XXX Church is a ministry that is highly effective in reaching women who have been pulled deep into the world of pornography, and it also is a place of recovery and accountability for people whose lives have been affected by addiction to pornography. Recently I authored a blog post entitled My Daughter is Going to a Porn Convention. The purpose of the article was twofold, in that I wanted to enlighten readers to XXX Church, while at the same time I hoped that my little article could help my daughter reach her fundraising goals for her upcoming State-side Mission Trip with the organization.
Well, I am excited to share with you that my daughter has raised the money she needs to get to the convention. But, I still have much to share about the blessing that this ministry is to the Kingdom of God.
The following paragraph is an excerpt from the Facebook status-update of the leader of the team, Rachel Collins. This update was posted after the team had traveled to a nearby Strip club for some Pre-Mission Trip Training. They went to meet women who were working as Strippers in the club, and to show these women the love of Jesus. Many porn stars find themselves working as Strippers, either on the way into the X-rated film industry–or on the way out. As you can imagine, insecurities run high in a room full of women who live their lives so differently. Read Rachel’s account of how it all went down:
We passed out a ton of bibles, we handed out cupcakes and tank tops that said ‘Jesus loves Strippers’, and most importantly we walked into some dark and strange places and were able to look young women in the eyes and tell them that God loves them.
In two different clubs we were met with two different women who kept asking earnestly over and over again, ‘How can God still love me?’ They felt that they were out of the reach of God’s grace, that they had done too much, and we not only told them of God’s love in our own lives, but we stood in front of them and said that God always welcomes us home, and that we can never get too far from his love and grace.
We gave them hugs and before we left, and we placed a bible in their hands. These women could not believe that we came from a church, they could not believe that we would come for them at all. All I can think about is the desire to go and find that lost sheep. These women would never step into a church building–those were their words exactly–but we brought some church to them. More than church, we broke bread/cupcakes in a crowded strip club locker room, we opened the word and we shared hugs and the common bond that God gave to each one of us. –Rachel Collins
Seriously, what these women shared IS the message of the Gospel. Some of the girls who are traveling this summer still have fundraising needs. If you can help–don’t hesitate. (email rachelc@ccvsocal.com)
2 comments
Marti J.John
June 24, 2012 at 3:57 pm (UTC -7)
Thanks for sharing your story it is truly… Jesus loves us always.
David Sill
September 18, 2012 at 2:35 pm (UTC -7)
This post cannot have only one comment. The message is too important. We must be able to love those who are involved in things that we find reprehensible…Why? Because we all do things, sin, that are reprehensible to God and He still loves us. We must put away our rule book of what we use to determine who are those lost souls that get our love (cute children in Africa, people who need food at bumper bag) and those that we will ignore because they are involved in something that we find disgusting (strippers, prostitutes, drug users & people who come to us for help at inappropriate times.
The love of Jesus knows has no boundaries and ours should not as well.