Part 1: Brothels and Safehouses

Our group stood huddled in an abandoned alcove that wreaked of urine. As we gingerly placed our feet on the concrete to avoid the abandoned hypodermic needles littering the ground, we received further information on the area we were about to prayer walk through - an area filled with legal brothels. Brothels are legal in Greece, but only one person at a time can work in the brothel. One woman in a room working an 8 -10 hour shift servicing whoever walks in and can pay or being forced to stand for the perusal of those who don't have the money. There are literally hundreds of these small brothels. The area we're in is one of the most desperate, where the clients are often the ones who've just discarded the needles that we're dancing around. Because the women are inside, the outreach team of Nea Zoi (New Life) Ministry goes into the brothels to build relationships. They come face to face with the men inside waiting their turn. They take tea with the madam who oversees the financial transactions. They hope to get a few minutes with the girl if she gets a break and can come into the kitchen. They bring with them a basket of goodies including reading material in a variety of languages, tea, and hopefully a special snack or candy from the home country of the girl being exploited. Please pray for these outreach teams as they faithfully pursue these relationships week after week. Pray for the girls, and even the madams and the men, to recognize the dignity and worth they have in Christ and to begin longing for something different than their current reality. 

I praise God that in both Bulgaria and Greece, safe house projects are underway which will provide long-term transitional housing, counseling, therapy, life skill training, job training, childcare, safety and love for women freed from trafficking. This is a huge development since we visited each of these countries two years ago. We were so excited to see that outreach has progressed to the point where women are trusting these ministry teams to help them pursue a better life. 

Here are links to the ministries we partnered with in each country.

Nea Zoi Ministry in Athens - http://neazoi.org/

Daughter of Bulgaria in Sofia - http://www.mtwbg.com/DOB.html

We also had an opportunity to go and work at one of the refugee camps in Athens for an afternoon, so I'll write more about that in another post.