Volunteer blog- week 4 - The heart of Restore

I was really excited when Josie announced that she was praying with the idea that she may start up off street outreach again early last year and that she was keen to see if any of the volunteers had the capacity to join her on this journey of rediscovering God’s heart for the women that find themselves working in the venues. As my toddler was getting older, I felt that I could leave him with friends and family and joined with Josie and Katie at the beginnings of rediscovery.

Josie already had some venues in mind, ones that had been visited by Restore in the past and after consulting her new small but dedicated team, we all decided that they were a great place to begin.
So after some specific new training from charities that do similar work in other cities, we put a date in our diary! I remember being slightly nervous on the car journey on the way there. I had never visited a brothel before and wondered what on Earth we could chat about with the ladies and would they even let us through the door! So with a box full of handmade cupcakes and a lot of prayer under our feet, we knocked on the door and were welcomed with “are you the funny ladies that make us laugh” and a definite “come on in”! What a relief and what a massive legacy the previous team had left in preparation for us! (We really did praise God for all that they had done!) in no time at all the conversation was easily flowing. It was wonderful seeing how the topic would change from all things Netflix or holidays to spirituality and what they believed in. As the months have continued our relationships with particular girls have grown stronger, with Josie having regular text conversations with them in between our visits!

We feel we offer pastoral love and support to these women offering them a non judgemental ear, advice and a prayer or two if wanted. We thank God for everyone of these women that we encounter and that they see themselves for who they are and not just what they have to offer. I ask that we break down the barrier of judgement that we can have towards this industry (I include myself in this area too) because how can anyone in this life know the unconditional love of our Heavenly Father if they have not felt it from us first.