“At first, I led a double life; I was a quiet, conservative college student by day and someone else’s fantasy by night. Gradually, I began to lose sight of who I was, and became lost in make-up, stilettos, and the glare of stage lights. I felt fragmented and compartmentalized. The fear of rejection and judgment kept me isolated from the outside world, until all of the people I had contact with were other strippers, costumers, and my abusive boyfriend. The isolation made it easier for him to control me. He dictated my every move … The emptiness I felt inside seemed infinite and my self-image continued to decline. Over the course of the next 3 years, being a stripper became my identity. My already tainted view of men seemed permanently damaged. I developed the notion that all men were inherently perverted and sick. I began to use stripping as a way to take back control of my sexuality. I finally felt like I had the upper hand. I learned to exploit for myself, the very thing that men had already exploited … my body.” Harmony Dust

Do you have an issue or cause that fills you with passion? Is there some group of people that the very thought of fills your heart with compassion and tenderness? There’s one for me that can both bring me to tears and instantly set my heart on fire, it’s the women of the sex industry.

If you’ve been reading Destiny in Bloom for a while then you may already know why.  (http://destinyinbloom.com/trashing-the-jane-mask/) The short version is that I was sitting one day surfing the web when I came across the testimony of a woman who had been a ‘Porn Star’ for a long time and had been very ‘successful’ in that industry. Then she got saved and left it all behind, everything, including all the money. She shared her entire journey through blogs on her MySpace page and as I sat and read about her incredible transformation God put his finger on some incredible ugliness that was hiding in my heart and revealed to me how the judgment, hatred, and contempt I had in my heart towards any woman who I viewed as my moral inferior grieved His heart.

I find it both hilarious and very fitting that as He uprooted that hideous weed of hatred that had wriggled so deep down in my heart He filled the void it left behind with a passion and tenderness for those same women.  I want to share with you about what I have since learned about the sex industry in America, about the women trapped working in the industry and about what the Body of Christ is doing to reach out to these women.

Did you know that between 66-90% of women in the sex industry were sexually abused as children?  Many of these women are already broken before they ever set foot in a club. Then once they are there, in many clubs, they are constantly abused. Ladies, I know a lot of you are like me. I’ve never set foot in a strip club, I thought they were these glamorous places like what we see on TV shows before we switch the channel, or in the movies scenes we fast forward through.  But that’s not always what life in a strip club is really like. Customers commonly spit on them, spray beer at them, and flick cigarettes at them; they are pelted with ice, coins, trash, condoms, room keys, and even bottles and cans.  Customers pull their hair, yank them by the arms and ankles, rip their costumes and even bite, slap, punch and pinch them. 44% of women report that the men associated with the strip club have threatened to hurt them physically, threats range from physical actions such as slapping or back-handing to even threatening rape as punishment or retaliation for not “cooperating” with the customer.  Women are sometimes molested by the customers while dancing and then can be fined by the management if it’s seen.  It’s a twisted and convoluted world where they eventually lose any sense of who they were. They are called horrible names that I will spare you and not elaborate on.  These precious women are degraded and humiliated and treated like trash. They are often treated like they are less than a person, simply an object there for the sexual gratification of faceless, nameless masses of men.

Even when a girl is lucky enough to end up in a club where abusive behavior is not tolerated, the effect of working in the sex industry in undeniable. And how does a girl end up stripping at all? Here’s what my friend Jen H. from my church, Gateway, had to say about her former life as a stripper.

“I came to work in a strip club when a couple of my girlfriends decided they wanted to try waitressing at one. They told me about it and I said I would go with them while they applied but only to check the place out, I was just curious as to what went on in those places. I was very judgmental about women and men who went to strip clubs at the time, but right at that moment I was in a party mode and thought it might be an interesting experience.

So … we went and my friends talked to the managers but they only seemed interested in me, I said I wasn’t applying but all the sweet talking got to me. See, I never had my father in my life so I was just craving that male attention and soaked it up.

I went to the waitress training and when they saw me in my outfit they put me in VIP. What a boost to my already large ‘ego”, I was the only one they had chosen to waitress in the VIP on their first night … I must be something special … (or so I told myself).

As either luck, or more likely Satan, would have it I made close to 1,000 that night waitressing … I thought, “This is a piece of cake and at least I don’t have to take my clothes off like those horrible girls.” (Like I said I was so judgmental)  I continued waitressing and promised myself it would only be during Christmas break of my first year in college.

But after about a month, and finding out that I could drink while working things got out of control … I would drink on the job and then one night just decided I was a wayyyy better dancer than those girls on stage and would just have to prove it to them.

I started dancing and as luck (or again, maybe Satan) would have it I made 2,500 on my first night. After that I was hooked on the money. I could do whatever I wanted all day spend and buy my friends stuff … get people to like me and live the “dream” life with money and friends and parties. But I always went home alone and feeling like a piece of crap.

Management treated us like queens. I was their favorite (or so they said) I brought the club a lot of money and was always being asked for and I sold a lot of champagne so they liked me and pretty much let me do what I want. Out in the front it was all a show, just a job. Back stage the girls were soooo different; they were students, sisters, daughters, moms and friends. We didn’t really talk very much about our lives before the club with each other but most of them didn’t have fathers.

