Scarlet Hope exists to show the hope and love of Jesus to women in the adult entertainment industry. Its goal is to help women who work in strip clubs and prostitution by providing intentional care, resources, and job training for alternative career paths. All women are created by God and are worthy of being treated with dignity and respect. Scarlet Hope aims to restore dignity and hope to those who have been shamed, exploited and left feeling hopeless.
How did you initially get involved in this ministry?
In 2007, I was living in a small town right outside of Louisville, Kentucky. My husband worked at a church and I was working in corporate America. Although I knew very little about the adult entertainment industry, every morning on my way to work I would pass a XXX Theater and I became extremely burdened for the women working there. God began urging me to pray for the people working there.
One day I mentioned the XXX Theater to someone at my church and she forcefully said, “Oh, every time we pass that place I make my kids look the other way and tell them bad things happen there!” I was overwhelmed with sadness and couldn’t help but think, “But if no one tells them about God’s love, how will they ever know?” I asked several pastors and church leaders about this and basically got the same response from all of them: “They know where we are, if they want to come to church they can come.” That was when I knew what God was calling me to do. He was calling me to go to these women and share His hope and love with them.
After over a year of praying outside of several strip clubs in Louisville, a couple of friends and I paid the $10 cover charge and walked into one of the clubs. As we sat at the bar drinking a coke, the Holy Spirit drew my attention to a man nearby. God told me clearly that this was who I needed to talk to. Although inwardly I had no idea what was going to happen, outwardly I confidently walked up to the man and introduced myself. He told me he was the owner of the club and asked why I was there.
I explained that I was a Christian and that God had told me to come and do something kind and loving for the women working here. He looked at me like I was crazy but asked what I had in mind. I asked him if I could bring in a home-cooked meal for the ladies and he told me I could. That one meal turned into a weekly event in that club. Pretty soon I knew all of the dancers by name. And that one club turned into two clubs, which turned into three and four and five clubs. Now, over 20 clubs later, Scarlet Hope feeds over two hundred dancers on Thursday nights. What started as three women praying in a car has turned into a full-fledged ministry with sites in five different cities and hundreds of women in the adult entertainment industry hearing about God’s love for them.
How has your faith been tested in your current work?
I work with women on an everyday basis who have suffered terrible traumas, from sexual and physical abuse to addiction to extreme poverty. If it were not by the grace of God, I would have given in to utter hopelessness many years ago. There are days when I really have to ask myself, “Is God truly enough? Will His hope and love really make a difference?”
Of course, in His kindness, God constantly reminds me that YES, He really is enough! While the trauma of their past may always haunt these women this side of Heaven, I get the opportunity to see on a regular basis how God can heal deep wounds, cover a multitude of sins, and give us eyes for our future glory and eternal reward.
Briefly describe the impacts of Scarlet Hope on everyone affected, including those serving, partnering, and clients.
I like to think that God uses Scarlet Hope to impact the volunteers as much as He does the women we serve. It is not so much that my staff and I are asking our volunteers to “do us a favor” by serving with the ministry. Instead, through Scarlet Hope God invites His people to join in His Kingdom work. Scarlet Hope gives people the opportunity to be obedient to God and take huge steps of faith.
What are some of the ways a woman can show the love of Christ in her local community?
I have been working with a woman who I’ll call “Lisa” for many years now. Lisa’s mom was a prostitute and basically coached Lisa on how to sell her body for money when she was only a teenager. Now, a decade later, Lisa is a high-end escort/prostitute and makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by selling her body to wealthy men. I have had numerous opportunities to share the gospel with Lisa and, despite her lifestyle, I truly believe God is doing a work in her heart.
Lisa has three kids of her own now and she deeply desires to give them a better life than she had as a child. One way that Lisa is doing this is by sending them to a private Christian school. I was visiting with Lisa a couple of weeks ago and she shared with me how lonely she is and how she longs for real friends. (As you can imagine, in her line of work she does not easily meet good friends.) Lisa told me that she’d tried to befriend some of the moms at her kids’ school since it was a Christian school but they were cold and rude to her. I was struck by this because I realized that probably many of these moms didn’t even realize the opportunity they were missing out on.
It is true, Lisa looks different than a typical private school mom. But if any of these women were truly Christians, and I assume some of them were, then this was the perfect time to love on a woman who desperately needs others to share the gospel with her and love her with Christ’s love.
My point is this: I long for God’s people to not simply wait for churches and para-church organizations to love on people who are different or hard to love. I long for all of us to open our eyes to the people who God puts in our path on a daily basis. It is possible that God could put a prostitute in the carpool line next to you. As God’s people, let us not wait to be in church on a Sunday to love others with the gospel!
How can we pray for you and the Scarlet Hope ministry?
We covet your prayers as we strive to love women in the adult entertainment industry in the midst of a pandemic. Not surprisingly, this pandemic has greatly affected the women we serve. In addition to the struggles of paying bills, homeschooling children, and staying healthy, the women we work with are battling extreme depression, isolation, and spiritual warfare. Please pray that the struggles of this pandemic will be an opportunity for women to see that their only hope is Jesus Christ.
Please submit any questions or comments for Rachelle in the contact form below.
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