone who promised them a better opportunity to work in a dignified job somewhere else to be able to provide for themselves and their families. Their transportation was paid for to get to Angeles and they were baited and switched. Many of the girls believed they were going to Los Angeles in the United States. The girls are then indebted to the pimps and mamasans, and sell themselves to earn money to pay them back. These girls were tricked and they feel trapped and that they have no other option, and they want to support their families as well. To some extent, they are staying there by choice but it is out of desperation and a result from being deceived and the pervasive poverty in the Philippines.
We stayed in a house just a few blocks away from Red Street. You can see a tour of the house where we stayed here. We constantly saw “couples” walking around, which was hard to watch. It was hard to see the foreign men there, it’s obvious why they’re there, there is no other draw to come to Angeles as far as tourism, but we were reminded that we have one enemy and that’s the devil, and that these men are victims too, and they’re here likely due to deep loneliness and broken relationships, or a spiral of addiction, so we prayed to see them through God’s eyes, and we prayed for them too.
It was a heavy ministry to be a part of, but such a meaningful one, and it was so rewarding to watch the women seize the opportunity to break the cycle they’re caught in and to see the joy and hope in their eyes, and to get to know them as people and watch them learn about the Lord and chase after him! It was truly such a blessing to be a part of Wipe Every Tear’s ministry!
Some of us did bar ministry one night. We went with another group that was there from South Eastern University, Florida. We went into the bars, bought the girls drinks, which bought their time. We would get ourselves a soda, and would offer the woman whatever she wanted. Sometimes it was soda, sometimes it was alcohol. Half of the money spent went directly to the women we bought the drinks for. During the time we had with them, we got to know them, told them about WET’s weekly offerings as well as upcoming events that the SEU team was sponsoring like a banquet and a getaway trip. Doing ministry in this environment was really tough. Watching these scantily clad women be objectified and degraded was really tough, and hearing their stories of how they ended up there, feeling like it was their last option or being tricked, was tough. Hearing them talk about their interests and sharing about WET and about God was really uplifting though, and watching their faces light up was so rewarding! Many women ended up going to the breakfast, the banquet, and the getaway as a result of this outreach. Sometimes the women are very hesitant to believe that WET offers these things, it sounds too good to be true, and a lot of them ended up on Red Street because they were offered something that sounded promising, and they don’t want to fall into another trap. There’s a rumor floating around Red Street that WET harvests organs. Combatting this hesitancy is difficult, but not impossible. WET also does food distribution with the partnership of CSB to give the women a tangible way to prove to them that they care about them. We were able to participate in these food distributions as well.
During our time doing bar ministry, some of us talked to some of the men walking on the street, and it was interesting to hear their perspectives. They are under the impression that they are helping these women by supporting them financially, and that these women were there completely of their own volition and that they are attracted to men with money. One of the guys said he was going to a bar with a cabaret show, and that it was classy. That was one of the bars we went into that night, and it was not classy. A lot of these men are in their 70s and 80s, and the age disparity is quite large between them and these women. A lot of these guys look a lot like regular guys from back home. It’s amazing to see the denial and justification these men use to feel ok with engaging in the perpetuation of the huge issue of human trafficking.
WET partners with a church called Church So Blessed, which has many ministries it oversees and partners with that we got the opportunity to work with as well, like drug rehab where people shared their stories and we got to pray over them. The guys from the team have gone to a jail ministry as well which has been very powerful. We also did hospital outreach where we passed out meals and prayed over people, street evangelism with the CSB youth where we told people about the gospel and prayed with them, and tribe outreach, where we got to go to a remote tribe on the coast where CSB has established a relationship with them and built churches for them. It took several hours to drive, then an hour and a half boat ride to get to the tribe. We stayed overnight for a few nights there. Watch a tour video I took of where we stayed here. We had fellowship with the people there, gave messages, worshiped with them, and distributed food. After coming home from the Dumagat tribe, we went to the Aeta tribe in the mountains for a day. We walked through the village and went to different houses to pray for people, we had fellowship with the, and then we had a worship service where I got to share a message about abiding in the Lord and bearing good fruit.
The Philippines looked a bit different for me as a raised up squad leader. Jessie, the alumni squad leader on my team, and I would step away from ministry occasionally to go through training. Every Tuesday I stepped away from normal ministry and had a call with leadership back home in the morning, then had the rest of the day to myself to catch up on stuff and carry out squad leading responsibilities. I also had a large hand in planning our debrief and took time away from ministry to do that as well, as the squad is now becoming my primary ministry. The alumni squad leaders, Areonah, and I had about a week-long retreat along with our mentor from Georgia to do an intensive training. After that, the alumni squad leaders parted ways with us, and me and the other raised-up became official squad leaders! I miss our alumni squad leaders dearly, they were such a blessing to our squad. They offered so much wisdom and walked in the spirit.
Debrief
After we finished ministry, we went to Manila for debrief. We stayed in a high rise and we had teaching sessions, worship, including a 12 hour worship burn, one on ones where the squad could sign up for time slots with leadership (that now includes me!) We also had an adventure day where we went to a beach with an inflatable island and a pool, and that was a lot of fun. I learned that I am not very great at the inflatable obstacle courses! It was really cool to be on the leadership side of debrief now, and to be able to invest in relationships with people on the squad in a new way. I was also able to give a teaching and activation on taking thoughts captive, using a tool I was given last year that has been really helpful that I had been wanting to share with the squad for awhile. We also prepared for changing continents. Next up: AFRICA!
If you would like to support Wipe Every Tear, check out this link.
If you would like to buy jewelry to support the women at the Hope House that are looking to support themselves in a dignified way instead of working on Red Street, check out this link.
If you would like to support Church So Blessed and all the ministries they are carrying out, here is their information:
Bank Name and Information:
Security Bank
Angeles Macarthur Highway
Account Name:
Church So Blessed Angeles City, Inc.
Account Number:
00000 5289 0012
Things to pray for:
An end to sex trafficking!
Wipe Every Tear and their ministry. Pray that they would continue to receive the funds they need to continue their operations, and that the women on Red Street would be open and receptive to WET, and that they would decide to come into WET’s care!
Church So Blessed and their ministries. Pray that they would continue to have enough funding and manpower to carry out the ministries they are carrying out, and that they would be able to continue to spread the gospel and people would come to know the Lord through it!
The men that go to Red Street, that they would see the error of their ways and they would seek to fill the holes in their lives with a relationship with the Lord rather than with what they can find on Red Street.
Sustainable ways for women to make money that provide them options outside of working on Red Street.
That funds would come for my squad mates that are fundraising in order to allow them to continue doing ministry on the field. If you feel led to donate to them, check out this link.
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