The Philippines is now one of the longest nations in lockdown in the world. Lockdown has made it mandatory for anyone under 21 and over 61 to stay at home. They cannot even be on the sidewalk. Quarantine and Travel passes are needed to go from city to city. Grocery stores and marketplaces only allow 1 person per family to enter. The Department of Education is attempting to get 50 million youth to study online. The Philippines also has one to the world’s slowest internet speeds 1-2 mbs per second, which might persist for another 1-2 years.
One day as Claudia was buying food for our family, she passed by the home of one of the women that had left prostitution and come under our ministry. We have been keeping regular contact with her and helping her family during this time.
Claudia felt led to visit them. She felt the Holy Spirit telling her that to buy food for that family, but there are literally dozens of families all around her that are starving.
When she entered their apartment, the mother was at work, while the kids were left in pitch-black darkness in the room. They told us that they do not leave the lights on during the day because they are saving money during the lockdown. The door is so small that to enter their room rental, you have to turn sideways to even enter.
Imagine being a teenage kid, cooped up at home with no electricity, not being able to socialize with anybody, not being able to even go on the sidewalk, and doing this for five months! This woman resorted to prostitution because she needed money for her family. She left prostitution after Claudia ministered you her during our Red Light Outreaches. Now because of the nationwide quarantines she is back in poverty, even after finding a more suitable job.
Claudia immediately bought her family groceries and ice cream, a luxury most of the impoverished kids in the country can’t have, especially now. She said we were God’s answer again to her prayers for breakthrough with God!
Even our YWAM Campus has been shut down from its regular operations. We have no major means of income as our outreaches, training schools, camps, and all other forms of face-to-face ministry have been shut down. Even half of our staff have returned to their home countries. However, we felt as we prayed that God still has a solution.
Pray with us as we ask God for more understanding and insight into what it would take to see more and more people set free from poverty, and in this case see full transformation, even after leaving a lifestyle of prostitution.
