A Luncheon Encounter

Today three of us ventured into the newer club to our ministry.  We went in around lunchtime.  The parking lot didn't seem crowded at all. We saw this as a good sign, maybe the dancers wouldn't be too busy to talk. We took in a big basket filled with pretty boxes.  The dancers came right up to us and the barmaid welcomed us in.  There was a dancer on stage that smiled at me and motioned to come over to her so she could receive her gift. We took in 16 boxes total and there were 15 dancers working in the middle of the day.  Each box held rose soap petals, a devotion, candies, and our ministry card.

Sitting at the bar was a very pretty blonde dancer we had never seen before.  She was sitting with a customer when she engaged us in conversation. She wanted to know what church we were from.  The very next thing out of her mouth was a proclamation that she, too was a Christian.  In fact, she said she was justified by faith and that was all she needed.  We started to go deeper with her but all she wanted to talk about was God's grace. I told her there is such a thing as cheap grace. When we reminded her that the Lord is holy, she accused us of judging her.  We smiled at her and told her we were not there to judge anyone. The conversation continued, she appeared completely sober, she quoted several verses (out-of-context) and said that God knew her heart. At this point, one of us said, the Bible states that our hearts are deceitfully wicked. She said everyone is a sinner to which we agreed of course.  She stated that she was making an impact in the strip club for God and didn't we want to partner up with her.  It was a very strange conversation and I must admit, there were moments I thought we were talking to a demon.  Pam was able to make some headway with the dancer concerning the real reason she was there.  The dancer explained that this was the way she made her living but she admitted she did get some self-satisfaction from it as well. When she was invited to our Bible study, she just smiled and said that we were funny. We told her we were sincere and would love for her to join us. We are praying she calls!  During the conversation, there were two other dancers who seemed to be listening in.  Prayerfully, they heard the truth and will act on it.

Sometimes it takes me days to process what happens in these clubs.  We see horrible things....at one point I saw a man who looked to be about 60 groping a dancer that could have been the age of his granddaughter.  The whole time this was going on, she was downing one drink after the other.  I'm sure she was numbing herself.  My heart breaks, I can't imagine how grieved our Lord must be. 

Our ears did get to hear one good thing, however.  The blonde dancer told us we were "very respected by the management and no one better say anything against us."  Now, I believe that is God's grace in fact, I'm sure of it!