Something to be thankful for...

This Thanksgiving Irving Bible Church donated about 25-30 Thanksgiving baskets to our ministry. The women at the brothels and strip club were so blown away and felt completely honored to receive such a gift from the church.

Several of the women made comments like:
· "A lot of us are single moms and this really blesses us..."
· "Oh my gosh, you brought this for us, thank you…"
· "This is so nice; I can’t believe it…"
· "This really helps and means a lot…"

Baskets in the strip club…
One called me and said, "Michelle, I need you to pray for me, I am sick of working in this business and I need to get out!" It was so cool, we never tell them they need to quit their job, but after a year of receiving God's love, she came to me and is asking HIM for it! And we are committed to supporting her and surrounding her with a community of love through the journey!

An interesting Thanksgiving Fest…
Two of the girls and their little boys did not have plans for Thanksgiving so Melissa and I decided to throw together a last minute Turkey dinner and have them over for Thanksgiving. It was really funny cause it was Wednesday late afternoon, and I thought, boy I wish I had kept a basket for this; I really don’t want to go to the grocery store the night before Thanksgiving (if you know me well, you know that I can't stand to go to the grocery period, crowded or not)! And, I was thinking, how do you make a turkey again? Just then, I received a text from an old friend, Christine, at IBC offering me a complete Thanksgiving basket with 2 turkeys AND she offered to bring it all over and help us start cooking! It was so fun to have God provide immediately! Melissa and I pulled off a thanksgiving meal over night (neither one of us know how to cook...it required a lot of help from Christine, googling receipts and waking my mom up at midnight: "mom, I might be a little late to our Thanksgiving dinner, oh, and how do I make deviled eggs if we don't have any mayo?" ...ah ha ha ha, it was great!).

Unfortunately the girls called and they did not come (that is the nature of this business and ministry), and we had a full Turkey dinner, and no guests of honor. So we went out and found a lady walking down the street with 6 kids (read Matthew 22: 8-10) and we invited them to come and eat with us. To be honest we were disappointed the girls that we prepared the meal for did not show up, but the Lord provided that meal and He knew who really needed it…and what guests He wanted to honor! He is teaching us and stretching us so much in this ministry…we just never thought God cared so much about teaching us how to cook!!!!!!! Ah ha ha ha!

American food in the Asian brothels…
A lot of the girls continuously move around, some brothels have closed/moved, changed management, etc....so we are constantly building new relationships and meeting new people so the baskets really gave us an open door for some great conversations and new relationships.

Most of the Asian people said "no thank you, we only eat Asian food," but we got to stand there and talk to them for a while, and they were touched by the generous heart of the Church. One girl did not want the basket, but she just stood there with her mouth basically dropped open, she was truly struck by an encounter with God, we could see it in her face, she received a gift from God that day! No food, or donation needed, just His presence and His love!

OH, and get this: one of the "house mama's" even gave us $20 to help with our ministry and said she really appreciated what we do. WOW, that was so cool!

ALL of the baskets went to VERY thankful hearts, some in need of food and some in need of a gift, a reminder of God's love and acceptance. I am so overwhelmed and thankful for YOU all, none of this could happen without your prayers, participation and support!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!