Straatwerk

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1

Poverty, abuse, fighting and frequent moves.  These are the things that characterized Jennifer's childhood.  The eldest of three children, Jennifer was only nine months old when her mother married her stepfather.  Jennifer recalls the family moving often, staying in shacks behind other people's homes.  She cannot forget the drinking and fighting between her mother and stepfather.  There were times when the fighting became so bad that her mother would take the children and run from her stepfather, sleeping wherever they could find a hiding place - even in a graveyard.  In her younger years, it seemed that her stepfather had a strong dislike for Jennifer and used to hit her often.  When she grew older, he started to take a different interest in her and began abusing her sexually and became extremely possessive and jealous if she ever talked to boys.  Finally, one day at the age of 15, Jennifer could take it no longer.  That day when her stepfather came after her, she jumped out of the window and ran away from home.  

Jennifer had hopes of finding a job and starting a new life in a different area.  Some domestic workers, upon hearing her story, had pity on her, and helped her find a job doing childcare.  However, after some time her stepfather came looking for her and tried to force her to return home with him.  When she refused, he sent her mother to try to persuade her.  Her mother promised her that things would be different and that he wouldn't touch her anymore, and so Jennifer returned with her.  Before long the abuse started again, and again Jennifer ran away, this time for good.

She thought perhaps she could get a job at a hotel in town, but when was told that she was too young and they couldn't help her.  Heart-broken and alone, she didn't know what to do or where she could even sleep that night.  When she saw some young girls that looked like they had work, she approached them and told them her situation and that she needed work.  Most of them laughed at her and told her that they were working the road, but one took pity on her and let her stay with her for a while.  She didn't know what they meant when they said they worked on the road, but before long she found out.  One evening the girl who took her in was going to a nightclub and invited her to come along.  Not wanting to be left alone, Jennifer went with her.  There she was introduced to men of many different nationalities and she learned that it was a seaman's club.  There she was also introduced to drinking.

When she woke up the next morning, Jennifer found herself in a bed on a ship.  One of the men from the ship who had been in the nightclub the night before brought her a tray with breakfast and flowers.  Jennifer had never experienced anything like this before and felt like a queen!  She thought to herself, "Is this the kind of life I can have?"  She had never been served like that before and it made her feel special after being used to a life of poverty and abuse. She was given money and told that she could buy whatever clothes she wanted.  This was her introduction to a life of prostitution.

At the age of seventeen, Jennifer became pregnant.  She had nowhere to go with the baby and so she took him home to her parents.  For a short time, she stayed there with her family, but all she received from them was rejection and scorn due to her way of life, so after a while she left her child with them and returned to the life of prostitution.

Through the years, Jennifer grew accustomed to that kind of life and yet she always had a nagging inside of her, an emptiness that she wasn't able to fill.  She began to have the desire to get married and have a family and felt that she wanted something more in life.  She also knew that what she was doing was wrong, and that prostitution was a sin against God. After her mother died when she was 23, things got even worse.  Jennifer began drinking more heavily than ever, and was unable to even begin the day without drinking.  Whenever she thought about her future, all she saw was darkness, and she began to have thoughts about ending her life.

A group of Christians from a local ministry used to come to the ships and talk to the ladies.  Jennifer always ran from them when they came and didn't want to talk to them.  She knew that what she did was wrong and her attitude was, "I don't need anybody to come and tell me that what I'm doing is wrong."  One morning when the group of Christians came, Jennifer was in her room with a hangover.  When the man with whom she stayed asked her why she always ran from them, she answered, "Let them come in!  I'm not running away!"  Little did she know that this was to be a divine appointment from God.  Four women came into the room to talk with her, and before long Jennifer found herself opening up and pouring her story out to them.  She still remembers the words that were spoken to her that day:  "Jennifer, Jesus loves you."  Jennifer wondered to herself how Jesus could love her after all she had done and was doing!  The Christians invited her to come to their coffee room a few days later and Jennifer agreed, but in her heart thought she wouldn't go.  When the day came, she looked out the window from the ship and didn't see any taxis, so felt she had a good excuse for not going to meet with them.  But God had other plans.  The man she was with offered to go and find a taxi for her and then borrowed money from the captain of the ship so that she could keep her appointment with the Christians.  Now she had no excuse – she had to go!  Jennifer had no idea that her life was going to drastically change that very day.

