Valentine

Went to a strip club today for the first time in my life. It won't be the last I'm pretty sure. If you know me, you know why I went... to love girls. Shady Lady Strip Club, open till 3am, 7days a week, 365 days a year. No windows, for several reasons, and dark. I was tripping over stools cause I couldn't see in the dim lighting. Avoiding looking over at the pole area, I followed Katie and Lynn to the bar. We introduced ourselves to Joe, I think he was the manager/bar tender. We gave him a bag of cookies and told him we had some gifts for the girls for working so hard. He said yeah, sure. So we handed out some beautiful white roses and small goodie bags to several precious girls. Outfits weren't much different than what you would see at a pool. Fancy underwear basically, that glowed in the black lights.
I did my best to not look around much. It wasn't that busy, 1 girl on the pole, a couple around the area talking to or attending to men. I caught painful glimpses of the acts. We met Heather, Ashley, Gretchen, Caitlyn, Debbie, and several others, but I forget their names. Me and my two other team members sat down to pray and wait for more girls to give gifts to. There was a juke box behind me that the girls put songs on for themselves to dance to. There were lots of little circle tables and empty chairs. Near the pole area there were couches and two older men with ladies. There was a black guy with dreads closest to us watching the girl dancing.
Ashley appeared behind the curtain behind me. I thought it was a wall, not a curtain.. I wonder what is in the other rooms of this place... Food orders were being taken to the back somewhere... Joe gave us free soda in small glasses with two little black straws. Thank you Joe, we said. The girls were happy to receive flowers and gifts, some more receptive to talking with us than others. Everyone knew we were Christians, I'm pretty sure. Several of them said, "we know you are church people" Besides my white glowing shirt, I'm sure we stood out their. Our little lights were shining in the darkness.
I used the tiny restroom under the blue neon light that said "ladies". Walked passed a older middle aged guy, maybe 60ish?? He looked at me and I kept walking. There were a total of 4 guys with a couple women around them, and i saw a girl in an area by herself on my way out of bathroom... Katie used restroom and ended up meeting Heather in there and they prayed. Heather has 2 toddlers. Ashley came out and asked if we'd be there awhile to talk. She was going to get ready and then would come out and sit with us. She was super bubbly and chatty. She said, "you church girls go to strip clubs, you guys are great!" We waited for her to go finish getting ready but decided to leave after 15-20min. We thanked Joe and said goodbye to Heather and made our way out into the daylight.
My eyes caught on a dusty display case with hats, t-shirts and ONESIEs in blue and pink with Shady Lady embroidered on them...
It was heavy in there. At first I thought, oh this isn't that bad.. then I saw a lap dance for a brief second. Yikes. So broken, and empty.
I dropped Lynn and Katie off and came back home to take a nap. I was tired from getting up at 12:45pm. Early for a night girl who normally gets to bed around 7 and up at 3pm. Anyway, I dreamed.
I dreamed we went to car and then got in and prayed, which we did do in real life. Then I went in with Lynn or someone else to give the girls more flowers, cause I found a potted flower in my car and some loose stem gerber daisys. They were wilting and in need of water. When I went in there were way more people and there were guys eating with their girlfriends. I gave one couple some flowers, the guy spoke to me asking for a flower. .. Over at the bar area there were some of the girls we had already met and some other girls. One really young girl with white t-shirt and cut off jean shorts. She was blonde and a white girl about 10 or 12 yrs old....(I grabbed my oatmeal from the fridge that i had made this morning for breakfast but hadn't finished- I think that's why I went back in, to grab the oatmeal I forgot??) Girls crowded around as we laid the flowers on the counter to give them. I told them they needed water. They said "you girls are so sweet..." and different little comments like that. On our real life visit I saw only white girls. In my dream there were black and white girls. On the way out I saw behind the curtain and the mirror area to see plush couches, beds and nice carpet. That's where the food was being ordered and it was one really big open spacious room with the sides lined with a couch area and the other side with comfy beds. Two tall black girls, who might have been trans, said we were so sweet and nice. The one hugged me. In the parking lot and side walk there were girls everywhere, just waking up, coming to get ready for the night etc... one girl passed me and I asked her kindly, "are you sleepy" she said yeah. She said that she was going to check out cars in the parking lot to see if the guys were married or not?? not sure how she would determine that from looking at their cars but??... I woke up to a bark and the car garage door opening. The feeling of seeing all those girls and talking with them, was pretty real. I feel like we really did talk with them. ... Jesus, flood their hearts with light and open their eyes to see the worth, the value and the beauty of Jesus. For them to Love the Lord with all their heart soul mind and strength and to love themselves as He loves them. To know their worth, value and beauty cant' be bought. They are precious in His sight. .. Jesus give them your love tonight.

