God rescued me
There are so many reasons why I joined the fight for those who have been sexually exploited but let me start with the fact that no matter how far gone you think you are..
You are never too far for God to reach you.
God gave me a second chance at life and I want to be a light in the darkness.
Several years back I met a man that groomed me for a few months and introduced me to “spas” to make money. We were close and I trusted him. We spent most of our time together doing drugs and hanging out. He sexually assaulted me while I was intoxicated, but I had no one else and I couldn’t stop him, so I accepted that as my life almost feeling like I deserved it. After introducing me to the spas he tried to take the money that I made from selling my body and when I wouldn’t give him the money he tried to kill me. Trying to stomp on my face yelling “if he couldn't have me, then no one would.”
I ran for my life down the street in his neighborhood bloody and broken, beating on doors and screaming for help, all alone with no one coming to help me. The police eventually showed up but because the guy had gone back into his house and turned off the lights there was nothing that they could do. They asked me if I had anywhere to go. I didn’t. I had no one. I went back to the spa.
My life continued to spiral out of control with drugs and prostitution. I was filled with hate and anger from years of drug abuse, unresolved trauma and rejection. That lifestyle consumed me for several years until I eventually became a pimp and ran spas in the Houston area. I had a couple women that worked for me and one night while at a club I met a young lady that was there with her pimp and she wanted to leave with us. I placed her in a spa and shortly after it was raided and she was arrested. While in the process of bonding her out of jail, I found out that the young lady was underage. My world came crashing down around me. I couldn't believe it. When I asked her why she lied to me she cried and said she knew I wouldn't let her stay if she told me the truth. I too was a teenage runaway with an unhappy home life so I felt her pain. I went ahead and bonded her out under the agreement that she couldn’t go back to the spas, because she was underage. Not long after bonding her out she ran off with a pimp she met online. I started to feel a change in my heart about the life I was living. Looking back now, I know it was the love of Christ drawing me near but then I didn't know anything about Him. I knew it was time for a change but I had no idea how to make that change.
I realized I didn't want to live this life anymore but I was in so deep I didn't know how to get out. So one day in the spa I fell to my knees and asked God to take it away...I asked him to help.. I surrendered my life to him. I was so lost and broken when I made the choice to give my life to Christ, but It was the best decision of my life. Don't misunderstand me when I say it was the best decision, because it wasn't the easy decision.
I slowly but surely started having a conscience about all the things I was doing which was new to me because for years I just used drugs to numb the pain. I knew it was time to take responsibility for my actions. God was really beginning to stir something inside of me. He was breaking chains of addiction. He was showing me His love for me. A few months into my journey as I was preparing to completely sever my ties to my boyfriend and my old life, I was visiting one of the women that worked for me at the spa and I was arrested. I was arrested for Compelling Prostitution of a Minor.
Many things changed for me once I made the decision to give my life to Christ. He delivered me from drugs and restored the relationship with my mom. Not in an instant, but through steps of obedience He pulled me from the wreckage that was my life. In God restoring the relationship with my mom, she invited me to live with her to get out of the pit where I was living. Within a month of leaving the life I prayed that I would find a home church (I never had one because I never really knew God) that I could grow with and He led me to my home church Life Community Church. And while there I met people that loved me right where I was, messy and broken. I didn't know that it was possible for people to know all the ugly sides of me and still love me and pray for me. I knew that God was REAL and I first had witnessed the miracle that he did within me.
But I truly didn't know the power of prayer until I had a church family praying for me. Walking out of the life, I was starting all over battling the court case recognizing that it was time to take responsibility for myself, my wrongs and really take inventory of myself. God brought some AMAZING people in my life to walk that out with me. I had this court case to juggle but those women from my life group prayed me through it. I will never forget the first time getting an offer from the DA for 20 years in prison and my heart sank. But I made a decision that day that whether I was free or I was in prison, I was going to serve him wherever I was. When I told my life group ladies they encouraged me and uplifted me and most importantly they prayed for me. PRAYER WORKS.
The next time I went to court the DA offered me 5 years probation! Thank you JESUS! Those next several years were tough knowing I was starting from scratch. Working a minimum wage job with part-time hours paying probation fees and let me tell you God was faithful!
And here I am today on the other side of probation, free and clear and fulfilling my dreams. God put the desire in my heart to help those lost and broken like I was. I will never forget running down the street that night screaming for help and no one being there and then realizing I had nowhere to go. I knew I never wanted anyone to feel the way that I felt that night. So I’m here today to bridge the gap between light and dark… to help those lost and broken.