Jennifer doesn't remember everything that was told her that day, but she does remember that she was told that Jesus could change her life.  She knew that was what she wanted – a changed life! She felt she had tried other things, so she would try Jesus, even though a part of her didn't truly believe that even He could change her.  In spite of her doubts, Jennifer made the decision that day to give her heart to the Lord.  After her visit with the Christians, she had nowhere to go but back to the ships and the Christians assured her that they would be praying and asking God to provide a place for her to go.

Jennifer returned to the ship with the knowledge and assurance that she was now a child of God!  She went back to the man and told him "I am now a child of God.  I gave my heart to the Lord, so I can't sleep with you."  Even though this man was not a believer, he was happy for Jennifer and encouraged her in her decision.  Later that day, she went to the kitchen to get something to eat and when she saw some of her friends who used to hide the alcohol when they saw her coming, they approached her and offered her something to drink.  But Jennifer knew that she was a child of God now and she told her friends that she couldn't drink like she did before because she had given her heart to the Lord.  They laughed at her, thinking it wouldn't last more than a day.

After a few days of being on the ships, the Christians she had met told Jennifer they had found a place for her to stay with a Christian family.  Jennifer was touched by the love that this family showed to her even though she had been a prostitute.  There she began to grow in the Lord and learn how to become a lady again.  She began attending church and gradually she grew stronger in the Lord until eventually she moved into a place of her own and was provided with a job right across from the harbor.  During her lunch break, Jennifer would sit and look at the ships and think to herself, "Did you really live that kind of life?"  She could see that just as the Word says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).  

Even while Jennifer was growing and involved in the church and becoming a new person, she realized that it was a process and that there were challenges and mistakes along the way.  One of the difficult times for Jennifer when she was a new believer was when she became pregnant with her second son.  Jennifer was filled with shame and anger at herself for not knowing better.  She was a Christian now and she felt she should've known right from wrong. Jennifer was afraid to tell her Christian friends for fear that they would condemn her, and she even considered having an abortion.  She went so far as to make an appointment to have the abortion, but before the time came, God showed her that it wasn't His will.  She told the lady who had led her to the Lord what happened and instead of rejection and condemnation, she was shown mercy, grace and love. Through public confession before her congregation, Jennifer experienced victory and forgiveness and through this struggle learned that though we face consequences for our choices, God won't leave us when we fall.  

Another challenge that Jennifer has faced is being married to an unbeliever.  At the age of 29, Jennifer was married and over the sixteen years since then, has faced many struggles in her marriage.  But even through all the struggles, she has seen how prayer has kept her marriage together and she continues to be strengthened by her relationship with the Lord and the Word of God.  

Over the years, Jennifer has been encouraged by the letters and Scriptures that Christians have sent her.  Often when she was feeling down or going through a hard time, she would find a note of encouragement in her mailbox at just the right time and through it, was reminded again of God's intimate knowledge of and love for her.  Another source of encouragement has come from the people God has put in her life to help her learn and grow spiritually.  For the first thirteen years of her Christian life, the lady who led Jennifer to the Lord was like an older sister in the faith and served as a role model for her.  In more recent years, God has brought two special ladies into her life that challenge her, pray with her and in whom Jennifer is able to confide.  Jennifer is actively involved in her local church through the fundraising committee, sisters group, and membership in a cell group.  In addition to this, she has started a ministry which reaches out to women in prostitution in her community.  Jennifer would like the women who are still out there to know that she knows what they're going through.  She wants them to know that without Jesus life is empty and there is no hope for anybody.  Jesus is the only answer.  No matter what.