Recently, I have felt God calling me to minister to the prostitutes in the Las Vegas area.  My granddaughter, Montana, had inspired me when she lived in Alabama and weekly took food to the dancers at a local strip club.

The other night in my Zoom Bible study call, one of the men spoke about his trip with his wife to this area and how it broke his heart.  Young children would approach him and hand him their mother’s card, a prostitute looking for work.  “Can it get more evil?” he asked.

God had been putting together the pieces for a few weeks.  I had met two African-American women and am teaching them Pickleball.  We have gone to lunch, and I have invited them to my house.  We are becoming friends..  Both grew up homeless but met Jesus in the craziest of ways, and now their lives are forever changed.  That was God’s first puzzle piece.

The second piece was when my son Adam was part of a sex-trafficking sting in Kansas City last month where 20 gals were recovered.  On that sting, he met with an African-American gal who had been sent to K.C. from Vegas.  For hours, he offered her hope and a way out of the trafficked lifestyle.  She chose to return to it, but they are in contact.  When she is ready, he hopes to have me meet with her.

And that’s when I knew that my friendship with my Pickleball friends wasn’t about the sport at all.  At one of our luncheons, I asked them if they would meet with this Vegas prostitute, should Adam arrange a meeting.  The way I figured it, two black, formerly homeless women who found their hope in Jesus could relate to this prostitute far easier than an old white woman who has never struggled like the three of them.  They agreed to help.

And that leads to the third puzzle piece.  This week, I met with Mike, a friend/co-worker with Adam and an individual who for over 20 years has worked to help the prostitutes/runaways/trafficked victims in the Las Vegas area.  He shared how God had grown their charity and some of the miraculous recoveries they have had.  He needs people who are able to speak about their needs, something I would love to do.

A group of teens from local churches raised money for an RV which is parked near the casinos.  When the prostitutes are caught soliciting, they are led outside where they are offered food and support.  Tattoo artists are on site to cover the tattoos marked on the girls by their pimps (a sign of ownership), a procedure that for some takes several hours but that gives the volunteers time to love on the girls and offer them a way out of their lifestyle. Sometimes the team parks a trailer by a motel frequented by prostitutes and offers them sandwiches and bottled water when they leave their rooms. Definitely something I could do.

Currently, this recovery team is training dogs to be part of their trauma unit. (Not my gift.) These labrador retrievers can sense when someone is hurting and cuddle up to them.  Mike said that several girls have had their lives turned around when they felt loved by these animals.

The one thing I know is that God wastes no puzzle pieces, so I can’t wait to see how He fits me into this ministry.