"Dead Girl Walking..."

Sometimes she wears a short skirt and high heels, other times she is less obvious...
Often she's wearing a painted smile to compliment her charming wit
What you don't know is she doesn't have a choice
If she doesn't smile and make her quota, she will be beat by her pimp
Rarely does she bare her true self to another
Multiple rapes, forced abortions, life threatening STD's, suicide attempts, brutal beatings and fear has become her life
Often pimps or traffickers will get the girls addicted to drugs to have one more way to control them... they do so many unheard of things to these girls
How could she tell you she's in trouble? Why would she trust you? Everyone else has used and abused her
Men buy her, and then shame her
Most of prostituted women want out and have reported being beaten
Culture considers them "trash" and then pays for an hour with her when no one is looking
She sees them coming, and braces herself one more time...

If You think that pornography, prostitution and the entertainment industry aren't connected with human trafficking..
***THEY ARE***

No little girl grows up thinking "one day I want to sell my body for sex"...
A lot of things happened up to that point
No man just decides out of the blue to go buy a prostitute
There has to be lust in his heart, brokenness and pain in him somewhere
Pornography spirals into more than just pictures... it hurts more than just him...
The majority of people in the sex slave industry today are women and children, "27 MILLION" is the estimated number of people enslaved...

... side note... There are ones on "death row" in the prison systems of America
They have committed some really horrific crimes to be condemned to die. As the officers escort the person to their death by lethal injection or whatever, they say, "Dead Man Walking" on the way...

The hearts of these Women and children are dying. All ages, and many nationalities... They need the Just One to free their souls... Isaiah 58
The wounds inflicted on their souls are bleeding internally
The tears that no longer show on the outside, are a perpetual fountain of tears on the inside
She's losing strength to keep going through this cycle of daily pain and abuse..
She's slowly drowning and choking on her very own blood and tears
The waters are rising dangerously around her throat threatening her very existence...
No one knows... they don't see past the way she's dressed and her persuasive speech
Her dreams have died within her, the only dreams she has now are the ones that torment her in sleep
Hope is a distant memory and it hurts too much to hope in anything
Love is a hollow, empty word that has been tainted and severed from her core.
Love is absent and does not exist to this DEAD GIRL WALKING.
I pray for these ones, and I will spend my life for them
COME ALIVE, COME ALIVE, COME ALIVE!
Time is running out for her, she's a real person.
Every 8 seconds a women is trafficked and every 30 seconds a child is...
Jesus give them Hope
She has to know You, She has to see You, Come fill her heart with Your LOVE and HOPE
Girl I know it's scary, I know you are in pain, you may even be numb and not feel a thing...
But lift your eyes precious one, just believe one more time
Jesus is a man, but He isn't like the others
He is gentle, patient, loving and kind
His love is the real deal... 1st Corinthians 13
Faith Hope and Love will remain and are yours for the taking...

He loves taking the time for you, He loves the process of proving His love to you
He never grows tired of you, He will give you double honor for all of your shame
He delights in you, He loves the sound of your voice and has so many wonderful things in store for you...Psalm 139 Psalm 62
He will take your brokenness and restore your shattered heart
One day, precious one, you are going to soar, and fly
He does not accuse you, He is not ashamed of you, You are LOVED BY GOD right now as you are!

