Tag Archives: Hope
Shadow of Hope
The shadows beneath the stairs provided a temporary reprieve from the demands of the street. *Ola blended into the darkness, but I spotted her and paused to greet her and ask her nationality. Caught off guard she admitted she came from Uganda, like so many others we meet on the streets. I knelt down to catch her […]
Reunited
“Asha” couldn’t hold back the tears as she struggled to speak to us. The deep emotions of her heart rose up and smothered her words. Asha cried silently while her friends sat in closer to hug and encourage her. My colleagues and I had gone to Africa to visit the trafficked women we have repatriated […]
Christmas in the Brothel
“It’s like my home.” The blond Uzbek woman had tears in her eyes as she thanked us. NightLight’s outreach team and visitors from Iris had just sung Christmas carols inside the brothel where these women from Uzbekistan, Russia, and one from Columbia are working. 21 of us gathered in the lobby and, accompanied by guitar […]
Hope for Natasha
I thought she was a child. Beng and I were walking to the hospital to visit a friend, when I saw a blond, white girl sitting under a sign. As I got closer, I realized she was a grown woman and probably Russian. I guessed she was a streetwalker, but her hair was disheveled and […]
Explosion of Joy in the Red Light Area
“This bar is weird!” exclaimed a Japanese sex tourist. He had been walking through the red light area when the activity inside our outreach center caught his attention. A room full of people joyfully singing and dancing didn’t fit the usual bar scene and he couldn’t quite figure us out. In partnership with Iris Ministries, […]
Love Pushes Back the Darkness
“Nkwagala Nyo.” The women’s faces lit up as they heard “I love you!” in their native tongue. One of them grabbed my hand. She said something back in Luganda but “nkwagala nyo” was the extent of Luganda I could speak and after a few laughs, we switched immediately back to English. My team and I […]
Enough is Enough
An African trafficked woman died this week. Last night we went out on the streets to talk with the women we’ve been assisting and encountering. Everyone wanted to talk about the woman who died. A spirit of heaviness loomed when they whispered the words. It was as though saying it too loudly would bring the […]
This Awkward Day
It’s the day after Good Friday; Saturday, the day before Easter. The day after Jesus died I seriously doubt anyone was referring to it as “Good” Friday. What could they possibly have seen as good about it? We call it “good” because we know the purpose and the outcome. Without that revelation, there is nothing […]
Annie Dieselberg 