When I was on stage my feelings depended on how much I had to drink that night or who was watching or how much money I was making. If a man I thought was attractive was paying me I felt like crap … I would think, “I wish he knew the real me; the me that loves God and is in college and wants to have a family someday. I wish he didn’t have to see me like this … taking my clothes of for money and basically whoring myself out.”  But if I danced for a guy who I thought was below me it gave me power and I really enjoyed that … acting like I was into them when it was just for their money … but it was the ones who were there on business trips, or who were married, or who were successful in my mind that bothered me. But I was also caught in an alcohol addiction and didn’t know what else to do. At home I felt horrible about myself; I couldn’t even look in the mirror sometimes …”

Even with a ‘good’ club environment life continued to spiral downwards for my friend Jen, and it wasn’t much longer before she was addicted to cocaine to get her through each night. Finally, sick of seeing her destroy her life, some friends called her mom who basically dragged her back home and helped get her cleaned up and restored.

Does all this break your heart? It breaks mine. What I have shared with you here is really only a small portion of what I have learned, but I won’t go any further here. Now I want to give you some hope, because the body of Christ is moving and reaching out to these lost daughters and giving them a way out and pointing them towards healing.  Treasures is an organization based in Los Angeles, Ca  that is reaching out in love and telling the women trapped in the sex industry that they are loved, valued, and have inherent worth. This specific ministry appeals to me because I like their particular method. They travel around to more than 150 strip clubs a year, Each month they give out little gift bags filled with cosmetics and jewelry to the girls in the clubs. The gift bags are just small tokens that we give with the intent to let our sisters know that they are valued. Their message to these women is “That they truly are treasures and that there is a God who loves them with a fierce passion!”

How did Treasures get started? Harmony Dust is a former stripper who became a Christian and one day as she drove past her old club, she began praying for the girls still trapped inside and describes it like this,

“Consumed with my prayers and thoughts of old co-workers, I missed my turn into the Taco Bell parking lot. Instead, I pulled into a lot directly across the street from my old place of work. Live, Live, Nude, Nudes the sign read; as if one would assume there would be dead nudes inside.

I sat in my car, with an overwhelming burden. How on earth can I reach out to the girls behind the walls of that club?!?! I felt as though I was outside of a prison that had once held me captive. Here I am free while there are still women trapped inside. Everything inside of me wanted to take action. I looked to my left, and tucked into the side pocket of my car were postcards from a recent women’s conference I had attended. On the front of the postcard was a picture of a woman adorned with pearls. The text read “Her value far above rubies and pearls.” All at once it dawned on me that I could write little notes on the postcards and place them on the cars of the dancers.

I quickly began scribbling on the back of the cards. When I was still stripping, I can remember thinking that it might be nice to go to church sometime, but I was sure that no church would want anything to do with someone like me. So the first thing that came to mind was to tell them that they are valuable and loved and that there is a place where they are welcome to come without judgment. (What a novel idea for the house of God to be a place free of judgment).

When I approached the parking lot, a security guard stopped me. Hmmm, I hadn’t thought of that. To my surprise, when I explained to him what I was doing, he allowed me to proceed.

On the drive home, my mind was racing. What if I write out notes to the girls every time I drive by the club? Or maybe I could make a little flyer and take it to clubs all over the city. I wonder if other women would want to be a part of this.

I took the idea to Jeff, an associate pastor at the Oasis Christian Center. He enthusiastically supported the plan and encouraged me to start right away. In January 2004, Treasures was officially formed.”

The reason I am so passionate about Treasures is that before I was saved I was very very closed to any sort of outright evangelism. I had been hurt by broken Church people and anyone who tried to ‘save me’ just closed my heart further. It was only after some precious people began to tell me I was special and worthwhile right there in my brokenness that my heart began to soften and I allowed Jesus to become my Savior and rescue me.

I just love how Treasures is telling them that they are valuable and beautiful and special without shoving the gospel on women who aren’t yet ready to hear it … Then when a women who received a gift bag contacts Treasures, they receive a personalized care package from Treasures complete with resources and books to help encourage her; trained volunteers also offer counseling and life coaching for any who want to move forward.  They also offer support in the form of employment referrals and professional counseling so that there are options for them beyond stripping.

Treasures often helps get other churches around the nation who want to start a ministry in their area started.  It’s truly amazing and inspiring and I hope with all my heart that someday God will open the door for me to reach out to some of the women here in the DFW area like this.  Until then how can I help? How can you help? There are several ways that any of us can partner with the amazing work Treasures is doing, donations can be made online at www.iamatreasure.com and your daily online shopping can also help support Treasures. Shop through iGive.com and up to 26% of your purchases supports Treasures! Simply register at iGive.com/Treasures, and then download the shopping window and/or shop through the website’s “mall”. You could also support Treasures through your internet searching, Visit www.goodsearch.com and type Treasures Ministries into the “Who Do You Search for Window” on the home page. Every time you search the web through goodsearch.com, you will raise money for Treasures. You can even download the GoodSearch toolbar to your computer to make searching easier! Also Harmony’s book has just come out, it’s called Scars and Stilettos and is available through any bookstore or online marketplace such as Amazon.com http://amzn.to/9qgk52 .

There are so many ways that we can reach out to these precious lost women even if we never get to be the ones delivering gift bags to the club doors. I encourage you to visit Treasure’s website and read the testimonies and stories there. You will be encouraged and inspired by the tenacity and courage of the women who have risen above their painful pasts and are reaching out to those still mired in pain. We can have an impact and we can make a difference from right here in our living rooms. I refuse to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the need; every prayer counts, and every dollar helps, together we can make a difference for these hurting women. Together we can be a part of rescuing them and we can be Christ’s voice as we tell them that they have value “far above rubies and pearls.”

Melissa Aulds

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