COME ALIVE, COME ALIVE, COME ALIVE! Know Jesus Christ... Isaiah 42 He is your hope, He is your light, He is coming...
Hold ON your deliverer is coming, hold on.. I am praying for you to have the strength it takes
It is a war, it's a fierce battle raging for your soul
But God is greater, and HIS LOVE always WINS!

Jesus run to the red light show in Tokyo, run to the girls in Mexico... go God go...run... 2Thessalonians 3:1-5
In the Red Lit windows of Amsterdam, Dead Girls Stand
In the Dusty streets of Juarez, Dead Girls Weep
In the glamorous Cyclone Club of Dubai, Dead Girls Cry
In the darkest hour of these young ladies lives, there is Hope

He is a man, and He is God...
His name is Jesus... Ephesians 1:17-19
His light is greater
His love is greater
His power is stronger
God is good, He is always good.. He never changes, He will always be GOOD no matter the circumstance...
His love never fails
His Hope never disappoints
His mercy and love endure forever... and ever...
Justice and Righteousness are the foundation of His throne
Jesus bring to life these ones condemned to die
Bring the dead to life, amongst the DEAD GIRLS WALKING...
It is for the voiceless, dying, afflicted ones that You love, that I will lift my voice and cry... COME ALIVE...
~ Steph Queen

"90 percent of prostitutes in the US have come from the Foster Care system"
"average age of women entering prostitution ~ 13 yrs old"

Heart Trouble

Sigh... think all this praying in the Spirit is doing some invasive surgery on my inner man. Bringing the junk in my heart up to the surface. Yuk!! Lord help!! Jay Thomas is singing right now, "Search me and know me, cut out any wicked, evil thing in me.." Yeah Lord do it. Whatever it takes to make me more like you, whatever it takes to purify my heart~ my heart, mind, body, & soul... my times, emotions, desires, longings... they are in your hands. I say yes, again, without fully knowing what that means. Ouch, I'm sure. Your ways, Oh Lord, are not my own, but You certainly know best. I will lean not on my own understanding but in Yours God. Have your way...
StephQ

I was sitting at kitchen table this morning (3:30pm). The sun was shining through double doors, I was still waking up and completely enjoying the warmth of the sun. I breathed a prayer to Jesus, thanking him for the sun. I looked at the sun through crusted morning eyes (nice huh!:), and decided to go out doors and sit on back porch and enjoy a moment with God as I soaked up some winter sunlight. Well, I opened the door and Samson, the cat, shot out of the door like a bullet. I leaped to catch him as he paused on the back porch ledge. ... Well, I missed and lost my balance, fell forward off the side of the porch. I landed on the ground, partially on a rock with a thud and a loud AHHHRghhhh!! The cat screeched and ran off, the dog started wildly barking and I was left to pull myself up to my feet. Scraped hands, arm and sore ankle... I gruffly went off in search of cat.. no where to be found. Geesh, what happened to my sunlit, God moment??!! :) On my way out the door, Samson nochalantly hopped up onto front porch and sauntered in front door... Hmmmmm... Here kitty kitty kitty!!!#@&%$*! :) I really wanted to throttle the little gray cat.. Bless the Lord, I didn't :) All is well..
Queen

Still getting over the remainders of pneumonia. It's going, slowly but surely! Looking ahead to Thanksgiving, Christmas... ONEthing conference :) Nov 29th is a significant day for me. If you wanna know, ask me personally. It is a 7yr mark of a work of God in my heart. It feels good :) So so thankful to God for the process that He works in my life. Such a treasure and gift is the TIME and the struggles. Things that could not be established in me overnight. I wouldn't value so many things if it weren't for a wise, all-knowing God who is perfect in His leadership. Thank you Holy Spirit for the way you lead me in God's ways. Teach me your ways, that I would walk in your truth all of my days. ... God is good! Trust Him all you people ~ Psalm 62

Surely His goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life... I love the Lord. God is my Rock,

Steph Queen